The so-called Winthrop Kenmore corridor has long been a troubled area, home to a largely transient population. According to Compass Rose:
In the 1960s and 70s, when the neighborhood was at its low point, the Winthrop-Kenmore corridor was called Arson Alley because 25% of the buildings were empty and vacant. Today, due to a massive community effort, Winthrop and Kenmore avenues have many homes and apartments restored to their former glory.
During the early 80s parts of the area remained so tough that police cars would reportedly only venture there in tandem. The Tribune had this to say in 1986:
Aging lakefront high-rises form an east bank; the elevated Howard-Englewood rapid-transit line clattering behind two-flats draws a west bank. In between lies one of the most densely populated areas of the city, a long string of apartment buildings, boarding houses and occasional elegant homes known as the Winthrop-Kenmore Corridor.
For decades, poor Appalachians, American Indians and mental patients released from state institutions entered Uptown and tumbled like flotsam toward Edgewater along Winthrop and Kenmore Avenues.
The corridor’s boundaries differ, depending on who you ask, although it’s commonly understood as the part of Edgewater between Foster Ave (5200 N) and Granville Ave (6200 N) east of the L tracks.
The latest edition of 48th Ward Alderman Harry Osterman’s newsletter has the following:
On Monday, I met with property managers for more than 25 buildings from the area bounded by Hollywood, Broadway, Granville & Sheridan to discuss safety concerns in this section of our community. Representatives from the Chicago Department of Buildings, our area’s Problem Buildings Unit, the Corporation Council for Chicago, the Chicago Police Department and I made sure that attendees understood what their responsibilities are as property managers as well as my expectations for them and how they can improve public safety in this area. I will continue to meet with all of the property managers in this section of our ward and work with them to make sure problem tenants are evicted as promptly as possible. I believe strongly that ridding our community of problem tenants will greatly improve the safety of our entire neighborhood.
Is the solution to the Winthrop Kenmore corridor’s long-standing problems really that simple? And where will those “problem tenants” go? Will they tumble like flotsam back to Uptown?
The Edgewater Historical Society, amusingly, is soliciting materialsfor an upcoming “exciting and informational exhibit on famous crimes in Edgewater and the community’s response to crime over the past few decades.”