CITY OF NEIGHBORHOODS PROJECT CAPTURES LOCAL NEIGHBORHOODS, BUSINESSES

CITY OF NEIGHBORHOODS PROJECT CAPTURES LOCAL NEIGHBORHOODS, BUSINESSES

By Safiyyah P. Muhammad

Chicago is made up of many neighborhoods and Jason Sofianos, Founder of the City y of Neighborhoods Project is on a mission to shine the spotlight on them all. The City of Neighborhoods Project highlights local neighborhoods, the people who live there and local businesses in the community.

“Several years ago, I become interested in Chicago’s architecture and I started reading about the history and landmark of Chicago. I began to venture out to parts of the city that I didn’t know about or places that was ever mentioned. So, I created a travel website similar to 36 Hours (a newspaper column) that appears in the New York Times that features different cities across the country.”

We also created a blog to promote neighborhood businesses. We wanted to learn more about these businesses to encourage foot traffic. Chicago has the lake, but we don’t have mountains. What we do have are neighborhoods and for me that’s reinvigorating” Sofianos said.

Sofianos explained that neighborhoods across the city were selected based on a rotation system to ensure that different neighborhoods are highlighted. “I rotate around the city scouting neighborhoods. For instance, I might feature a neighborhood on the north side and then move on to the south and west sides of the city. I chose Andersonville first, because that’s where I live. If I’ m going to support businesses, I wanted to start in my own community first. My goal is to cover pretty much the entire city.”

The Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood recently made its debut in Sofianos City of Neighborhoods Project featuring Greater Grand Crossing commercial district that runs along the Seventy-Fifth Street locale. Businesses highlighted included Dan’s Woodshop, 5 Loaves Eatery, Brown Sugar Bakery, ETA Creative Arts Foundation, Black Cinema House, Soul Food Vegetarian, Stony Island Arts Bank and Gar y Comer Youth Center and Lem’s Bar-B-Q .

“Grand Crossing was big discovery for me. Historically, it is known as the ‘bungalow belt’ (large numbers of bungalow homes) and the neighborhood contain quite a fe w businesses. Seventy-Fifth Street is a heavy commercial district and I needed a neighborhood with lots of commercial business in order to do a cohesive piece,” he said.

According to a C Chicago Neighborhoods website, Greater Grand Crossing received its name in 1853, after a dangerous crossing train accident killed 18 people and injured 40 others.

Sofianos added that the work of Theaster Gates, a world renowned international artist, has made him think more about Greater Grand Crossing. According to Sofianos, Gates has re-purposed commercial structures in the Grand Crossing community and turned them into art spaces.

When one drives through Chicago’s neighborhood, there are obvious disparities and differences that make up neighborhoods such as race, income, education and employment opportunities but there is also a commonality that exists between Chicago neighborhoods. “The common thread that runs through all of these neighborhoods is that they are made up of people with families who are working and who are busy with their lives, ” Sofianos said.

Sofianos further stated that the City of Neighborhoods Project is not funded through a grant program, but with the help of his wife and a friend, he has been successful with the ongoing Neighborhood project. To learn more about the City of Neighborhoods Project, please visit: www. thecityofneighborhoodsproject. com.

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