Taking action
Dear Editor:
In light of ongoing safety concerns in Boystown, I'd like to offer my observations and advice to Ald. Tom Tunney and the community:
1. Most of the groups that residents blame for loitering and noise are gay teens. Halsted has nothing to offer them on a weekend ( or summer weekday ) evening. There are no non-social service queer youth spaces in Boystown as there once were. This is something the Northalsted Business Alliance, Lakeview Chamber of Commerce, and the alderman's office could take up.
There are no business establishments in the area geared towards gay youth, and they are a viable customer segment. If no gym existed in Boystown, the business alliance, chamber of commerce and alderman's office would surely make it their focus to court health club operators for the area. The solution to noise/loitering is not to try and keep gay youth out of the area. The solution is to bring queer youth spaces into the area so that queer youth have an alternative to loitering on the streets once Center on Halsted programs end for the day. Instead of focusing on a budget for security to keep queer youth away from their establishments, the business alliance and chamber of commerce ( in coordination with the alderman's office ) should be working to bring in businesses which cater to queer youth.
2. There is a large population of homeless gay teens in the area. Lakeview social-service providers need to be able to connect with and get resources to them. Otherwise, this population can become vulnerable to sexual predators, drug dealers and other criminals and they may be forced to commit survival crimes ( prostitution, muggings, etc. ) . There has to be a strong proactive effort to reach this population before they become victims and/or are forced to turn to survival crimes that result in area residents and visitors becoming victims. The answer is not to wait for homeless gay teens to reach a stage of despair and then send the police in to arrest them.
3. There are bona fide criminals who come to the neighborhood to prey upon its residents and visitors. Many Lakeview residents are incorrectly and unfairly categorizing those in the two groups I've described above with this last group. Also, they are blaming those in the former two groups for the behavior of those in this latter group. Violent crime needs to be addressed with a community policing strategy that does not unfairly target those in the first group, that helps connect those in the second group with proper services, and that deters or apprehends those in this third group.
What I am seeing take place instead of what I have described above is strategies aimed at lumping all three groups into one, with the goal of pushing this incorrectly defined monolithic group out of the neighborhood. That is not the answer.
Jay Gotlier
Lakeview
A new coalition
Dear editor,
The Lakeview Safety and Inclusion Coalition ( LSIC ) is a new community group of service providers, residents, business leaders, youth, public servants and individuals invested in bettering Lakeview.
A response to recent acts of violence, LSIC's goals are simple. First, uphold Lakeview's longstanding tradition of serving as an open and welcoming community for individuals from all backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, gender identities and orientations. Above all, make Lakeview safer for everyone by bringing the entire community together and taking a holistic, results-driven approach to solutions.
With the broad coalition that LSIC has built, and continues to build, I am confident that together we can strengthen our community and preserve Lakeview's integrity for all of those who live, work and visit Lakeview. LSIC recognizes the need to steer away from the exclusion and divisiveness that hinders our progress and instead focus on our shared goals of feeling safe and welcomed in our community. When we uphold our values of respect, inclusion and commitment, we can productively work to ensure that our streets remain safe for all.
As a proud member of this community and as state representative, I support LSIC and am looking forward to working with the coalition to make our neighborhood safer for everyone.
Sara Feigenholtz
State representative,
12th District
