Arlene Jones For 37th Ward Alderman Blog

From a post on her blog,

I met a wonderful couple on the east end of the ward tonight. They are elderly, their vision is getting bad and they can't do what they use to. But the saddest part was hearing how they had to travel all the way from Pulaski to Ashland to go grocery shopping.

At what point do we stop this madness of not having stores to buy food in our community?

I went to night school at DePaul in the 1970s. I'd walk over to Dearborn to catch the Congress 'L' after class and it was awfully lonely in the loop in the evenings.

Now the METRA from Geneva is packed with people heading in to the city for the evening, and especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

Ask people who know Chicago and they'll tell you it's never looked better or offered so much.

When they say that, they mean the Loop, the North side, and maybe what's happening on the near South Side.

But get out into neighborhoods though, and there is little retail, convience, or entertainment. When you consider Pulaski and Madison was a shopping powerhouse second only to the Loop, and 63rd and Halstead; it's amazing that there is almost nothing offered between Ashland and Austin today.

No one should be patting themselves on the back about how great Chicago is if it can't bring decent retail out into the neighborhoods.