Unit 1S at 7708 S Essex Ave is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath duplex that’s listed as 3,300 square feet and described as “completely remodeled with all stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, juccuzzi [sic] baths, hardwood floors and garage parking.”
The condo was originally listed for $189,900 in June of 2010. It went under contract shortly after the price was reduced to $14,500 but came back on the market recently at that price as a bank-approved short sale.
Sound too good to be true? Perhaps not, when you consider its location in a part of South Shore that’s come to be known as Terror Town, i.e. the area bounded by 75th and 79th Streets, Colfax Ave and Yates Blvd.
A local resident, Donnell Johnson, was recently quoted in the Sun-Times:
“It always has been bad in this neighborhood. That’s how they got the name Terror Town, but it ain’t never been bad within the neighborhood,” Johnson said. “Now it’s become where you’re fighting your neighbor. You can’t even go to the store because you get into it with him and he see you, then he’ll be waiting outside the store to shoot you.”
There’s an old saying in the real estate business that anything will sell if the price is right. Is the price right for this condo? Are there Chicago neighborhoods so troubled that properties won’t sell, regardless of price?
You’ll pass the corner of 77th and Essex in a drive through Terror Town in the latter part of the above video.
Joe, when you go for a while without featuring certain parts of the west or south side, I cringe waiting to see what will pop up. While the stories about the white neighborhoods are mostly about pool parties and beautiful architecture and the like, you seem fixated on the violence and drugs in certain neighborhoods. I know these neighborhoods are poor…but I would like to issue you a challenge to write something about a nice property or good deal or some sort of positive aspect of these neighborhoods….how about some piece of fine architecture that’s preserved nicely? I know there is a lot of poverty and violence and drugs in certain west and south side neighborhoods, but I have relatives in south shore. You can just as easily find a quote about family and good times and value and other positive aspects of south shore. I know it’s easy as an outsider to fixate on the negative. But, I would encourage you to focus on how the majority of people live in these neighborhoods…and that’s a regular family life, just like yours, albeit in different financial circles. It’s easy to find the comments about the violence, but if youre committed at all to balanced reporting, it’s worth the effort to find the stories that more accurately reflect these neighborhoods. Yes, they must deal with the negatives, but the majority of life in these neighborhoods is spent just like it is in other communities…mowing the lawn, have barbecues, buying properties to fix up and rent…there is a rich life being lived in even the poorest neighborhoods, and I’d love to read about it here too. My family in south shore walks to the convenience store. And when they pass by their neighbors, they don’t worry about their neighbors shooting them. Typically, they worry about getting back home in time for some obligation because their neighbor will likely want to have a long neighborly chat. The news too often picks up on the sensational. I just wanted to reiterate that there’s so much more positivity to reflect. Thanks for reading my rant.
Buster,
Your point is valid, and I make a genuine effort to do what you suggest. If the site comes up short on balance, it’s not for lack of trying. Within the past month, for example, I’ve shot and featured the following:
A Bronzeville bed and breakfast
If you search this site and our YouTube channel you’ll find, I believe, more positive coverage of real estate and neighborhoods on Chicago’s South and West side than you will anywhere else. Far more positive coverage. That’s despite the fact that we don’t see any advertising revenue from those neighborhoods, and the further fact that I frequently encounter face-to-face abuse on the streets when I visit them.
Again, your point is valid and I wish I had the time to do more. It’s necessary also to point out some of the negatives to balance the relentlessly upbeat approach taken by the real estate industry to some of these properties.
It’s also relevant, I think, that most of our readers are not repeat visitors but find us through search, and most of our South and West side coverage, especially in video, is positive and of the type you suggest. We’ve walked and driven those neighborhoods with local residents, letting them tell the stories of where they live.
Nice response Joe. I know some bloggers, etc, avoid posting about these areas because they don’t want to deal with the inevitable ugly comments about those areas, the vitriol and effort to delete comments, etc.
SheridanB,
It’s very sad that there are so very many topics that are avoided because of the always anonymous creatures who spend their lives, it seems, poised to attack and spew bile on the web.
Buster made his point well, and civilly, and in a sympathetic manner.
I don’t delete comments from people who make unfounded charges, unless the comments are obscene / sexually tinged. I thnk most people recognize the deranged anonymice for what they are, and I think a rapidly growing number of people are disregarding the crazy charges of racism, etc. where no ill-will exists.
I certainly hope I did make my point civilly. And I certainly try not to make unfounded charges. While I appreciate your examples from the likes of Evanston, I would still encourage you to report positively on neighborhoods like North Lawndale, etc. Yes, there is poverty and drug dealing, etc. in those communities, and it’s incredibly easy to find negative comments from people about these things in the press. But, the overwhelming majority of the people that live in these communities are average well-meaning people just like me and you, just in a lower income bracket. I just cringe every time a reporter covers drug dealing, etc…rather than focusing on the greater good happening in a community…especially on a real estate blog. The last example on this site that really made me cringe was the story about the guy who recorded drug buys from his window on the west side. I know the video is compelling, and it’s a sensational story….exciting to watch, kind of like the show “the wire,” but it’s just not what I would hope for on a real estate blog. I’ve never seen more drug use than what I saw in college or living on the north side among affluent white people. I would hazard a guess there’s just as much drug use and as many drug sales on the north side, yet that doesn’t get reported in the same fashion….and the stereotypes are perpetuated. I can only imagine the video I could have recorded when I lived off Belmont, near Sheffield…from the hookers to the routine drug buys.
I certainly don’t stand waiting to attack when I think I see racism. I’m just an average guy hoping to find entertainment regarding the world of Chicago real estate. And I know there are so so many good stories in those neighborhoods, yet so many reporters get distracted by the sensational. I’m not saying you’re not trying Joe…and I appreciate the efforts and very much enjoy the site. I know you have to be honest when a neighborhood has financial trouble and issues with crime, but I personally would rather hear about a nice graystone being rehabbed or a ridiculously low price, like most of my relatives paid in these neighborhoods, than hear about the sensational drug buys or arrests down the street that are an unfortunate backdrop to living amidst poverty in an unequal society.
Buster,
For the record, my examples were not solely “from the likes of Evanston.”
Three of those videos are from a spot where I listened to long-time residents saying they were afraid to walk 47th St because of the gangs and the drugs. While I was there a squad was parked for hours on 47th, sending a message. The police had recently made several dozen drug arrests at the location in a major sweep. Board-ups and vacant lots outnumbered occupied properties. Etc. I could have focused on that reality as much as on the positives that I did focus on.
If you climb down from your high horse long enough to look at the full range of reporting on this site and on our YouTube channel you’d see a different reality than the one you mischaracterize. You’d see the stories you say you’re looking for. At least as to this venue you seem to have a case of selective inattention.
I’ll try to dismount my mare in time for your next couple real estate stories about “Terror Town” or open air drug markets…with your “true insider’s” perspective.
Buster,
I mistook you for a person with an open mind. Thanks for clarifying where you’re really coming from.
My mind is still quite open. And I hope yours is too…even though you think I’m on a high horse trying to show you a different perspective that exists. I’m just trying to play devil’s advocate Joe. I showed your story to my aunt, who lives in “South Shore.” She laughed and asked if the writer was a white guy from the suburbs. In your defense, I have no idea if you live in the suburbs. She said it’s really white reporters and white cops who want the Terror Town name to stick…and that it’s unfortunate that people want to invest their energy in silly nicknames, and scaring people, when there are much more productive things they can do to help if they are so concerned. She said, sure, some locals will repeat the name when pressed to…but she emphasized that people who live there don’t typically invite people over to bbqs in “Terror Town” when they’re having a family get-together. Now this may sound equally offensive, but she said it would kind of like calling the north shore “Jew Town,” and talking about how people in rich north shore areas “Jew” people out of money, exploiting low wage workers so they can live opulently and unfairly. She said some people have that impression…but they understand not to say such things in public…because it would be unfair. Certainly some people in those areas might be Jewish, and some may pay low wages at their companies while taking home a king’s ransom, but it would be unfair to paint the whole place with that brushstroke.
She also thought the price on the property above sounded about right for the neighborhood. She said the vales can’t get too high around there as a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet. But she’s confident her kids will do better, because the opportunities slowly improve for her family with each generation.
Buster,
I live in a North Shore suburb and don’t need any defense for that. I did get a good laugh out of your statement that your “aunt” thinks it would be unfair to say everyone here is Jewish.
There are lots of areas all over Chicago where people are struggling to make ends meet and where values haven’t plunged to this point.
I can’t think of anything more productive for anyone considering this particular property than quoting a local resident as to how frightening and dangerous his immediate neighborhood has become. That’s our main focus here – giving people information that helps them make decisions about where to move.