An article worth reading appears in the current edition of the Atlantic Monthly. It’s about how the dismantling of Section 8 housing in large cities, like Chicago, has increased the level of crime in smaller satellite cities.

Falling crime rates have been one of the great American success stories of the past 15 years. New York and Los Angeles, once the twin capitals of violent crime, have calmed down significantly, as have most other big cities…

Lately, though, a new and unexpected pattern has emerged, taking criminologists by surprise. While crime rates in large cities stayed flat, homicide rates in many midsize cities (with populations of between 500,000 and 1 million) began increasing, sometimes by as much as 20percent a year…

Studies show that recipients of Section8 vouchers have tended to choose moderately poor neighborhoods that were already on the decline, not low-poverty neighborhoods. One recent study publicized by HUD warned that policy makers should lower their expectations, because voucher recipients seemed not to be spreading out, as they had hoped, but clustering together. Galster theorizes that every neighborhood has its tipping point—a threshold well below a 40 percent poverty rate—beyond which crime explodes and other severe social problems set in…

In each case, Suresh has now confirmed, the first hot spots were the neighborhoods around huge housing projects, and the later ones were places where people had moved when the projects were torn down.

Still, researchers around the country are seeing the same basic pattern: projects coming down in inner cities and crime pushing outward, in many cases destabilizing cities or their surrounding areas. Dennis Rosenbaum, a criminologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, told me that after the high-rises came down in Chicago, suburbs to the south and west—including formerly quiet ones—began to see spikes in crime; nearby Maywood’s murder rate has nearly doubled in the past two years.

The problems that plague some of Elgin’s neighborhoods predate these developments, so I don’t think the perceived crime (according to Chief Womack crime has actually declined 11%) in parts of the Near West Side for example can be attributable to destruction of Section 8 housing in Chicago. Rather I find this article interesting because it’s something that we have to keep in mind if the problematic apartment complex on Locust Avenue is ever demolished, as some are advocating.

Demolition could be a good idea, but the city will have to make sure that crime does not travel with the inhabitants to wherever they disperse. That means ensuring that they do not go into marginal areas, but into high income areas, something that will naturally result in a high level of resistance.

My thought is that developments on the Far West Side should all be required to incorporate a minimal amount of affordable housing–not too much or else crime will travel as suggested by the Atlantic article, but enough to absorb all the people who would be leaving the area that is now troubled. Such a requirement will also ensure that the much vaunted diversity of Elgin is not limited to the older sections of the city.

Simply destroying the apartment building without creating replacement housing is not an option, as far as I know. The building itself was created as a result of a federal mandate during the construction of the Civic Center, which eliminated low income housing in that section of the city.

But removing the apartment building and spreading its inhabitants very thinly across the Far West Side could be a good idea. I think it has the potential to reduce crime citywide, and make the Far West Side more diverse so that we dont’ have a situation of two Elgins. By giving them a better environment, it would increase opportunities for the low income families that move. Any problems near or in the downtown are highly salient, and the image of downtown is the biggest factor in Elgin’s image as a whole, so if the environment in the area surrounding the downtown and in the downtown itself can be improved, the image of Elgin as a whole improves.

Paula over on the Lovin Elgin blog asks if July 4th fireworks should be held in downtown Elgin:

The FoxFireFest proved that a supreme fireworks show could be held at Festival Park. If any of you were unable to go to the last FoxFireFest….it was spectacular. Especially the fireworks. With all the parking garages in this city, why can’t the fireworks be held at Festival Park? Imagine….4th of July’s in the future. The wonderful parade on Douglas stopping at City Hall where there is entertainment.

Perhaps the streets of downtown could be given over to artists…..artists selling their wares and street performers. Open restaurants could supply lunch and do some good business. Walk your way through the arts and crafts and street performers…eat lunch at a great restaurant…stop for an afternoon coffee at Ravenheart then head to Festival park for more entertainment culminating in awesome fireworks. Afterward, one could stop in the Elgin Public House or Martini’s or Prairie Rock for some adult entertainment. Families could stop at Al’s for icecream then go home and tuck the little ones into bed.

I’m not sure if there’s enough parking and directing traffic in and out of the city center will be far more difficult than getting traffic onto Route 20, but I think it’s a great idea that’s worth considering if at all possible. July 4th is one of those events that market themselves, so promoting it will be far easier than promoting FoxFireFest. And if the idea of all the downtown festivals is to get people to the downtown to try out the restaurants, see the great architecture and experience all the things we love about downtown Elgin, then holding the fireworks display as part of an all-day celebration is probably a really great idea.

Since this year’s fireworks display turned out disastrous on more than one count, it’s a good time to consider new ideas.

Elgin fireworks display in 2006. Photo by James Jordan

Elgin’s July 4th celebrations starts off with a parade at 9:00 a.m. in downtown Elgin at the corner of Slade and Douglas. The parade’s grand marshall is…Tammy Duckworth! Yes, that Tammy Duckworth, who is now director of the Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs. From 11:00-4:00, a blues concert will be held at the Civic Center parking lot. All the details are on the Downtown Elgin website. Keep in mind that numerous downtown restaurants and shops will be open for business.

Gear up for the fireworks display starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Elgin Sports Complex, 709 Sports Way. That’s when the concessions, entertainment and music (World Class Noise) starts. The fireworks extravaganza starts at 9:20.

Have fun, and remember what it’s all about: the birth of freedom and democracy and a new world order paid with great sacrifice and won through great valor. Happy July 4th, and God bless America.

Elgin Water Tower, Photo by James Jordan

Could this be the most handsome water tower in Illinois? What do you think?

The Elgin logo on the water tower is not used anymore, which is too bad, because I think it looks better than the current logo, which to me just looks like some generic cursive writing. I don’t know who designed the logo that’s pictured above–and which was used for a number of years as the city logo, but I think it’s an effective one. For many years I never thought about the logo. If anything, the large loop of the letter G evoked a money bag. It wasn’t until I was an adult, that I understood the genesis behind the motto “City to Watch”–also retired–and the money bag logo, which of course is actually meant to evoke an Elgin pocket watch.

I understand the need to freshen things up occasionally. Every major brand sort of gets a makeover every several decades or whatever and it’s often necessary. But I have to admit that I just don’t find the current logo or motto very effective. “It’s happening here?”

I can see how they evolved from “City to Watch” to “It’s happening here!” But is “It’s happening here” really better than “City to Watch?” The problem with “It’s happening here” is that it just doesn’t evoke anything. It’s not all that different from a motto that proclaims, for example, “Best city in the world!” It’s sort of an empty promise, in other words. What exactly is happening here? It is. Okay. Whatever that is. Use your imagination? Unfortunately, some people’s imaginations will tend towards the negative…

Sure, “City to Watch” doesn’t tell you what to watch for, but it’s still clearly linked to Watch City, and believe it or not, millions of Americans still know and love Elgin watches. Of course we can’t get stuck to the past and be known as the city where something used to happen, where watches were once made, but the old motto grabbed a hold of that old identity or position–already cemented in the minds of millions–and turned it around in a new and positive way, saying basically, look, we were the Watch City and now we’re the City to Watch. And that statement implies something. It implies that this is a growing, dynamic city that is moving into the future, unencumbered by dying industries of the past, yet proud of its heritage.

It was a clever motto and along with the logo, I think it worked very well.