(What used to be) City Sports, 8 March 2021
Polaroid SLR 680 SE/Polaroid Color 600

After many years of planning Uptown’s City Sport athletics retail shop has been torn down to make way for high-rise condos at Wilson and Broadway. This neighborhood in Chicago is one of the most diverse in the whole city, but unfortunately, it is also one that has struggled from years of disinvestment, poverty, and crime.

Under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a huge push was put to revitalize the area through new investment and construction, including a major rebuilding and restoration of the Wilson Avenue CTA station. There has been great skepticism through the years of if this construction will result in gentrification or renewal. The razing of City Sports feels like a milestone in these long efforts. Uptown’s fate however is still undetermined. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the city still has the chance to get this right, if they will or won’t remains to be seen.