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Ms. Lydersen’s article “Living Room or Work Space” [November 20] about community controversy surrounding the development of the Wilson Yard site is inaccurate in many respects. The Organization of the NorthEast (ONE) has not taken a position for affordable housing on the site nor have we taken a position against the site being used to train or employ area residents. The ONE position is that whatever development goes on this site must support our mission of sustaining a multiethnic, mixed economic community in Uptown and Edgewater. This would perhaps incline ONE to support a small business incubator, a multicultural community center, affordable rental or home-ownership development, an ethnic market, and a myriad of other options. Our organization would be disinclined to support “big box” development or a chain-operated business because such operations displace the locally owned small businesses that create jobs and community in Uptown. But since the site has yet to be surveyed for environmental contamination and it is not yet clear how much of the land the CTA will make available for development, nor how much Truman College needs for parking, it is too soon to say exactly what is appropriate for the site.
We are disturbed by the quote in the article from the Department of Planning and Development about the nature of our community. Uptown already has several successful commercial districts. Most residents of our community are proud to have such a diverse array of social-service organizations serving the neighborhood. And with regard to the “visible homeless population,” we encourage city officials to fund more effective interventions (such as the proposed warming center at Ebenezer Lutheran Church) rather than pretending such services are not needed. In actual fact, Uptown’s crime rate is among the lowest in the city; the number of TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] recipients is at an all-time low, with less than 1,200 cases being managed out of the Uptown office. The housing profile of Uptown has changed dramatically in recent years. Indeed, there are more new units of condominium conversion units in the community today than there are scattered-site CHA units.
Kari Lydersen replies:
