Back in 2006 a blogger calling herself the Woodlawn Wonder began writing I Hate My Developer, the saga of her efforts to solve the problems plaguing the small condo development she had bought into just off Jackson Park in Woodlawn.
Early last year she stopped paying her mortgage and began waiting for the foreclosure process to begin. The latest installment in her story talks about borrowing $20,000 from a friend to buy out her mortgage loan – which had a balance nearly 10 times that amount.
The Woodlawn Wonder describes herself as an ordinary person and she may be, bearing in mind that many ordinary people have extraordinary capabilities. Her moniker comes from her habit of wondering about life in her neighborhood.
Several years ago I had lunch with the Woodlawn Wonder and she took me on a walking tour of her neighborhood. You can meet her and see a bit of Woodlawn, and the small garden plot she tends in Jackson Park, in these videos.