A fragmented downtown

More politicians grabbing for city's center

05/23/2011 12:54 PM

By Ben Meyerson
Editor

7 Comments - Add Your Comment

After months of public speculation, Illinois Democrats last week released their proposal maps laying out who will represent Chicagoans in the state legislature.

Once again, that map has splintered neighborhoods around the Loop many times over. This time around, the landscape is even more divided, with a new member of the Illinois House squeezed into the heavily populated South Loop.

The Illinois Senate districts around downtown are roughly the same. Sens. Kwame Raoul and Mattie Hunter still represent the South Loop, the Loop and the Near North Side, while newly appointed Sen. Annazette Collins maintains her West Loop district.

The biggest change, however, is in the Illinois legislature’s other chamber. Democrats have proposed cramming yet another state representative into the area, snaking a tendril just 750 feet wide, at its narrowest, into the South Loop, downtown and River North.

Meet your potential newest representative in the Illinois House, South Loopers: Rep. Esther Golar of the 6th District. She joins Kenneth Dunkin (5th District) and Kimberly du Buclet (Will Burns’ recently appointed replacement in the 26th District).

Right now, Golar’s district is mostly in Back of the Yards on the South Side, but her proposed new district has added a tiny tentacle reaching up through the big-money, big-population heart of downtown.

Back of the Yards and other majority-black neighborhoods in the city lost big in the U.S. Census, accounting for many of the 200,000 people who left the city. However, the South Loop recorded a record population boom, with its population jumping about 75 percent.

Adding a sliver of that population allowed many of the majority-black districts to maintain the basic shape of their wards, while adding a tiny slice of that big population boost — possibly helping them stay in office.

The plans aren’t official yet, but having been crafted by the Democratic-controlled Illinois House and Senate, with a Democratic governor at the helm, their path to approval looks to be clear.



View Larger Map

Tentative map courtesy Illinois House Democrats


7 Comments - Add Your Comment



By Ben from South Loop
Posted: 05/31/2011 3:55 PM

Fragmented. Perhaps you have a valid point. I have not done the analysis but is there any evidence that Sloopers voted in smaller numbers percentage wise than other areas of Dunkin\'s district?


By A fragmented South Loop
Posted: 05/31/2011 1:39 PM

Wrong Ben. This is NOT our punishment for "voting against Ken Dunkin", it is our punishment for simply NOT VOTING, at least in high enough a percentage of our total vote-eligible population!


By Ben from South Loop
Posted: 05/31/2011 12:36 PM

I'm glad to see other sloopers are recognizing how screwed we are by the redistricting process. We'll be a small part of three districts and thus easy to ignore by the three state reps who will be representing the bulk of their districts to the south of us. Is this our punishment for voting against Ken Dunkin in the last election?


By SS from Sloop
Posted: 05/31/2011 7:32 AM

I agree with Cole A. I live in the South Loop and we are pretty ignored by our current state rep. He did not do well in our area in the last election and it is not too surprising that he divided the South Loop even further to diminish our potential impact on his re-election even further.


By Cole A. from South Loop
Posted: 05/31/2011 6:52 AM

The South Loop was divided between two horribly gerrymandered districts for the last ten years and now we will be divided among 3 even more horribly gerrymandered districts. We will have little influcnce on three state reps who don't live anywhere near us. What happened to keeping communities together? Or does that only apply to racially segregated ones and not racial diverse ones?


By here 4ever from south loop
Posted: 05/28/2011 4:22 PM

State Reps and Senators "don't matter"??? You clearly have been living in a cave. With a $60 B budget, and control over everything from taxes to schools to pension programs, they matter very much. As far as I'm concerned, they matter a lot, and certainly more than Aldermen. Ever been to a City Council meeting? The most boring thing you ever saw. Been to the state House or Senate to watch a proceeding? There you see a REAL debate.


By Tom.D from West Town
Posted: 05/25/2011 11:27 AM

Good thing state reps aren't terribly important... I feel bad for the south side residents of the 26th, considering that their rep will likely spend all of her time dealing with the kooky, "I-have-nothing-better-to-do-with-my-time-than-complain-about-everything" Streetervillians...