I am concerned that the two proposed remaps will divide the Lincoln Park community into three or five wards for the first time in history and do not respect our community’s long time heritage.

The law states:

“In the formation of wards in such redistricting, as nearly as practicable, each ward shall be compact, contiguous, and of substantially equal population with an acceptable deviation to respect established communities of interest or to achieve other legally valid and permissible objectives.”

Lincoln Park’s boundaries are precisely defined in the city’s list of official community areas. It is bordered on the north by Diversey Parkway, on the west by the Chicago River, on the south by North Avenue, and on the east by Lake Michigan.

It encompasses a number of neighborhoods, including Lincoln Central, Mid-North, Old Town Triangle, Park West, RANCH Triangle, Sheffield, West DePaul and Wrightwood Neighbors. The area also includes most of the Clybourn Corridor retail district, which continues into the Near North Side.

The proposed maps not only divide Lincoln Park into three or five different wards, but also divide relatively small neighborhood associations into two or three wards.

In the “Map for a Better Chicago” the 2nd Ward (part in Lincoln Park) looks like someone chewed up the map and spit out a piece. This ward is clearly not compact.

In the “Taxpayer Protection Map” the 20th Ward (part in Lincoln Park) also looks like someone chewed up the map and spit out a piece.

This is outrageous!

In conclusion, I implore the City Council to compromise (a rare word in politics today) and develop a map that follows the letter and spirit of the law, keeps Lincoln Park substantially in the 43rd Ward (or split with the 32nd Ward), and does not result in a cost to taxpayers of $30,000,000 which would be much better used restoring our libraries to their former hours to better serve our citizens.

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By Boyee from Mid-North in Lincoln Park
Posted: 01/05/2012 1:08 PM

I feel it would be best to turn all the community areas into wards.

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By Boyee from Mid-North in Lincoln Park
Posted: 01/05/2012 1:07 PM

I totally agree with you on these proposed plans. These plans would only make sense if there was a major demographic change in Lincoln Park, which there has not been. If one of these plans is forced on the 43rd Ward, the Taxpayer Protection Map is the far better of the two. Considering the non-existent demographic change, the 43rd Ward should be kept exactly the way it is today. Both of these plans severely hurt the 43rd Ward