Edmund Burke has been a Chicago Alderman for 50 years. Burke’s brother ran for state rep and lost. His wife is a judge. His ward ,14th, was originally known as “Back of The Yards” Once the home of the famous Chicago Stock Yards where most food processors along with employee demographics have since relocated. It was a compact area almost square composed mostly of single and 2 story frame and brick family dwellings mixed with scattered brick apartment units.
His ward now consists of areas carved from the 12th and 23rd wards miles from the original 14th boundaries.
When redistricted along with several other wards. Chicago had neighborhoods divided to create “Hispanic”residential sections going to Hispanic aldermanic and congressional (Gutierez) candidates and blacks going to black candidates.
That has had the effect of breaking up a contiguous geographic continuity and community identity. Because the wards affected which are really like small towns have had sections broken up into areas where if a problem arises in a given section of street which has one way traffic only may be two way a block down because it’s in a different ward. It has also played hell on zoning and because of the disruption of jurisdictions with the administration of city services such as streets and sanitation which the alderman (salary $120.000 plus allocations on local projects) do oversee and have input over.
Add to that here was part of the cause and result of those ward re-mappings. I Was living there when this occurred. The federal government Under policies created by the dems and continued on warily by Bush, discarded the 20% down payment requirement of home loans. Directed banks guaranteed by Fanny Mae and and Freddy Mac to grant no money down home ownership loans..This led to a massive change in demographics and in many cases loan defaults that created areas of abandoned single dwelling units.
I thought they were ok with racial gerrymandering as everybody knows white democrats will not vote for black candidates