The Chicago City Council has approved a mixed-use development at 6301 S marking a major step in revitalizing the neighborhood with new affordable housing options led by the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) and designed by K2 Studio is set to replace a vacant lot that previously housed a three-story commercial building five-story structure will stand 65 feet tall and incorporate a mix of residential and commercial spaces The ground floor will feature 2,250 square feet of commercial space which will be divided into two separate retail units along Western Avenue These spaces will bring new business opportunities to the neighborhood while enhancing the streetscape The upper floors will include 44 residential units, primarily one- and two-bedroom apartments, all of which will be classified as affordable housing.The five-storey building’s exterior will be a blend of precast and multi-colored metal panels A large mural is planned for the south-facing elevation adding an artistic element to the design and enhancing the neighborhood’s visual appeal The development team has also prioritized energy-efficient building materials and sustainable design practices to ensure long-term environmental benefits the development is expected to break ground soon with an anticipated completion date in the third quarter of 2026 the project has garnered strong community interest and support The Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) has been eyeing this location for nearly a decade aiming to provide much-needed housing solutions to residents the Chicago City Council approved a zoning adjustment changing the site’s designation from a Neighborhood Shopping District to a Neighborhood Mixed-Use District This change allows for the combination of residential and commercial spaces aligning with the city’s broader urban planning goals The Chicago Lawn development is expected to stimulate local businesses and improve the overall livability of the area The addition of affordable housing is particularly 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how the media sausage is made Important ideas and practical advice: Code Switch features fearless and much-needed conversations about race—and Life Kit offers practical advice on things in life no one prepared you for Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX Reveal is public radio’s first one-hour radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting A weekly program presented by the New Yorker magazine’s editor killer beats and the edgiest new talent in storytelling come together for a weekly show that straps audiences into an audio rollercoaster Radiolab is known for its deep-dive journalism and innovative sound design Created in 2002 by former host Jad Abumrad the program began as an exploration of scientific inquiry Over the years it has evolved to become a platform for long-form journalism and storytelling Radiolab is hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser Fire crews responded to a fire Thursday morning at a building in Chicago Lawn on the Southwest Side One person was hospitalized in a fire at a vacant two-story building Thursday morning in Chicago Lawn on the Southwest Side Firefighters extinguished the blaze about 7:45 a.m The person was taken to Holy Cross Hospital with “very minor” injuries Firefighters rescued someone from the second floor of the building by ladder and another person escaped from the first floor The fire department has responded to fires at the building before City cameras picked up the blaze which resulted in an immediate response by crews The building was said to have been vacant for years and it appears squatters have been using the building “for some time,” fire spokesperson Larry Langford said The cause of the fire is under investigation but may have been caused by “illegal electrical hookups,” fire officials said Update still and box 63 street. Fire is now struck out. Building has had fires in the past and has been vacant for some time. OFI investigating reports of squatters using this building. City cameras picked up this fire leading to the extra alarm response right away pic.twitter.com/mOVTjZTMeG The building sustained “substantial damage” but was still standing CTA rerouted 63rd Street buses as firefighters worked to put out the blaze Terms of Use • Privacy Notice • Cookie Policy • Terms of Sale Pilsen artist Anna Murphy painted both sides of the West 63rd Street viaduct underpass at South Central Park Avenue in Chicago Lawn As artist Anna Murphy worked on a Chicago Lawn viaduct mural “I couldn’t paint if it was below 32 degrees,” she says of the mural she finished in December “But I spent many days out painting when it was 34.” people passing through the viaduct on West 63rd Street at South Central Park Avenue are greeted with a fantastical and detailed blue-and-white world on a gold background critters and flowers — are in stark contrast to the cold and often gray days of a long Chicago winter in artist Anna Murphy’s signature palate of blue is a collection of paintings on four walls of the Chicago Lawn underpass Murphy says she hopes the mural “inspires people to dream and open their hearts and believe beautiful things are possible.” The mural is a collection of paintings on four walls of the underpass: the outside walls and the walls of arches separating the sidewalks from the traffic lanes The illustrated concrete is on the walls facing the sidewalks Murphy tapped her background as an oil painter to create the intricate images of kids hanging on hollyhocks and reaching out to hummingbirds dahlias and trumpet flowers juxtapose warmth next to a backdrop of barren deciduous trees On one side of West 63rd Street is written “Spread your wings and fly.” Across traffic looking back the wall reads “abre tus alas y vuela,” which is a similar phrase in Spanish Pilsen artist Anna Murphy’s work in Chicago Lawn offers flashes of color through the gray archways under the viaduct over West 63rd Street at South Central Park Avenue The arch walls facing the sidewalk are a brilliant gold with blue and white honey bees buzzing alongside and above the domed spaces Murphy says she painted each wall so pedestrians can look through each archway opening from the sidewalks and see a scene framed on the other side of 63rd street The arch walls facing the sidewalk are painted a brilliant gold Pedestrians can look through archways from the sidewalks and see a scene framed on the other side of West 63rd street The mural is “especially geared toward children and youth and wanting to be a place where they feel uplifted and inspired,” Murphy says and I would see how excited they would be to point out the animals and show their parents.” Murphy says she also hopes the mural inspires adults to tap into their inner child Anna Murphy’s mural in Chicago Lawn is geared toward children and the young at heart The kids she drew held a special significance for her white and gold are Murphy’s signature palate She lives in Pilsen but grew up in England and the blue and white imagery reminds her of the china teacups she used as a child Nature is a recurring theme in Murphy’s work symbolizing the foundation of life and humans’ dependence on pollinators and drawings of children were an appropriate addition for this piece — even more so because she learned she was pregnant while painting the mural “It will always have a special place in my heart,” she says The finished mural’s two outside walls are 93 feet by 13 feet and 76 feet by 13 feet The inner arch walls are each 47 feet by 13 feet The mural was commissioned by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Murphy says the mural will be recognized with an event in the spring Pilsen artist Anna Murphy painted both sides of the viaduct over West 63rd Street at South Central Park Avenue in Chicago Lawn was fatally struck by a vehicle during an argument early Sunday in Chicago Lawn A man was struck and killed early Sunday after police say he got into an altercation with a woman in Chicago Lawn in the 2600 block of West 60th Street at 4:50 a.m on Sunday when police say a “verbal altercation” occurred and he refused to get into the vehicle was run over and suffered abdominal injuries Rivera was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition and Rivera’s death was ruled a homicide by the Cook County medical examiner’s office A man who was stabbed in Chicago Lawn on Monday afternoon was hospitalized in critical condition A man was hospitalized after being stabbed Monday afternoon in Chicago Lawn was inside a residence in the 3400 block of West 62nd Place at 3 p.m He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition South Side Weekly Like many other longtime Southwest Siders, I grew up frequenting Marquette Park in Chicago Lawn to gather with family, feed the ducks, or check out the former rose garden the park continues to serve as a reliable space for me to gather safely with friends each time noticing something different: an odd-looking duck graffiti tags with culturally relevant statements or an improvised path leading to a secretly stunning view.   Thanks to groups like the West Lawn Conservation Club and Chicago BIPOC Birders I have become better acquainted with the plants and birds that inhabit the park such as the black-crowned and great blue herons that can often be spotted catching fish with pinpoint precision.  Sign up to get the Weekly Digest delivered to your inbox you’ll find the 315.18 acres of land being utilized in many ways: compadres fish at the lagoon families gather for soccer games at the various fields kids and adults play basketball at the courts and different groups host community or private events.  On especially hot days, the tree canopy and lagoon offer respite from industrialization and the heat island effect of the Southwest Side My favorite trees are the willows that lean towards the lagoon as if staring at their reflection I especially like visiting in the evening when the sun is setting painting the tops of trees pink and illuminating the surface of the lagoon with its glow I recently learned that at the center of the park lies a precolonial piece of land known as the Ashburn Prairie The three-and-a-half acre prairie was transplanted from its original location on 87th and Kedzie in 1993 as a preservation effort This got me wondering how the park’s history shapes how we relate to it Known as the largest park on the Southwest Side Marquette is also marked by a racist history Named after “explorer and missionary” Father Jacques Marquette the park’s racist and violent history—along with the rest of Chicago’s—can be dated back to the colonization of the Americas derived from Jacques Marquette’s “exploration” of the Mississippi River with Louis Joliet disregards the knowledge and relationships to the land that exists among native people According to the Park District’s website Marquette and other Chicago parks were created by the South Park Commission which worked to “acquire” the land between 1878 and 1909.  Frank Foster conceived the new parks as beautifully landscaped ‘breathing spaces’ that would provide educational and social services to the City’s congested immigrant neighborhoods,” the website reads The immigrant communities that these parks were originally designed to serve were composed of central to commemorate the fifty-years since the event The memorial was sponsored by the Inner-city Muslim Action Network located on 63rd and California Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" View More View More Police are parked outside a residence in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood where three people were killed and five were wounded in a shooting Monday What began as a birthday celebration at a Little Village club and moved to a basement apartment in Chicago Lawn where revelers planned to “continue the party” with a popular DJ ended in three men dead and five other people wounded Those were the details of Monday afternoon’s mass shooting in the Southwest Side neighborhood according to a police report obtained by the Sun-Times Monday to a call of people shot at a home in the 3500 block of West 59th Street Chicago Police Chief of Patrol Jon Hein told reporters Witnesses told police they were having a birthday party when a fight erupted in the hallway of the basement multiple gunshots were heard,” according to a police report obtained by the Sun-Times witnesses told investigators that after leaving a club in the 2500 block of South Kedzie Avenue the group wanted to “continue the party” and relocated to the house on 59th Street where a popular Venezuelan DJ was performing The eight victims were four men and four women between the ages of 20 and 35 Two men were found shot toward the back of the basement of the home and were pronounced dead according to police reports obtained by the Sun-Times They were identified as 28-year-old Jon Carlos Blancarcer and 32-year-old Osmer Angel Ferrer Oria according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn police and the medical examiner’s office said The third man killed had been shot in his head Officers found “multiple” shell casings throughout the basement floor While Hein did not provide any information about the shooter or shooters the report said they may have arrived in a green Subaru and tried to flee in it after the shooting Police found a “gun box” on the rear floorboard and the Subaru was towed to an auto pound for processing Hein said he was unable to provide a potential motive Police blocked traffic from entering the 3500 block of West 59th Street as detectives were seen entering and exiting a home Children leaving a nearby school saw the police tape and stopped to see the scene A 27-year-old woman was shot in her head and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition A 24-year-old woman shot six times was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in serious condition A 31-year-old man who was shot in his abdomen and a 21-year-old woman who was shot in her groin both took themselves to University of Illinois Hospital A 25-year-old man who was shot in his thigh was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital Hein didn’t answer a question about whether any of the victims were recently arrived migrants He said police had been called to the home before but did not elaborate “We’re going to solve this crime and find the individuals that are responsible for this heinous Police blocked traffic from entering the 3500 block of West 59th Street as detectives were seen entering and leaving the home Monday afternoon Children going home from a nearby school observed the police tape and stopped to watch the scene said he heard at least 10 gunshots followed by people running from the home Towers told reporters that parties are often hosted at the home Neighbor El Towers said he heard at least 10 gunshots followed by people running from the home One woman who declined to give her name said she had walked on the block half an hour before the shooting Several children were playing outside the home at the time Mayor Brandon Johnson condemned the attack and offered condolences to the victims in a social media post Tuesday “We as a city are praying and grieving for all the victims and their families,” Johnson said in the post “There is no place in our city for senseless acts of violence.” was seriously wounded in a shooting Friday A man was killed and a woman was wounded in a shooting Friday night in Chicago Lawn in the 6700 block of South Western Avenue when someone fired shots was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said A man was seriously injured after he was struck by a semi-truck Jan A man was seriously injured after a semi-truck slid on the road and struck him early Tuesday in Chicago Lawn on the South Side an SUV was going north in the 6700 block of South Western Avenue when the driver turned left in front of the oncoming semi-truck going south collided with the SUV before striking a 66-year-old man and a bus shelter The older man suffered a broken femur and cuts He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn The driver of the SUV suffered “minor injuries” and was taken to Holy Cross Hospital The SUV driver was issued citations for failure to reduce speed failure to yield to a vehicle in the intersection Police parked outside a residence in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood where four people were hurt in a shooting Monday Cook County Crime Stoppers has doubled its reward offer to anyone who can provide information leading to an arrest in a mass shooting that killed three people this month in Chicago Lawn up from the initial $10,000 offered a week after the Dec 2 shooting at a home in the 3500 block of West 59th Street Eight people were wounded — four men and four women — in the afternoon shooting died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office the group wanted to “continue the party” and relocated to the house on 59th Street where a popular Venezuelan deejay was performing The report said the shooter or shooters may have arrived in a green Subaru and tried to flee in it after the shooting Officials have been unable to provide a potential motive or any other information Cook County Crime Stoppers asks anyone with information to submit an anonymous tip at (800) 535-7867 or by email to tips@cookcountycrimestoppers.org. Anonymous tips can be left with Chicago police at (833) 408-0069 or cpdtip.com Two people were wounded in a shooting Thursday at a car dealership in Chicago Lawn were inside the business in the 7300 block of South Western Avenue when a gunman walked in and fired shots before fleeing The man suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his body and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn The woman was grazed on her arm and was listed in good condition at the same hospital A 21-year-old man was found fatally shot inside a car Saturday in Chicago Lawn The man was found with multiple gunshot wounds about 7:15 p.m in the 7200 block of South Washtenaw Avenue He was identified as Christion Tucker by the Cook County medical examiner’s office Circumstances of the shooting were not known The former Illinois National Guard armory near Midway Airport Chicago Lawn is the city’s second-largest police district with cops answering calls from Pershing Road and Kedzie Avenue all the way to 87th Street and Cicero Avenue It’s hard to properly patrol that much real estate But a solution seemed simple enough: split the district in two and add a new police station The district’s residents and elected officials agree Especially since the state wants to sell the city a closed Illinois National Guard Armory at 5400 W for $1 so the building can be converted into a new police district headquarters But leave it to Mayor Brandon Johnson and his administration Johnson wants to accept the armory from the state — but he doesn’t want to turn it into a much-needed police station his administration plans to use the building to store and maintain squad cars Voters in the 13th and 23rd wards want the new police station they voted in favor of a nonbinding referendum to create a new police district “The mayor is playing politics with public safety and the mayor appears to be OK with that.” The Johnson administration last week said turning the armory into a police station would violate federal air traffic safety rules because the building sits so close to the southern edge of Midway Airport’s runways But rather than turning the building into a municipal fix-it shop the Johnson administration should work with the federal government to turn the armory into the much-needed police station such as working with the feds to get a runway protection zone variance just as the city did to allow construction of a third story atop John Hancock College Prep at 5437 W Marty Quinn (13th) said FAA waivers are often granted and the Johnson administration’s argument against turning the armory into a police station doesn’t fly “If it’s in the runway protection zone and [the armory is] a hindrance to aircraft flying in and out of Midway The station would go in the other building and is “a block away from the Chicago Fire Department,” Quinn said I don’t understand how it’s applicable here when there’s a fire station a block to the east.” Quinn said Johnson’s own Department of Aviation backed an ordinance in March — before the state agreed to essentially give the armory to the city — to try to buy it for $1.3 million ‘We can’t do that because of the FAA’ then,” Quinn said But now “that we want to do a police district and we passed a bill that the sole purpose is a police district ‘You can’t do that because of the FAA.’ No JB Pritzker a letter asking him to delay the sale until there are conversations with the mayor Johnson claims the federal government needs to sign off on it Johnson has said he has been working collaboratively with the alders on the issue but they say there hasn’t been conversation with the mayor about it Tabares and Quinn say the 8th District can no longer serve and protect on its own Send letters to letters@suntimes.com The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds. See our guidelines Get Opinions content delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here More about the Sun-Times Editorial Board at chicago.suntimes.com/about/editorial-board Chicago police are searching for the driver of a gray or black four-door sedan who they say struck and killed a 54-year-old woman in the 6700 block of South Western Avenue and then fled the scene Wednesday Chicago police are searching for the driver who struck and killed a pedestrian Wednesday evening in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood in the 6700 block of South Western Avenue when the driver of a gray or black four-door sedan hit her and continued driving Tanja Annzionetta Safford was pronounced dead about 11:30 p.m. Anyone with information is urged to contact CPD’s Major Accident Investigation Unit at (312) 745-4521. Anonymous tips can be submitted at cpdtip.com. A Chicago mass shooting killed three people and injured five others on Monday inside a home in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood in the southwest side of the city according to the Chicago Police Department No arrests have been made and an investigation is ongoing Chicago Police Chief of Patrol Jon Hein said at a press conference that police believe the shooting took place at a social gathering He added that the victims were of a Hispanic background ages 21 to 35 but could not comment on their relationships to each other No children were present during the incident "We're going to solve this crime and find the individuals that were responsible for this heinous terrible incident," Hein told reporters responding officers found eight victims suffering from gunshot wounds including three men who died either at the scene or at the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn Police said that one of the three men was 26 but did not provide the others' ages Two shooting victims were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago including a 25-year-old man in stable condition and a 27-year-old woman in critical condition A 31-year-old man and 21-year-old woman were both treated at the UI Health Hospital in Chicago A 24-year-old woman was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in serious condition after enduring several gunshot wounds to her shoulder This is a developing story was updated to add new information When Pastor Corey Brooks woke up to a call from his godson’s mother saying 21-year-old Christion Tucker had been fatally shot in Chicago Lawn Saturday night and her family have had to navigate an unexpected and violent death Benson’s younger son, Tucker’s 15-year-old brother, Chauncey Tucker, died in a South Holland crash involving an Illinois Department of Transportation snowplow in 2018 “It’s hard to even talk about because it makes me just start tearing up,” said Brooks “The first thing I wanted to do was just get to wherever he [Tucker] was and see what was really going on He was the last kid that you would think this would happen to “It was a traumatic experience for his entire family,” Brooks said spoke to Tucker was about a position Tucker was slated to start this week at the nonprofit organization geared toward building communities and ending violence Brooks described Tucker as smart and respectful with a smile and attitude that always stood out who died of multiple gunshot wounds in a homicide Saturday in the 7200 block of South Washtenaw Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said Relatives are offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest in Tucker’s slaying As the family endured the excruciating pain of losing Tucker over the weekend they also grappled with memories of his brother Chauncey who was a basketball player at a junior college with a passion for music little brother” relationship with Chauncey and even got a tattoo of his brother’s name on his forearm when Chauncey died who felt responsible for helping look after him Brooks and about 15 of Tucker’s friends and relatives celebrated his 21st birthday with him at Carson’s Ribs They poked fun at Tucker as he sipped red wine and devoured prime rib for the first time who said it remains one of his most cherished memories “It was a real fun celebration with great food.” Heartbreak returned over the weekend when they learned Tucker had been killed major setback for their family,” Brooks said Tucker was looking forward to starting work with his godfather “He was excited about being around and being a part of Project H.O.O.D.,” Brooks said Brooks, who has worked in gun violence prevention since the 1993 murder of Johnny Terrell Thomas said that while the suffering of losing his godson hurts it also highlights the importance of his work and if I feel the hurt and pain that I feel I can only imagine how people who don’t have a spiritual foundation or don’t have the support [are] feeling when they experience this situation in their lives.” Police blocked traffic from entering the 3500 block of West St Louis Avenue as detectives were seen entering and exiting a home Children leaving a nearby school observed the police tape and stopped to see the scene A $10,000 reward has been offered to anyone who is able to provide information leading to an arrest in the mass shooting that killed three people last week in Chicago Lawn said the reward will be offered for 60 days 2 to a call of people shot at a home in the 3500 block of West 59th Street Eight people — four men and four women between the ages of 20 and 35 — were found shot 28-year-old Jon Carlos Blancarcer and 32-year-old Osmer Angel Ferrer Oria Cook County Crime Stoppers asks anyone with information to submit an anonymous tip at (800) 535-7867 or tips@cookcountycrimestoppers.org. Anonymous tips can be left with Chicago police at (833) 408-0069 or cpdtip.com Officers found the 30-year-old with multiple gunshot wounds in a vehicle around 7:50 p.m A man was found shot to death Thursday night in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the South Side The man was identified as Marcus Ranson by the Cook County medical examiner’s office Police said two suspects were seen fleeing from the scene No arrests had been made as of early Friday evening A 15-year-old boy was accidentally shot Jan A 15-year-old boy was taken to a hospital in fair condition after accidentally shooting himself in the arm early Friday in Chicago Lawn on the Southwest Side the teen was in the 7100 block of South Kedzie Avenue when he was handling a handgun and accidentally fired a shot He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with a gunshot wound to his left forearm No arrests were made and Area 1 detectives are investigating 2025 at 9:01 am CT.css-79elbk{position:relative;}Walgreens announced plans to shutter stores Bronzeville South Shore and South Chicago in February 2025 (Scott Anderson/Patch)CHICAGO — Walgreens plans to shutter pharmacies on Chicago’s South and West Sides this winter The closures will affect stores in Bronzeville The closures are part of a larger plan to close1,200 stores over the next three years as the struggling drugstore chain headquartered in Deerfield attempts to complete a successful financial turnaround About 500 of the closures would occur in the current fiscal year The closures were announced as the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $3 billion Walgreens officials remained optimistic about the chain's long-term survival prospects The chain confirmed that these five stores would be closed around Feb Walgreens officials blame increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures weigh in on the company’s abilities to cover the costs of rent “It is never an easy decision to close a store. We know that our stores are important to the communities that we serve, and therefore do everything possible to improve the store performance,” a Walgreens spokesperson told Crain’s we will work in partnership with community stakeholders to minimize customer disruptions We intend to redeploy the majority of our team members from those stores that we close.” Plans are to relocate employees from the stores slated to close next month to other Walgreens locations Pharmacy records of customers will also be transferred to the nearest location The closures spark concerns about South and West Side residents’ access to needed medications and prescriptions as other pharmacies have come and gone Residents in those neighborhoods may now have to travel farther to get their prescriptions filled South Side state lawmakers said in a statement to Block Club Chicago that the Walgreens closures would be a “devastating blow.” “Corporate chains like Walgreens have driven mom-and-pop pharmacies out of business consolidating control over vital services in our neighborhoods,” the statement read they are leaving behind pharmacy deserts that make it even harder for working families to access the care they need.” Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. A man was killed and two others wounded in a shooting Wednesday in Chicago Lawn The three men were standing on a sidewalk about 7:50 p.m in the 6200 block of South Campbell Avenue when two people approached them and fired shots A 41-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene He was identified as Corey Deandre Avilez by the Cook County medical examiner’s office A 51-year-old man was shot in the leg and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in fair condition with gunshot wounds to his arm and leg The Chicago City Council has approved a mixed-use affordable development at 6301 S Planned by Southwest Organizing Project and Brinshore Development the project will be located at the southeast corner of the intersection of S An existing building on the site will be demolished the new five-story building will stand approximately 65 feet tall the building will have 2,250 square feet of retail space as well as a fitness room and community room all fronting S The residential lobby will be accessed from W 63rd St and a shared laundry room will be included behind the lobby A surface parking lot will have 11 car parking spaces accessed via a curb cut along W The upper four floors will hold all 44 residential units the site will be rezoned from B1-2 to B2-3 The developers can now move forward with permitting and construction was in an alley near the 3600 block of West 60th Place at 4:36 p.m Sunday when he was shot in the armpit and head A man was fatally shot in West Lawn on Sunday afternoon died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide A man has died days after a shooting in Chicago Lawn on the southwest side A man has died more than a week after he was wounded in a Chicago Lawn shooting marking the 22nd homicide victim from the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend died Friday of a gunshot wound suffered July 3rd in the 6500 block of South Western Avenue according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office Tovar is the 22nd person to be killed in shootings over the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend and Tovar was traveling in a vehicle when someone in another vehicle opened fire Tovar was pronounced dead Friday at 9:57 p.m and a Saturday autopsy determined Tovar died of a gunshot wound to the neck according to the medical examiner’s office Tovar was initially taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition Aaronayjah Medley was the 21st homicide victim of that violent weekend while Guillermo Ruiz Hernandez Chicago gangs were suspected to be behind 1,808 crimes reported across the city in 2023 with more than 1-in-5 homicides being attributed to gang activity Use the table below to look up how the number of gang crimes reported in your neighborhood compared to the rest of the city Chicago neighborhoods each reported an average of more than 16 gang-related crimes Total crimes per neighborhood averaged 2,776 • How has gang crime changed in Chicago during the past two decades • Joel Hamernick, founder of The Coach House Solutions Group, and how he’s helped non-profits work to combat violence in Chicago • Tio Hardiman, founder of Violence Interrupters, and his ongoing efforts to curb Chicago gun violence This story is part of Reframing Crime Narratives a 10-part series about public safety by The TRiiBE to create space for community conversation about crime in Chicago The series is supported in part by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Envisioning Justice grant by Illinois Humanities neighbors and local organizations say they are addressing crime and improving the area’s quality of life by rehabbing long-abandoned buildings and acquiring vacant lots to build new affordable homes that are then sold to interested buyers Called Reclaiming Southwest Chicago, the project is a years-long effort — now in its second phase — that organizers say has led to a 73% reduction in overall crime and 50% reduction in violent crime in Chicago Lawn, according to CPD crime data. Chicago Lawn has been a majority Hispanic, Latinx and Black neighborhood since the project began in 2012 the project could serve as a blueprint for curing crime in other Black and marginalized communities business owners and others in the area say The first phase of Reclaiming Southwest Chicago near the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) the organization behind Reclaiming Southwest Chicago SWOP said the project also led to a 91% decrease in the number of vacant properties in the 60629 zip code which includes Chicago Lawn and other neighborhoods It’s the belief of SWOP Executive Director Jeff Bartow and others involved with Reclaiming Southwest Chicago such as organizations like United Power for Action and Justice and the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) that restoring dilapidated buildings attracting crime can help curb the issue before it begins while also inspiring neighborhood pride ‘What should our response to this be?’” Bartow said “We started talking with colleagues within United Power around that time would take the lead in strategically seeking to build back the neighborhood.” SWOP’s initial target area alone included about 93 vacant addresses when the project began SWOP decreased the area’s number of vacant homes to eight One person with firsthand experience of the transformation Chicago Lawn has undergone is Rafi Peterson the site director of Communities Partnering for Peace (CP4P) Peterson began working with SWOP in 2003 as part of its Ceasefire program and helped assist in the building of several Chicago Lawn homes as part of the project’s first phase “People within the community wanted better and then we started figuring out a way to have that,” he said Many of the vacant homes and lots restored in Chicago Lawn were victims of the United States foreclosure crisis which began in 2010 when many Black communities lost their homes after struggling with high-interest mortgage loans Peterson can still recall the extreme effect the foreclosure crisis had on Chicago Lawn Even a home Peterson helped acquire to serve as transitional housing when he worked for IMAN had once been a victim of foreclosure and attracted crime it was 40 houses on [one] block and over 20 of those houses were vacant,” Peterson said They got foreclosed on … and so the house that we had was definitely one of the houses that gang members were actually living in.” Drugs and sex work were also commonly exchanged at these homes said after a violent sex crime occurred near one of these homes the Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation IMAN began to acquire buildings across the street from St Rita’s of Cascia Parish and Fairfield Elementary School Neighbors were becoming frustrated with the vacant buildings and increasing crime so the groups collaborated to acquire one of the buildings through a rarely-used city ordinance that offloaded abandoned buildings to neighborhood nonprofits It became the second home to be restored through IMAN’s Green Reentry Program and was later rented out “That building had become such a representation of the degradation of the neighborhood,” Bilal said “It had become a hideaway home — some of the local kids would perch in that building and they would wait until school was out and they would go and snatch purses from parents who were picking up their kids at the school we came across a young woman who had been sexually accosted in the gangway of that building and we said Bilal said the block is now “one of the safest blocks in this neighborhood and the neighbors on either side [of the street] will tell you that this is a block where the quality of life has been significantly increased.” the year Reclaiming Southwest Chicago began there had been just over 1,000 violent crimes in Chicago Lawn By the end 2019 when the project’s first phase ended the number of violent crimes reported decreased to  738 according to City of Chicago Violence and Victimization Trend data fatal and non-fatal shootings dropped to 91 in 2019 from 140 in 2012 Though many acknowledge that Chicago Lawn has become a safer community over the years some believe housing alone can’t decrease crime in Black communities should be coupled with neighborhood services that can address the other needs of marginalized people “I think programming and access to things like jobs and resources [is important],” said Jeremy Wright the owner and CEO of Thrift a Black-owned business marketplace and secondhand clothes shop in Chicago Lawn who’s lived and worked in the area since 2017 He also serves as a commissioner for Special Service Area #59 but all of this stuff is not being committed by homeless people and stuff like that So I think it’s about giving people access to a living wage through work,” Wright said crime hasn’t been a major issue in Chicago Lawn’s business district who he recalls as being “always in and out” was shot and killed one year after Thrift began operating in 2021 I think some of those things are not happening all time.” recognize the decrease in crime in Chicago Lawn shouldn’t be attributed to just the group’s housing project but instead the collaborative efforts of the entire community “We’d love to claim credit for all of that and say absolutely [but] I’m sure it was about many things; our housing campaign SWOP has several programs that encompass its slate of work alongside its Reclaiming Southwest Chicago housing project SWOP is also the lead agency of the southwest side for the Healthy Chicago Equity Zone campaign leads the Southwest System of Care (SWSOC) collaborative and regularly organizes around local issues organizing and advocacy work and more throughout the Chicago Lawn community creating after-school and out-of-school time programming The work with immigrants was a piece of it The stuff we did on police accountability was a piece of it people who were coming in and buying buildings and rehabbing those properties were also a big piece of it,” Brown said Currently, Rev. James Meeks’, formerly of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago, Hope Center Foundation is spearheading Reclaiming Roseland, and, as of January, SWOP had seven Chicago Lawn properties, five being single family homes or two-flats and two being multi-unit buildings, with the goal of completing 25 more buildings by the end of 2024, according to SWOP’s 2024 housing campaign plans. Brown believes replicating the work done in Chicago Lawn will require developing a community organizing strategy with strong actors who will be committed to ensuring the success of the project even over many years It should also allow people to “come together work through their local institutions and build power to act.” People like Wright also think it’s important to acknowledge that many Black communities in Chicago have been shrinking as people leave for other cities or states to escape what many see as a pervasive issue with violence and crime Black people should be investing in their communities and we’re not seeing the value in our land “We see that in Woodlawn and in spaces that’ve been gentrified and I think that it’s important that we continue to promote that message that it is about what we can create in community not what somebody else values our spaces to be.” Subscribe to The TRiiBE Weekly to receive top stories and movement calls-to-action delivered straight to your inbox The TRiiBE is a media company that is reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago in pursuit of truth and liberation