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©2015 Poste
2117 Fourth
Berkeley CA
posterprese
The purpose of this research is to explore how musical venues in the Chicago
neighborhood of Pilsen have altered, affected, or been affected in response to
demographic shifts within their neighborhood. Music venues have a great deal of
importance to neighborhoods, as contributors to the local economy and as distributors
of musical cultural experience. Venues can be representative of distinct local cultural
influence, attracting people from within the immediate neighborhood or adjacent
neighborhoods, but just as importantly they attract people from outside the immediate
community areas, city, and state as well. They are unique fixtures within the
community, as they have to rely upon the patronage of people from outside the
community. In turn, the venues indirectly bring new influences into the area, and upon
the urban landscape.
By conducting ethnographic research, combined with textual and geospatial
analysis we are able to see that there has indeed been demographic shifts within the
neighborhood of Pilsen, and that the local communities not only recognize the process
but are outwardly concerned with disassociating from the elements they see as
vectors of Gentrification. In combination with community outreach and engagement,
there is an underlying stigmatization of the term “gentrification”, and all associations
connected to “urban development”
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND
1. In my research I integrated archival, scholarly, and ethnographic
research in order to understand the current/past demographics and
events of the neighborhood in regard to its contemporary Mexican-
American roots.
2. I established establish historic context through the archival
research of public records available through Chicago Data Portal,
in combination with public records available through the
Census.gov, the databases listed through the online resources of
Encyclopedia of Chicago, along with the database resources
through the DePaul library of Social Explorer.
3. I supplemented this research with recent ethnographic and
historical accounts of resident displacement and gentrification
within Pilsen obtained through the electronic resources of
Proquest, JSTOR, and Chicago Public Library.
4. I then conducted my own ethnographic research in the
neighborhood of Pilsen/Lower West Side, utilizing survey data,
observational research, along with visual observation of the
buildings/neighborhoods themselves.
5. . The participant observation was conducted at a planned 4
performance sites of Jurassic World, Café Mestizo, The Dojo, and
Thalia Hall. At the sites, I allotted for time before and after
performances observing the space of the venue itself (what parts
are allocated to the audience and the artist) and taking notes upon
the demographics of people represented, and engaging in informal
conversation. I soon discovered Jurassic World and Café Mestizo
closed down soon after I began the investigation.
6. The surveys were distributed through flyers, and the social
networking services of Facebook and Twitter.
7. I created maps displaying pertinent geographic and demographic
information in order to visualize potential changes that occurred in
Pilsen from 2000-2010 Census data.
METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS
RESULTS OF SPATIAL & DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS
CONCLUSIONS
• THE DOJO ( 8 PARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONS) ARTISTIC DIY SPACE
• At each show there always appeared to be a full audience of people (“full”
here signifies there were no visibly open areas in the performance area except
for the performer’s stage).
• At each show the demographics changed based upon the performers (e.g. at
LatinX night, there was a predominately speaking speaking audience, whereas
at the poetry slam/hiphop nights it was mostly an African American audience)
• The Gender split of 50/50 males/females was however consistent across
all shows
• At each show I noticed consistent topics being discussed , especially in regards
to contemporary or abstract expressionist art, independent cinema projects,
independent music, almost all relating directly to artists who were either part
of/or connected to the Chicago Do it yourself Artistic Scene.
• The language utilized by the attendants was consistently positive, with people
encouraging others to commit to whatever artistic project they discussed.
• Across every show, people were always friendly and courteous to one another,
and the environment was one based on exchange; if you could not afford
admittance to the venue , you could work the door for them for a certain
amount of time, you could give them beverages, tobacco products, or other
products in place.
• No one spoke of urban development except in a negative light. Everyone
seemed to have a story they could bring up if the topic was mentioned,
whereby a friend, or family member had become a victim of it.
• The venue itself was a house, with dedicated rooms holding exhibits of local
artists work based upon the theme of the evening.
THALIA HALL (3 PERFORMANCES)
• The venue itself was brand new only 3 years old.
• The people were predominately white with a 50/50 split between male and
female attendants at each show.
• The people attending the shows were not outwardly social and kept to
themselves.
• Most people stuck close to the bar until the shows began
• There was less respect for the opening numbers than at the Dojo
• People spent a longer portion of the shows on their phones than at the Dojo
shows.
• Following shows people went to new bars/restaurants located nearby the venue
which opened following the redevelopment of Thalia Hall in 2013
• The artists performing at Thalia were acclaimed and established independent
bands such as Cat Power, WarPaint, and Rodriguez
REFERENCES
Casuso, Jorge, and Eduardo Camacho. Hispanics in Chicago. Chicago, IL: Reporter and the Center for
Community Research and Assistance of the Community Renewal Society, 1985. Print.
Genova, Nicholas De, and Ana Y. Ramos-Zayas. Latino Crossings: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and the Politics
of Race and Citizenship. New York: Routledge, 2003. Print.
Lees, Loretta, Tom Slater, and Elvin K. Wyly. The Gentrification Reader. London: Routledge, 2010. Print.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dr. Eva Jane Baxter, Ed Childs, Amanda Weinper, and Michelle
Starkey for helping me in performing this research along with Alex Palma of the Dojo
and Amy Newman for putting up with my hours while conducting this research.
Pilsen is well recognized within the city as a hub for the Mexican community of
Chicago. It holds the Mexican Museum of art, Plaza Tenochtitlan, and innumerable
restaurants, vending various foods of equally various Mexican regions. .
TIMELINE FOR DEVELOPMENT
• 1950s:
• Beginnings of mass movement into the neighborhood of Pilsen following
a forced removal from the Near West Side due to the construction of
the University of Illinois at Chicago. Initial Mexican population of .5%,
reached to 14% by the year 1960. By 1970, Pilsen had become 55%
Mexican population, of whom 22% had been foreign born.
• 1950-1960:
• Population of Pilsen became locus of political organization and
mobilization, devoted to the interest of the community in activism and
the collective wellbeing of its residents.
• 1960s-1970s:
• Grass roots organizations formed, embracing a popular D.I.Y attitude,
fighting on behalf of the community for basic rights and access to
“better public services, education, and housing.” (Genova and Rayas).
* Sentiment of Mexican Identity in neighborhood “a sentiment,
which would for the foreseeable future become insistently more
‘ethnic’ rather than less” (Genova and Rayas, 39).
* New immigrants found roots to their homes, with over 368,981
Mexicans being located in Chicago (Casuso and Camaucho).
• Late 1970s-1980s:
• Populations affected by poverty and neglect, resulted in high drop out
rates, crime, and illness due to factors such as industrial workplace
relocation
• “Pilsen was the only Chicago neighborhood where Latinos
constituted an absolute majority. Not only the largest, it was also
the poorest neighborhood in the city and ranked in the bottom
fifth among the city’s impoverished areas.” (Genova and Zayas,
39)
By Miles Van Denburg
SURG College of Liberal Arts, DePaul University
Urban Dynamics: The Production of Musical Space and Identity in the Lower West Side
76
51
25
2
7
6
28
8
55
4
70
61
49
3
30
10
24
56
5
15
19
71
17
1
23
22
53
69
66
54
46
75
16
29
12
72
67 68
52
65
44
43
31
73
58
74
64
13
11
9
63
50
60
42
57
21
27
14
33
48
77
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4140
59
26
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47
36
Area Number and Community Area
1, ROGERS PARK
10, NORWOOD PARK
11, JEFFERSON PARK
12, FOREST GLEN
13, NORTH PARK
14, ALBANY PARK
15, PORTAGE PARK
16, IRVING PARK
17, DUNNING
18, MONTCLARE
19, BELMONT CRAGIN
2, WEST RIDGE
20, HERMOSA
21, AVONDALE
22, LOGAN SQUARE
23, HUMBOLDT PARK
24, WEST TOWN
25, AUSTIN
26, WEST GARFIELD PARK
27, EAST GARFIELD PARK
28, NEAR WEST SIDE
29, NORTH LAWNDALE
3, UPTOWN
30, SOUTH LAWNDALE
31, LOWER WEST SIDE
32, LOOP
33, NEAR SOUTH SIDE
34, ARMOUR SQUARE
35, DOUGLAS
36, OAKLAND
37, FULLER PARK
38, GRAND BOULEVARD
39, KENWOOD
4, LINCOLN SQUARE
40, WASHINGTON PARK
41, HYDE PARK
42, WOODLAWN
43, SOUTH SHORE
44, CHATHAM
45, AVALON PARK
46, SOUTH CHICAGO
47, BURNSIDE
48, CALUMET HEIGHTS
49, ROSELAND
5, NORTH CENTER
50, PULLMAN
51, SOUTH DEERING
52, EAST SIDE
53, WEST PULLMAN
54, RIVERDALE
55, HEGEWISCH
56, GARFIELD RIDGE
57, ARCHER HEIGHTS
58, BRIGHTON PARK
59, MCKINLEY PARK
6, LAKE VIEW
60, BRIDGEPORT
61, NEW CITY
62, WEST ELSDON
63, GAGE PARK
64, CLEARING
65, WEST LAWN
66, CHICAGO LAWN
67, WEST ENGLEWOOD
68, ENGLEWOOD
69, GREATER GRAND CROSSING
7, LINCOLN PARK
70, ASHBURN
71, AUBURN GRESHAM
72, BEVERLY
73, WASHINGTON HEIGHTS
74, MOUNT GREENWOOD
75, MORGAN PARK
76, OHARE
77, EDGEWATER
8, NEAR NORTH SIDE
9, EDISON PARK
0 2.5 5 7.5 101.25
Miles
·
Community Areas for City of Chicago
Created By Miles Van Denburg
Source: City of Chicago Data Portal
Geographic Coordinate System: WGS84(DD)
Datum: WGS84
LOWER WEST SIDE
BRIDGEPORT
NEAR WEST SIDE
MCKINLEY PARK
“The Dojo’s mission is to inspire social change by fostering and cultivating projects
that connect the local community with musicians and artists from not only Chicago
but all over the world. We seek to provide a safe, friendly, and creative space to
engage with the music & arts scene. As a collective group we each value
collaboration, self-expression, and communication. Everyone, including our guests,
who enters the space has a responsibility to uphold these values.”
PURPOSE & SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
• The neighborhoods of Chicago are dynamic and as new communities form, new public
identities are added to the area. Understanding this process of cultural assimilation and
adaptation is relevant to contemporary society as there is potential for the occurrence of
violence and destruction due to a lack of cultural cohesion/understanding. As musical
venues are seen as cultural markers, analyzing how they attract people to seeing music
and art could be extrapolated into a larger analysis of improving and understanding
cultural cohesion.
• By investigating these cultural markers, we can better understand identity preservation
in neighborhoods being effected by gentrification. Gentrification will be defined in this
study according to Lees, Slater, and Wyly’s definition:
• “The transformation of working-class or vacant area
of the central city into middle-class residential or commercial use”
This project asks two questions:
1. Is there evidence of demographic change in the areas of Pilsen surrounding the
musical venues?
2. How have the economic changes of a neighborhood affected the identity of the
venue itself?
Figure B: Median Household Income 2000-2010 Census Data Figure C: Percentage of Population 25 years and Older with a Bachelors Degree Income 2000-2010
Census Data
Figure D: Owner Occupied Housing Units 2000-2010 Census Data
Figure E: Non-Hispanic vs Hispanic Population Density 2000-2010 Census Data
Figure A: Community Area Map for City of Chicago with Inset Pilsen/ Lower
West Side Map
Photo 1B: Warpaint live at the Redone Thalia Hall
Photo 1A: LatinX World Night, A Latin ^ Central American artist night
RESULTS OF ETHNOGRAPHY
From not only the information gathered from the spatial analysis, but also from my
participant observations, It becomes apparent that there have indeed been demographic
changes in the neighborhood. From figures A we see an average increase in median income
within the neighborhood over 10 years, accompanied by an increase in college educated
residents over the age of 25 in figure C, and an increase in non-Hispanic residents in Figure D.
While these figures may demonstrate certain changes that have occurred, it is the
ethnographic observation that displays the different atmospheres between the venues and
how they produce their space. Thalia Hall is a historic site, over a hundred years old and was
originally a theater for the Czechoslovakian population which resided in Pilsen before the
Mexican American population.
While Thalia Hall markets itself as the cool, hip, and trendy nostalgic/revivalist venue, the
Dojo promotes itself as the social venue, one that has roots to the community and a network
of artists local to Chicago and international. The Dojo manifests itself as a equal ground
venue, where everyone is encouraged to engage/converse/hang out with everyone else.
Everyone is expected to be open and responsive to others in a safe space. They acknowledge
the presence of development forces and have increased the networking of DIY spaces in Pilsen
as a result, helping to bolster the local artist scene and strengthen their presence so that they
are not forced from the place they have made their second home. While Thalia Hall has
appeared to increase the development of niche stores/bars surrounding the area, the Dojo has
likewise increased their presence both online and In real life to let others know the their is
still a place for locals.
Figure E: Mission Statement of The Dojo