Four Teens Shot Near Dick Durbin And Rahm Emanuel's Planned Neighborhood Revitalization Meeting On South Side

Four teens were wounded Tuesday night in a drive-by shooting in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood--where Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan will announce a $30 million federal grant to revitalize the blighted community Wednesday.

The teens were sitting on a porch in the 6200 block of South Rhodes Avenue about 9:40 p.m. when someone in a silver vehicle pulled up and began shooting at the group, the Chicago Tribune reports.

A 14-year-old boy was shot in his right thigh and taken to University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital in critical condition, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Two other teens, ages 18 and 15, were taken to Stroger Hospital, also in critical condition. A 17-year-old boy suffered a graze wound to his left thigh and was initially listed in fair condition, but later taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

All four are expected to survive, the Sun-Times reports.

On Sunday, a 15-year-old was shot in his back just blocks from Tuesday night's shooting.

The West Woodlawn area is struggling despite its proximity to the University of Chicago. The school recently signed an agreement with the city hoping to change that, according to WBEZ:

Last week the city signed an agreement with the University of Chicago that pledges the school to usher in neighborhood revitalization in surrounding neighborhoods.

Mayor Emanuel, Sen. Durbin and HUD Secretary Donovan will discuss further plans to revitalize the area Wednesday. According to the mayor's office, Chicago is one of five cities nationwide to receive grants under HUD's "Choice Neighborhoods" program. The program aims to turn high-poverty, "distressed" neighborhoods into communities with affordable housing, safe streets and access to quality schools.

New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle also received HUD grants. In a statement, President Barack Obama said America will only "win the future" by making sure everyone has access to the American Dream.

“This is a great day for Chicago and the countless families who will benefit from the transformation this funding will bring to the South Side,” Secretary Donovan said in a statement. “Choice Neighborhoods recognizes that we must link affordable housing with quality schools, public transportation, good jobs and safe streets. This is the next generation of neighborhood revitalization that not only transforms distressed housing, but heals entire communities.”

The grant will lead to the redevelopment of Grove Parc Plaza, an assisted housing development that has been plagued by violence, unemployment and lack of access to services for residents in recent years. HUD wanted to foreclose the property a few years ago, WBEZ reports, but residents fought to redevelop the area. Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) has been working with other local non-profits to fix up the area ever since, and most of the "Choice Neighborhoods" grant will go toward accomplishing that goal.

No arrests have been made in Tuesday night's shooting.

Comments

[acumenguy]

11:35 PM on 08/31/2011

Time for old school police tactics. Kick in doors, crack heads, constant stop-and-search, disrupt every drug spot, frequent arrest, property seizure. Time to get real "elliot Ness" on Chicago street gangs.

[Frank David Nall]

08:11 PM on 08/31/2011

And thus it came to pass that Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

[rockdewd]

07:32 PM on 08/31/2011

You want to clean up this neighborhood? Spending money on flowers and remodeling won't do any good. Take that money and spend it on identifying and getting rid of the troublemakers.

The good people of this area will then step up and tend to their own flowers and remodeling once the streets are safe..

[Squiriferous]

04:50 PM on 08/31/2011

"Neighborhood revitalization"? Give me a break. Wall the neighborhood off with 30 foot-high chain link fences adorned with concertina wire and call it a day. Leave these animals to their own devices.

[BVictor1]

04:39 PM on 08/31/2011

I live 3 1/2 blocks away from there.

Was on my front porch last night when several police cars, an ambulance and firetruck raced down the street.

Didn't hear the shots though.

[dredselw]

03:44 PM on 08/31/2011

Throwing good money after bad! It's not the buildings that are the problem, it's the people who live there! The low lifes will destroy whatever is done just like they do everywhere!

[robert horwitz]

03:07 PM on 08/31/2011

Welcome to Summer in Chicago. Well the good news is as the weather turns cooler these kids on the South and West sides of Chicago will start shooting each other indoors and less innocent bystanders will have less of a chance of getting hit by stray bullets.

[hyader]

02:35 PM on 08/31/2011

I live about 20 minutes and a world away from this area,,,,

Day in and day out we wring our hands and ask what can be done....

Most Chicago Fire and Police send their kids to private schools ( residency requirements)
The new CPS Chief and Rahm are doing something, but the Unionista head Lewis is pulling the SOS,,,,,,

WHERE ARE THE PARENTS,,,, WHERE ARE THE FATHERS ,,,,,

[ApprxAm]

03:58 PM on 08/31/2011

halted by liberal laws from enforcing community standards.

Your "miles away" highlights the primary difference between your world and theirs. I'll assume you're in a Non-Black area where the adults have social and political influence. Where children are controlled and guided. You might even have the tacit right to enforce community standards and self-protect. The South & Westsides, for instance, have no such rights.

There are your "parents" and "fathers"...powerless observer-participant-victims. But we knew this...didn't we?

[BVictor1]

04:43 PM on 08/31/2011

Don't try that liberal law krap.

The area began to decline 50 years ago.

Many buildings were burned VIA arson to collect insurance money back in the 1960's and 70's.

Also, many of the people in the area are 'newer' and came over here after the destruction of CHA high-rises.

Some parts of the south and west sides are quite beautiful while others have lacked development for decades.

[Matt7678]

01:49 PM on 08/31/2011

The whites need to stop throwing good money after bad. The blacks need to get their act together.

[Squiriferous]

04:33 PM on 08/31/2011

But it's racist to say you want to hold anyone accountable!

[BVictor1]

04:44 PM on 08/31/2011

Get that crap out of here.

Everyone needs to get their act together and be able to coexist side-by-side.

When there's no opportunity, there will be turmoil.

[homeroid2]

01:36 PM on 08/31/2011

Bring the troops home to guard our streets......

[homeroid2]

01:35 PM on 08/31/2011

The World can see what type of neighborhood the President lives in.Same district where all these innocent kids have been killed and he's worried about money going to Egypt for their children.

[BVictor1]

04:46 PM on 08/31/2011

The southside isn't a neighborhood, it's a section of the city.

The president's home is in Hyde Park/Kenwood while these shooting last night were in Woodlawn. The 2 community areas are practically side by side but world's apart.

[rpnp75]

01:26 PM on 08/31/2011

when is the govt going to learn that you can't fix a problem by throwing money at it...

[BVictor1]

04:47 PM on 08/31/2011

Money isn't being thrown at the problem, money is being invested into the community.

[rpnp75]

01:57 AM on 09/04/2011

"Invest" how many millions of dollars you want into the community, but 10 years from now it will be in the same condition it is now or worst. Take that 30 million and put towards bigger class rooms, after school programs, acquiring teachers that can actually teach. Not towards the decor of the neighborhood which in the end will be ruined. I have worked for government contractors that have completely remodeled neighborhoods to hopefully bring in new business owners and housing developers to build in that in the end completely failed. Go ahead and "invest" into the community and hopefully it will be near me, so that i can profit of the governments stupidity.

[rpbusmc]

01:19 PM on 08/31/2011

All talk and no action. Not one penny will be sent to that area.

[ChiGuy]

01:22 PM on 08/31/2011

It's interesting that you close your post with those three words when all of the other words that preceded them were neither indicative of any God fearing religion that I'm aware of, or suggestive of what America stands for.

[JeffmChicago]

01:52 PM on 08/31/2011

f & f pat72209. I agree.

[tmf1977]

12:53 PM on 08/31/2011

Although the efforts are noble, these grants just waste money where the money could be better spent. I live in Yonkers, NY and Yonkers was a recipient of one of those urban revitalization grants about ten years ago. Money was spent sprucing up store fronts, renovating old buildings, and trees and flowers were planted (not to mention a fountain was erected). In five years, the south west section turned back into its pre-revitalization ghetto state. People dumped soap and garbage into the fountain, and gang graffiti was sprayed onto buildings and store fronts. People will not come into these neighborhoods or open businesses if there is gang activity and crime. Planting trees and flowers will not do the trick. There is also an unfortunate culture of lack of accountability of actions. Until people start realizing that job creation, funding early childhood and elementary education instead of handing out student loans for higher education, and allowing welfare to become a way of life, expect more money to be wasted.