North in the news
The home neighborhoods been in the news as of late. First, in a story straight out of my current HBO fav The Wire, the owners of Harold's Chicken Shack on West Broadway are on trial for using it to launder cocaine money. When we lived on W. Broadway, a few years back, the drug trade was obvious and frustrating, but mostly run by 17 year olds. It's interesting to get a deeper glimpse into the action. There's already been accusations against some of the prosecution witnesses saying they've also sold crack. In any case, it's not often that I (as a suburban, white, educated man) get this kind of real glimpse into the economic infrastructure of the drug trade, even though it used to happen in my front yard!
Second, the Minnesota Daily had a short piece today detailing progress in the U's Northside Partnership. They're buying Penn Crossings, once home to a kick ass soul food place and more recently a home for drug dealing (ironic, since they're feet away from the precinct police station). This has been 2-3 years coming, and not without controversy. Some in the community are suspicious (rightfully so) of the university's goals--people don't like just being guinea pigs. But hopefully the university has done its groundwork right and this can be an asset.
Finally, I just came across this map of a few key northside statistics. The post hs education rates for African American men are astounding--most neighborhoods are below 1%. Wow. Can't say much else than that.