Rogers Park’s Hollywood Moment
- Category: Latest News
- May, 2018
Rogers Park is not just a neighborhood anymore; it is also a movie! Directed by Rogers Park residents Kyle Henry and written by Carlos Treviño, Rogers Park is about two couples who struggle with the challenges of modern life, and the complications of modern relationships as they approach middle age. As you would expect, given the name and the location, the characters in the movie represent a diverse group of people and backgrounds, just like the neighborhood in which the story takes place. The movie was filmed in and around the Rogers Park community, so it will look very familiar to anyone who has spent any time here.
Best April Fools Spoof Ever!
- Category: Latest News
- May, 2018
Many of us were both surprised and excited to read that Jarvis Beach was ranked 12th best beach in Trip Advisor’s ranking of the top 25 best beaches in the United States. This article was given prominent billing in Mike Glasser’s recently relaunched rogerspark.com website (to see the April Fools posting, click here). Many of you know Mike better as the President of Rogers Park Builders Group.
Rohingya find a Home in Chicago
- Category: Latest News
- May, 2018
Coaches Mike Glasser and Jack Hafferkamp with two Rohingya soccer players who they coached, Summer 2017
Through the efforts of RefugeeOne and other resettlement organizations, Chicago has quietly become one of the largest resettlement communities for refugees from Rohingya in the United States. There are currently 350 families living in the city and suburbs with 1,500 individuals. Not surprisingly, Rogers Park has become an important center of Rohingya life in the city. The Rohingya Cultural Center is located at 2740 W. Devon Avenue in West Ridge. The Cultural Center is a community-based social service agency that serves the needs of the Rohingya community. West Ridge is also the location of the city’s first and only Burmese restaurant at 2305 W. Devon. This restaurant was recently opened by a Rohingya family that has settled in Chicago. (See related restaurant review.)
The Family House - Myanmar & Malaysian Cuisine in Chicago
- Category: Latest News
- By:
-
Steve Cain
May, 2018
The Family House - 2305 W Devon Ave, Chicago
The Family House
2305 W. Devon Avenue
(773) 856-0192
In researching Rohingya refugee resettlement in Rogers Park, I stumbled across a fun fact. One enterprising family of Rohingya refugees has pursued their version of the American Dream by opening a restaurant on Devon Avenue. This restaurant – aptly named The Family House – enjoys the distinction of being the first and, so far, only restaurant in Chicago to feature Burmese cuisine.
New Apartment Building on Howard Advances
- Category: Latest News
- May, 2018
After years of inactivity, Howard Street is about to be the location of a new construction apartment building. Jay Johnson, a founding member of RPBG, announced that his development group has received the necessary permits for construction in March and now has a construction trailer on the site. Excavation and site preparation work is set to begin in April or May, and construction should begin soon thereafter.
Sun-Times Editorial Features our own Al Goldberg
- Category: Latest News
- May, 2018
Al Goldberg, a developer of artist studios and apartments in the Glenwood Avenue Arts District, talks with Dorothy Milne, artistic director of Lifeline Theatre, during a walk on Tuesday morning. When Lifeline moved to Glenwood Avenue in 1985, taking over an old Commonwealth Edison substation, the struggling neighborhood began to form a new identity as an arts hub. / Sun-Times Photo by Elizabeth Davidson
An editorial in the Chicago Sun-Times, “Lifeline Theatre in Rogers Park Shows How the Arts Can Transform a City” (April 13, 2018) starts with the story of Glenwood Avenue and its amazing transformation from scary and lifeless back-alley, to the popular neighborhood gathering point it has become today. The editorial says “successful cities make their luck.” If this is true, then one of the people most responsible for “making the luck” of Glenwood Avenue is our own Al Goldberg. Al is a long-time Rogers Park Builders Group member and has served as Arts Chair on the Board of Directors for many years.
Verella’s Round-Up: What do I do when my tenant is in jail?
- Category: Latest News
- Verella Osborne, President, Legal Document Management, Inc.
- May, 2018
Because U.S. criminal and civil laws are separate, a criminal act does not affect a tenant’s civil right to possession of his residence. The first order of business is to confirm the location of the tenant’s incarceration and obtain his inmate number by searching the databases listed below.
Immigration, Refugee Resettlement and Rogers Park – Part Three
- Category: Latest News
- By:
- Steve Cain
Two Centuries of Immigration to Chicago – Past, Present and Future
Introduction: Chicago – City of Immigrants
Chicago has always been a city of immigrants. And few places in the metro area have played a more important role in the lives of immigrants and refugees than Rogers Park. But, in recent years, and notably since the onset of the Great Recession, Chicago’s status as a Gateway City and primary destination for immigrants and refugees has slipped. This is largely due to the region’s lackluster economic recovery.
Ups and Downs - Winter 2018
- Category: Latest News
- By:
-
Steve Cain
Winter 2017-18
It has been an interesting year in many ways, both good and bad. A turbulent 2017 in Washington spilled over into the New Year with a government shutdown marking the Trump administration’s one year anniversary. Instead of attending a gala celebrating in Mar-a-Lago, President Trump spent his weekend in Washington DC in the wake of the happily brief government shutdown. This came after an especially turbulent and acrimonious week of in-fighting in Congress that came to its seemingly inevitable climax on Friday, January 19. As the clock struck midnight, no 11th hour reprieve could be found to stitch together a divided and polarized nation.
Around Rogers Park: Rogers Park Business Alliance Releases Clark Street Plan
- Category: Latest News
- February, 2018
The Rogers Park Business Alliance has long recognized the importance of the Clark Street corridor to the Rogers Park community. In recent years, the organization has sought ways to strengthen the vitality of the corridor, maximize its appeal to Rogers Park residents, and maintain a healthy balance of retail, commercial and residential uses along its length.
Around Rogers Park: Gun Violence Drops in Rogers Park
- Category: Latest News
- February, 2018
Despite some very high profile gun violence in the neighborhood during 2017 – most notably the tragic murder last October of Cynthia Trevillion, a beloved teacher at the Chicago Waldorf School who was gunned down in a random gang shootout on North Glenwood Avenue – homicides in Rogers Park declined from 2016 to 2017. Ms. Trevillion was one of four people killed by gunfire in Rogers Park last year, down from six gun deaths in both 2015 and 2016. Overall, the neighborhood experienced 18 shootings in 2017.
