Ep. 22: 40th Ward Alderperson Andre Vasquez
Join host Jake Lyons on the 'Living in Chicago' podcast as he sits down with Andre Vasquez, the Alderman of Chicago's 40th Ward. Discover insights into urban politics, local development, and the unique character of neighborhoods like Lincoln Square, Edgewater, Ravenswood, Westridge and others that at least partly fall within the 40th ward. From his grassroots beginnings to his current role, Vasquez shares personal anecdotes, community initiatives, and thoughts on local challenges, including immigration and public safety. Ideal for Chicago residents and anyone interested in the city's vibrant, diverse community.
The Living in Chicago Podcast is where I, Jake Lyons, get to interview all kinds of people about the Chicago neighborhoods they live in, work in, and play in. This way, you can learn about the lifestyle pros and cons of various neighborhoods directly from the people who live there (or maybe even learn something new about your own neighborhood!)
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00:00 Welcome to Living in Chicago
00:25 Meet Andre Vasquez: The 40th Ward Alderman
00:51 Setting the Tone: Podcast Goals and Approach
02:27 Andre's Story: From Rapper to Alderman
06:02 Understanding the Role of an Alderman
08:41 Challenges and Triumphs in Office
11:53 Hip Hop and Politics: A Unique Perspective
17:03 Life in the 40th Ward
21:57 Real Estate Stats Corner: Lincoln Square
24:24 Fireworks Controversy in Ravenswood
27:07 Challenges and Developments in the 40th Ward
29:13 Immigrant and Refugee Rights Committee
32:55 Community Engagement and Creative Initiatives
38:00 Promoting the 40th Ward's Unique Character
41:20 Why Choose Chicago and the 40th Ward?
The following transcript was automatically generated and has not been checked for mistakes
Chicago's got that mix of everything. Yeah. I'll put it up against anybody. As much as anyone in the country likes to talk about oh, Chicago and like the national narrative. Yeah. I would not trade this city for any of the cities they come from with that kind of critique.
Sure. Ever.
Welcome to Living in Chicago, the podcast where I get to interview real Chicagoans about the neighborhoods that they live, work, and play in. My name is Jake Lyons. I'll be your host. And in this episode, I interview Andre Vasquez, who is the older person of the 40th ward of Chicago, an area that encompasses much of the neighborhoods.
You probably know better as Lincoln square, Edgewater, Ravenswood, a little bit of Westridge. It's a, it's a big area and we'll get more into what all that means. In terms of, uh, Chicago city politics and how all, how that all works and whatnot. Uh, but you know, before we do, I figured this is a good time just to kind of set the tone for what I think and hope will be the first of many interviews I do on this podcast with various kinds of elected officials and political figures and, um, things like that.
And just to let you know, right now, you know, I'm not say I'm not a very political person. I'm not trying to be some kind of hard hitting journalist or anything like that. I'm not an expert in every policy opinion that Mr. Vasquez holds. I imagine like it is with most people who I would talk to about this, that I would agree with some of his stances and maybe push back on others if that was what the conversation was.
But here I'm just having chats with good people who. Care about the neighborhoods they live, work and play in. And Andre is for sure that, and I had a really fun conversation with him that I think you guys are going to like. So without further ado, let's get into it.
It's like a blue mic. Yep. Yeah.
The former rapper in me like. I know. Yeah. I had it. Yeah. I had a feeling that way. Even when you're asking about will there be, you know, reverb and stuff like that? I was like, yeah, he's definitely, he's been in some studios. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Trying to record in like people's basements and everything.
It's Oh yeah. For everything, you know? Yeah. Yeah. At least basements could be good if it's carpeted, you know, there could be yeah And there's something to be said for like that kind of dingy vibe depending on where you're recording, right? So some of the best music ever sure has been has come out of those environments.
No doubt. All right Hey joined here today by alder person andre vasquez He is the alder person of the 40th ward and we're gonna get we're gonna get into what exactly that means if none of that means anything to you, but you know before You before we even get into any of that, I actually want to start with a story.
So the the older person is obviously it's an elected position and I live in Albany Park now, but I used to live in Lincoln Square, which is a part of the neighborhoods that make up the, this 40th ward. And it was the winter of 2022. And my wife and I are you know, it's just like a, it's an evening.
We're probably watching some NBA game. Cause if it's a, if it's an evening in the winter, that's probably what I'm doing. And it was like the evening time, I don't know, six, seven o'clock, something like that, which, you know, in the winter, it's like, the sun's been down for four hours already, so it might as well be midnight.
And we get a knock on the door and um, it's like, well, who, who, who could be here at this hour? You know, and open it up and it's it's Andre Vasquez and he's, you know, he's out there hitting the pavement, you know, being a man of the people. Just, and not, not even in any kind of, you know, Salesy sleazy way.
He's just out there just getting conversations, going with people. You know, asking them, Hey, do you have any questions about voting or, you know, anything, anybody on the ballot? Like he's, he was open to talking to other, other positions that were out there and all that kind of stuff. And I am not that, you know, obviously like I have my opinions like anybody, but I'm, I'm not like a very political person and honestly, you know, shame on me, like even less so on the local, the super local front, which, you know, if anybody like The, the phrase of, or I don't know the phrase, or it's just like the sentiment, I guess, that, you know, the local politics is really what you should, almost what you should be paying more attention to, if anything, because that's like the stuff that actually impacts your, your day to day life, like in, you know.
You know, a much more leveraged way than whatever's going on in Washington or whatever. But, but, yeah, so that was this I think you actually came by twice and this was your, you know, this was you, your re, was it re election? Yeah, your reelection. Not even like the 1st, 1, the 1st time. The, the person you beat was like a 36 year incumbent.
Yeah, that's right. So, I mean, that's, that's just pretty crazy in itself. Yeah. All of it was pretty wild to get to the seat. Yeah. So I don't know. I just wanted to start, start with that story, you know, paint the picture of of who this guy is, like somebody who like. Whether you agree with whatever I don't care, but like this guy cares.
No, I appreciate saying that I think like definitely most folks aren't really engaged in politics because everyone's trying to pay their bills and just live and so I think government doesn't do a good job of showing people what it can do because if you know what government can do and you know that you own it because you pay for it through your taxes you'd hold it accountable, right?
Yeah. So I think for me always like talking neighbors at the door, treating it like a public service job, like a customer service job has served us well and I think You don't know what neighbors have on their top of mind unless you're asking, so it's always really cool to Yeah. It definitely, it is definitely wild on a winter knocking on a door and people being like, Wait, you're out here in the snow or whatever to ask about this?
I think it was, I mean, it would have been in January. It probably was one of those, you know, negative ten degree kind of, you know, it was Yeah, it's a wild thing to do. But yeah, that's the extra mile stuff. Well, and it's cool. I definitely enjoy it because of the engagement, getting to know the neighbors.
It's a good way to build community. So yeah, if you would have told me some years back, I'd be out here knocking on doors in the winter to talk to just neighbors. Yeah, I wouldn't have believed it. But it is it's a joy to be able to do the job. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Cool. So, I guess with that little anecdote out.
So who actually who actually is? Andre Vasquez, what is an alderman or an alder person? I should say. Yeah, so I'll other person is basically a city council member, right? So in other cities, they kind of deal with like legislation, right? If you want to improve like streets, things like that. But here in Chicago, they're largely like a service provider or like It's like the store manager for the ward.
Anytime city services are acting up, you go to your ward office and say, hey, I need tree trims. My garbage isn't taken out what's being done to fix this. I need disabled parking, residential parking. So, they come to our office and we're like that conduit between government and their door. So, so that's that's a large part of it.
We also do as members of city council vote on legislation. So, whether we're talking housing, affordability, police accountability. Improving our transit system bear stadium conversations, like nowadays all that stuff are things that we have to then opine and vote on. And so being that tied down to the ground allows us to hear what neighbors feel are the priorities and help kind of direct where we want to go forward.
So, okay. Yep. Kind of all the above, like a jack all trade. Yeah, interesting. So I used to think of it as almost like the mayor of your little section. Which I'm sure the mayor, the actual mayor would love to hear that. But I don't know how, I don't know how the dynamics of whatever, if you can take that part out, but no, but I think some people, you know, there is part of governing over that territory.
I think that these wards can be. 50 700, 000 people like, you know, yeah, like 40 or is 60, 000 folks, right? Yeah. And so so yeah, that is like the mayor of a small town. Yeah. I think what I like to think about is the fact that when you boil it all down, the bosses are the taxpayers, right? They're paying for the service.
They're paying for our salaries, our jobs are to serve them. And I think. Having that dynamic and viewpoint on the job is actually a lot better than oh, who's the boss of the area? I think a lot of old school Chicago used to work that way. And. It definitely serves smaller, fewer populations. We want to make sure that everybody in the city is getting the level of service.
They deserve. Yeah, so it's almost like half yeah, the mayor from the governing over its standpoint like that. But then there's also a component of of almost being like like a little mini house of representatives kind of thing that you will then represent. The interest of your you know, your, your ward when situations with the city budget, for example, or something like that comes up, you're kind of representing your neighborhood, your, your ward.
Yeah, so so city council got 50 city council members, right? 26 votes end up being the majority for the budget and all these other things. So yeah, it's very much Drafting legislation working with our colleagues and trying to figure out how we can get to agreements Which is you know its own circus sometimes but pretty cool to do.
Yeah Yeah, being in the room where it happens. That's pretty cool. This is something you always were interested in doing or what got you into this? No, man, like I grew up, you know, born and raised in the city. My parents were Guatemalan immigrants and so they, we grew up poor. Like we kept getting priced out of neighborhoods because the rent was getting higher and, you know, the gentrification and displaces communities that are like lower in income.
So I really was trying to figure out how to survive. Like I was work retail most of my life. Like I worked at Kids R Us, record stores, selling clothes, selling, you know, phones. I was a rapper for about 15 years, so I did battle rapping across the city. And I never thought about running for office. I couldn't tell you what an alder person was or did probably till my early thirties, late twenties.
And so later on in life, I met my wife and we had our kids and I kept thinking about all the sacrifices my parents made for me to have a good foundation and thought about what my role needed to be to make sure our kids have a better situation. They inherited what we did. And so that was around the time that Bernie Sanders was running for office.
He kind of was very plain spoken and reminded me of like my old 90s rap records because he talked about inequity and like how the system is rigged. So it sounded like a Public Enemy or a Nas record or KRS One. And which is, which struck me, right? 74 year old white dude from Vermont sounding striking a similar tone.
Got me excited. And so that led to me becoming a community organizer looking at the role because there were people who are like, you should, you should do it. There was a guy who, by the name of Pat O'Connor, who had been in office 36 years, was the mayor's floor leader and the chair of finance. Ultimately we ran he was, you know, what some people view as a machine candidate, like old school Chicago style. We had enough people we knocked on doors for about three years. They spent a million and a half dollars against us and ultimately we won which was and this was 19 yeah 2019. Yeah, which was like I think there was a wave of wanting to see new leadership. And people are getting tired of the machine you know, Burke type of older folks.
So yeah, it led to us coming into office. And just as we're starting a new job and getting our legs underneath us, We get hit with a global pandemic a year in. And so that was a really a crash course in government to kind of think suited us to be ready for like the crisis we're on now with the migrant mission.
So yeah. Yeah. It's, it's I never would have pictured it like growing up, but I'm really fortunate and blessed to be in the position. I'm not too surprised at the million and a half figure. Cause I remember I lived there at that point too. And I remember every day we had eight flyers, like the same flyer eight times.
And it was like, you know, obviously like when I was a rapper, I said a lot of things that were toxic and harmful. I don't think I understood kind of like the effect. I think when you feel like you're outside of a larger community, you get into your little pockets and subcultures and then that that isn't the healthiest.
Yeah. So, seeing old rap lyrics in every single mailer, every single day for a month. Oh, that's what they were doing? And it was, like, website, and they did TV and radio, and it was so over the top that I think people, in meeting me at the door, kind of recognized Okay, look, we don't all start out, you know, perfect.
Yeah. But I think they recognized that I was, like, sincere in wanting to Make a change in the community. So yeah, it was it was wild right? Yeah. Yeah, and I that's The old like art from the artist kind of thing is I guess always tough. I guess like to what extent is there at least an element of like it's hip like this is the the language of hip hop.
Well, I mean, I think that that's part of it, right? It's there has to be an acknowledgement that although there were things that gave me a sense of voice and being on a stage and being comfortable talking to people as a person of color who was broke. There were good things. And also, there are some there's a lot of toxic misogyny, that you may not even feel those things, but because you want to feel cool in a crowd, you're saying things that you're not even being mindful of.
And so, you know, I think it was a fair thing to bring up for me. It allowed me to have the conversation. So people recognize oh, we all do grow and evolve. And so I think what I tell people is if you expect candidates to become these perfect politicians, you should expect disappointment because everyone's human.
It's about being able to have those conversations. Right? So, yeah, looking back, if I were to talk to younger me, I'd be like, hey, I know you want to feel cool in front of this crowd because you're listening to Wu Tang records or whatever. Yeah. But you know, there's ways to communicate where you don't have to denigrate somebody else to feel bigger.
Sure. It was, it was. It was a good evolution for me. Yeah. Yeah. And maybe maybe hip hop will eventually evolve to that where they don't, you know, there's a general, you know, I mean, probably already happening to the extent. Right? I mean, you don't you definitely don't hear the same, you know, certainly not from the early 2000s, the kind of slurs and stuff that were thrown around.
That's not really. Yeah, anywhere near as prevalent. So I think there's a recognition, right? They like, you're trying to get the widest audience possible and you do that by making sure you connect with as many people and you don't, you don't really do that if you're just finding somebody to bash. And so, you know, are there still like these battle elements and obviously with Kendrick and Drake going at it?
I was gonna, this was a question I was gonna have for you. Oh, word. At the risk of going off the rails, but we're talking about it now. So yeah, what's your, I mean, who won and did everybody just really actually lose? I mean, it's, I think for me, it's, it's pretty obvious. Kendrick kind of like went in, I thought the way he went about it.
Was really interesting. Like he definitely has songs ready to go. And, you know, sometimes you go one song, then somebody responds to another song, but the way they were kind of going at each other at a different pace I think when Kendrick drops, you know, not like us, it's, it's, it's kind of over like at that point, it's undeniable.
Yeah. Yeah. And so, so yeah, I think I think it's good for, for hip hop culture. Cause I think for me, they're both great artists. They both are really dope lyricists, but I think Kendrick feels more like he's grounded in like hip hop culture. Whereas Drake is like a dope MC, but also there's a commercialization of like how he puts out product.
So for me being like an actor playing a role at the end of the day, right. And that's, that's part of it too, right? It's you can be from Canada and come from a good upbringing and like, when you're trying to fit into these other roles, you're leaving yourself open for that kind of judgment call. And so, yeah like obviously Drake is top tier lyricist, but for me who grew up as a hip hop head, it was really dope to see Kendrick kind of like, Not Like Us sounds like a Compton, like West Coast LA record.
And so him being able to represent where he came from and Drake on the other side, trying to like mimic other styles from the U S kind of, kind of, there's so many different levels of how it went down. So yeah, it was a really good thing to see. Yeah, I wasn't paying any attention. It's hard, you know, hard to avoid this, like you see on social media that is going on, but I didn't listen to any of the songs.
I was just like, I've kind of been out on hip hop since honestly, since like mumble rap became a thing. Yeah. Like my peak was like the, the Lil Wayne, like young money era. Like I was in college between 2009 that was just the absolute best. Yeah. Just the ultimate time to be in college when that was the popular music of the day, but.
Whatever. No, but it's dope. I think we all have our eras, right? So like for me, it was like 90s, 2000s, like Really when it was coming from like the small culture to start becoming worldwide. Uhhuh . And so I, that's the era I stay stuck in sometimes. Yeah. Usually do the do. Yeah. Like we all kind of do.
Right? We all do it, yeah. And then it's all, then I'll like hop in on playlists and go like, all right, what are the new joints? And put together playlists, uhhuh, , and kind of like listen that way. Yeah. But yeah, the way you listen to music is so different now. You can kind of a la carte what you want to hear, which is pretty cool.
Yeah. Yeah, I'm glad and happy at this premiere, but it definitely brought me back in because I was like, I listened to, there was some car driving through my back alley and they were, they were blasting Not Like Us. Yeah, I bet I bet and I heard that beat and I was like damn that beats hard and then I heard Kendrick on it It's like his voice came on.
I was like, okay, it's over. This beef sounds like that. All right, let me go Listen to what's been going on here. And then yeah, I was like, all right, he snapped I mean, they definitely went a little bit more below the belt than like back in the day Yeah, but yeah, well the joints are right. Yeah, I mean I Back in the day went pretty hard to that.
That's real. That's real. Yeah. Yeah. That's like how people how people talk about politics now and how like cutthroat it is and all that kind of stuff. But then you look back on Jefferson versus Adams, and they were calling each other like her map the dice and Oh, this is whatever, you know, whatever they were doing back in the day, you know, now with social media, right?
And the speed with which you can like, counter respond. Oh, yeah. No, like the speed with which you can like, Respond quickly and put out a video and say it's just so different level of like output. Yeah. Yeah, that's cool Yeah, so you're from chicago Originally born born in this area. No. No, so I earliest I remember Was like milwaukee damon before it was Viewed as a nice city kind of area.
Like it was, it was actually pretty rough neighborhood. And then I remember living on North and Keeler fell on Oakley, Addison, Elston, Addison, Albany, kind of like having Dale area. Then on my own, I kind of lived in a lot of different areas like division, Ashland Lake view. I ended up here in 40 in Edgewater.
About 12 years ago. I met my wife who actually grown up in, in this part of town. Yeah, we should probably qualify what the 40th ward is. So I think people are familiar with you know, a couple of hundred neighborhoods that there are in Chicago. They might be somewhat familiar with the 77 community areas and kind of how that works.
But wards kind of just throw a whole nother Yeah. You know, element to it. So what's a, what's Ward and what is the 40th award? Yeah, so Ward is basically a district. Mm-Hmm. , right? You've got 50 of 'em in the city of Chicago. Each one has on average about 58 to 60,000 people for 40 kind of the paint, like the geography.
You're talking from Lawrence Leland area, all the way to Lund. And then from Clark on the east side to Kedzie on the west side, right? So it's a pretty large area Yeah, and so when you think through neighborhoods, you're talking Ravenswood Manor Lincoln Square, Andersonville, Edgewater, Ravenswood, Bowmanville, Arcadia Terrace, West Ridge and West Rogers Park are largely like the neighborhoods that people know yeah, that's 40 man.
That's a lot of that's that's a big area and a lot of Very different areas, like a very, very different kinds of neighborhoods within just that relatively, it's a big area, but a relatively small area compared to, you know, the city. So, obviously, 1 50th of the city, whatever. So, yeah, but it's definitely 1 of the most diverse area.
Yeah. Right. So, we've got, I think, 46 percent white. 22% Latino, 20% Asian, 10% black in the, in the, in the ward. Obviously different income levels. Mm-Hmm. , different kinds of neighborhoods and communities. So, yeah. It really is a really cool slice of Chicago to check out. Hmm. That must be an, that must be a really interesting experience for you every day.
You know, hearing from all the different kinds of, all those different kinds of people. I mean, that's yeah. That's why knocking on the doors perspective and problems and, yeah. Yeah. That's why knocking on the doors was cool. Yeah. Because different neighbors have different vibes and being able to talk to different communities and about their particular issues.
Yeah, every day. It's really cool. Folks come in with a whole bunch of stuff from all over and you know, we're happy to serve. Yeah. Do you live somewhere within the ward? Do you have to, do you have to live somewhere within the ward? If you have to live within the ward when you're running for the seat and to be a candidate.
So I live in like the Edgewater area. So kind of like, there's a Metro station coming by where I live over on Peterson Ridge. So I'm kind of right there. And that station is actually coming online within the next three weeks. Okay. On Peterson, what is it? Like Peterson Bravewood. Okay. Describe it.
Would that be a metro or a red line? Metro. Okay. I've still, I've lived in Chicago for nine years. I've never been on the Metro. Well, now, now, you know, you're a little closer. Yeah. It's, it's a good shot. I think I'm gonna start using it to be able to go to City Hall from here. Yeah. Get down there. What, like 10 minutes?
Yeah. Yeah. It's gonna be really cool.
Just as far as. I don't know how you'd want to answer this you can answer it in terms of like the Ravenswood or the sorry the The Edgewater neighbor that you kind of more call home or the whole the whole ward. I guess we can just say the ward. What's something that you would only know if you truly lived in the 40th ward? You know, it's actually it's crazy because we have this like uh, This crown jewel in the ward that I don't think people really know about You And it's a West Ridge Nature Park. Okay, so If if I were to tell you we've got basically a forest preserve in the middle of the ward Up here. I don't think people would know that that's no we got parks, but you don't have that yeah, we have a not talking about the what's across the street.
Yeah, you're talking about that. Okay. Yeah Area, it's like you got deer coyote. Yeah, it's like litter in the middle of town and you can't tell because of how it's enclosed it looks like A regular park or something, but it's one of the most chill, serene areas to kind of be able to walk around that doesn't get spoken of a lot.
I think it's kind of low key, but what you, what you have in there is really precious. Yeah, I would agree with that. Yeah. When my wife were over here, we definitely took a few, took a few walks around that little pond situation over there and things like that. Yeah. There's all kinds of really nice. Going along the river, that whole, you know, that whole kind of park sidewalk is still over there.
When I'm at park pretty, pretty big, we actually have a lot of parks in 40 what Warren Park, which is like ginormous over in West Ridge area, you'll see like a cricket match. And I've never even watch cricket. It's just things that like. Yeah, so many different experiences in 40 that are like really cool.
Time for the Real Estate Stats Corner presented by me, Jake Lyons, real estate agent with App Properties in the Chicagoland area and my website, thechicagohomesource. com. In this segment, I am going to give you three statistics about the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago that I believe give you at least a pretty good idea of what people are willing to pay to live.
In the Lincoln square area. I'm doing Lincoln square because even though the 40th ward, the topic of this episode encompasses lots of different neighborhoods, Lincoln square is, uh, I would say the majority of the ward. And even though I've covered Lincoln square in previous episodes, this might be your first time listening.
So, uh, we're going to cover Lincoln square again. And you know, the stats will be a little different since, um, it's been a couple of months since then anyway. So the three stats that I am going to provide. are the median sales price for two bed condos, the median sales price for houses, single family, just detached houses, and the median rent price for two bedroom apartments.
So, to get right into it, as of the most recent data that I have access to right now, which is May of 2024, so take that into account, that whatever, Whenever you're listening to this, the numbers will probably be at least a little bit different, but in this snapshot in time, the median sales price for two bed condos in the Lincoln square neighborhood of Chicago is 313, 500 50 percent sold for more 50 percent sold for less that is the median sales price, the median sales price for single family detached houses is coming in at 970, we're just going to go ahead and call that 976.
thousand dollars. And the median price to rent a two bed apartment in the Lincoln Square neighborhood is 2, 250. 2, 250 per month. So there you have it. There is the real estate status corner for Lincoln Square. If you would like to see what all is available in the Lincoln Square neighborhood right now, you can go to the chicagohomesource.
com. There is a link in the show notes. And it's not just Lincoln Square. You can see everything there is in the whole Chicagoland area on that website. So go there for all your real estate shopping needs. And, um, hope you got something out of this. Thanks.
I'm glad you brought up when I'm at parks. This is I actually talked to the the folks over the Ravenswood chamber a little bit about this too. But I, what's going on with the 4th of July stuff? Yeah, it's going to be crazy. So for, for a long time, People were promoting the fireworks that went in mag park as if it's the only place on the North side of like really see fireworks.
So you would see thousands of people show up if you're at Navy pier almost to watch the fireworks. So I've been there a handful of times. It's crazy. Yeah. And so when I got almost too crazy though, right from the perspective of somebody who is like in your position now, that that's exactly it. Right.
When you think about liability and the city and neighbors complaining, it was kind of 50, 50, like neighbors are going. Because of seniors, you've got folks with PTSD, you've got kids, you've got wildlife. We shouldn't have any fireworks. And then you have other neighbors who are like, Hey, we're just having fun.
It's July 4th. So being in the middle of it. We had to figure out like we're government. We can't really co sign something that's illegal. So we had to say Hey, we can't really do it. And so we've been able to work pretty hard to lessen the amount of turnout. So went from like 3000 people to 200 last year.
And so the neighbors formed a park advisory council, and they want to have a fire 4th of July without any fireworks. And so we're like, okay, Cool, if you like it, I love it. We're happy to support. We're not gonna be, like, driving it. But I think it's gonna be, it'll be interesting how it plays out.
You know, so we'll see what it looks like. Yeah, I know there's been a movement to try to, you know, I feel like every year for the last three years at least, And I mean, going back, you know, some of that was due to COVID stuff too. But I feel like there's always been like this, this like rumor, the days leading up to it, where it's like, they're going to shut it down this year.
You can't, you're not, you're not going to be, this is the year that they're actually going to shut it down. And then it's so far, no, the reality is like trying to shut that down. It's crazy. Cause you've only got one squad car maybe. And there's like literally one. Park district car that covers from Madison to the north side, actually watching all the parks and you got fireworks everywhere.
You got actual shootings that occur. Right. It's so loud. That weekend is traditionally one of the worst weekends for just all kinds of bad things. So it becomes, it becomes challenging to kind of contain. And so that's why the case I made to the neighbors who don't want fireworks is Hey, your best bet is to occupy the space. Have an event. Yeah, make sure people can recognize this community. It is july 4th Because you guys are doing it then maybe you can't have the fireworks on the same spot Yeah, we'll see how it goes. That is that's a good that's a good strategy Just make it super awkward for everyone who's showing up with their fireworks and make it entertaining this program going on Right and make it something people want to check out right if you got food trucks Yeah, if you've got like different things people can like You know play or enjoy themselves then people don't feel like they're losing something in the exchange.
Yeah, what is what's a challenge that Like this word specifically has going on right now. I think the challenge that I, I look at is when I first got elected, when people think of Lincoln Square, they kind of see it ending at Lawrence, when you're heading northbound. So when you go north of Lawrence along Lincoln we used to crack.
I didn't crack the joke. Somebody else said it to me from our staff and it stuck. It felt like the back to the future ride because it went from like the nineties to the eighties to the seventies as you go along Lincoln. I could see that. Yeah. And so I think for me, I looked at the challenge and go, well, how do you, how do you invigorate it?
So it doesn't feel like the lesser of Lincoln Square. And so what we did is started working on creating arts district. So we got 16 million to do a full streetscape. We're getting murals up. We're trying to get more shops coming in. We're adding density. So, I think it's a good place to be in and we're kind of moving in that direction, but we did something like take an empty.
McDonald's parking lot and turn it into an arts plaza and a place to do events. I love that place. That place is awesome. Well, and that's only the temporary. So this year they're going to redo the whole thing, have power, make the stage better. And so I think By creating those kind of experiences, you end up drawing more people.
And so, yeah, that's been kind of the challenge, but I think we've been doing a good job of meeting it. Yeah. Yeah. And then even a little bit north of there, I mean, man, that, that, those intersections up there, I had just moved away from the Lincoln and Foster intersection, you know, a little over a year ago, and I already don't recognize it.
Yeah. There's a lot of development going on there. Yeah. On that corner, we got a 44 units with, we're creating live workspaces on the ground. So if you're a first time artist. You can't afford a store plus a place to live you merge the two Okay, you live within the place where you have a storefront nice So we're doing that there and then on farragut lincoln and then the old diplomat motel We had the city buy it and convert it into housing for the homeless.
So folks get their own unit They get services on site to help them on their journey from like homelessness to permanent housing. So it's we've been really able to do some pretty remarkable things there that I think in the next number of years. Yeah, to your point, it's going to feel a lot different than what was there.
Yeah. Yeah, I guess that that last little bit, there would be a decent segue into I know you're the say the title. Yeah, the chair of the committee on immigrant and refugee rights. And then also the vice chair of transportation. Okay. Mm-Hmm. . Yeah. So, I mean, man, especially the last year or two, that seems like a pretty, pretty wild position to have taken on.
Yeah, it was you know, the mayor had named me and suggested me for the role. Okay. I think 'cause he knew you know, put in work. Mm-Hmm. . But yeah, I mean, you were talking about a crisis where it's unprecedented. A new administration was looking to address it. And so I think what I viewed my role as was.
Finding ways where we can partner, but also holding it accountable when I felt decisions weren't the best way to go forward. Like when the mayor wanted to move forward with a tent for 2000 migrants on top of a 38th and Cali where they hadn't done environmental testing. It's having to say, Hey, you know, even though I got a point into this, I just don't think it's the move or finding ways to address 37, 000 migrants that are here when only 10 percent of them can actually get work authorization and less than half of them can get rental assistance.
So. Yeah, it's been unprecedented, but also we've seen neighbors step up to provide kind of the mutual aid supports and really treat folks like Chicagoans, which is what they are, you know, it's been, it's been, that's definitely been a challenge, not just award wide, but I feel fortunate because again, I came from an immigrant family to really think through what that is like for folks and try to create pathways to progress.
Yeah, yeah, man, that must be, yeah, that must be an interesting feeling being in the middle of something that's getting, you know, supported. Citywide nationwide really worldwide attention this, you know, these this immigration crisis is You know, and we're heading into the democratic convention in august, man Aren't we ever like it could be even wilder and trying to get prepared for that.
Yeah, it's it's it's a job of a lifetime and it's You know, obviously you're gonna get some things right something's wrong But I think when you talk to neighbors and show them like hey, look if you invest in this You Problem is at support systems right now It's actually a better investment than not doing anything and watching your homelessness increase Yeah, because you're paying more to solve that issue on the back end and you know, we've had some tensions but I think overall, people just want to know that everyone's being taken care of and it's not a zero sum game, which I think we've been doing a solid job of trying to make the case for.
Nice.
Bringing it back a little more local. How, how would you say, I mean, we talked about it a little bit, at least in terms of the more recent history, but how would you say that this area, 40th Ward, has changed over the years? Yeah, I mean, I think I'm a little biased, right? Because I'm in the role that I'm in.
Yeah. But I think part of the reason I ran also was when you lived in Edgewater or East of Western, you really didn't get the same level of services and you didn't know what the communities are. I think part of what we were focused on in coming to office is making sure that no matter what corner of the 40s you live in, You knew who your other person was, you knew what services and you know how to reach out.
And so I think we've done a solid job of that. But overall, the other thing we've done is really build community. Like these neighborhoods are vital. People now know what neighborhoods are part of 40th when it came to COVID, everyone stepped up to help each other across all these different neighborhoods.
And so there's a connection and an openness that's really cool. You know, when I walk around, people are just like, Hey, Audrey, how's it going? You know, you're doing a great job. Hey, bye. Oh, I got you. There's this thing over here we need to fix. And I think people knowing that they have that kind of access, To their government services has been cool and knowing that what we do at this office whether it's services or community ties Everybody together.
I think people really feel that connection in a way that wasn't there before Yeah, what's if this is possible to do what's one story or memory that Encapsulates your experience as a as a resident of the 40th ward or this, you know Or even chicago, let's let's stick with the ward That's, that's a toughie.
Let me think about that. As I'm staring at the map of the 40th right, right in front of me. Man, I, so I think, again, it's hard for me because part of my role in government. Right. But. Here's an example. Every year, each ward gets a million and a half dollars to spend on infrastructure improvements and projects.
Typically, your alders just kind of decide, and they've never opened it up to the public, except for a few. We came in on our first year and said, you know what, neighbors? You guys give us ideas and let's figure out what we can do here. And so we've got that on the website. Yeah. So we've been able to add like an exercise gym over at Emerson park.
Right. We've added pedestrian improvements all over the ward neighbors, knowing that they can like, do that kind of stuff. And, and us being able to bring that, that to me has been like a really, really important experiment. Because people go, Oh, okay, now I can, I can do some noodling around about what I can fix in my neighborhood and let me opine on this budget, the fact that they could vote on that stuff.
So for me, it's hard. There's a lot of experiences just with neighbors. There's been so many neighbors that have been really cool and invited me into their place. But being able to bring those kinds of things to an area. And having people go Oh, you guys don't do that over your ward. Well, over my ward, the alderman, like he does this or, or or the other thing for me, I guess, which is dorky, but I dig it is I literally drive every street in the ward and pull over to mark the potholes because you got to put in the request for them to get fixed.
Yeah. So I literally know every street in the ward and the neighbors see me and they're like, Oh, is that pothole patrol? So like those things to me are just very. Special they're very Chicago in yeah, and like it's cool to be known for that I don't know why I like I said, it's geeky, but I dig it I mean, no, I think that goes I think that goes back to the original story It's just you know that that kind of that man meant champion of the people kind of stuff Like you're you're literally hitting the pavement.
Yo, like i'm telling you counting the holes in the pavement. I mean, yeah What more do you want then? I've rapped a couple times since I got elected You It's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen a lot more political rap, but we did that at Ainsley Arts Plaza once. It's pretty dope. Yeah. Yeah. Full on, full on Hamilton style.
Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was just wild, man. Cause like I said, I haven't done it. I've only done it twice since I got elected. But it was a cool memory to have. It's a perfect segue into my next question here. How has your neighborhood influenced your own personal and creative endeavors? Yeah okay, so I do at times want to write more and like actually rap a little bit, but I don't want people to think I'm working on a mixtape when I should be like out here fixing stuff, right?
But being able to really flex creatively when it comes to the development stuff, right? Like, You know, we are doing the arts district right now. We're upzoning all of Western to actually create more density and different kinds of businesses and retail putting up murals, like on the different viaducts.
So there's different viaducts all throughout Ravenswood where the Metro stations are, there was one summer where we were, I literally was like, Hey man, I know some guys that do art graph. Y'all take a viaduct each one side and like just go and if the neighbors want to Be specific on what they want to see sure they can pay for it But if they're not Do what you want to do and just put up some color out here And so it's been really cool to watch all those pieces develop.
So it allows me to kind of flex creatively And and share some of that art expression And not necessarily be the person like on a stage on it, which is really cool. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome You Oh, and then we also do at the Ainsley Arts Plaza, we have a breakdancing practice that was happening once a week in the evenings, and I think it might come back on Tuesdays over at Ainsley Arts Plaza.
Really? Yeah. Oh, Ainsley, okay. They get the speakers out, and it'll be, like, ten to twelve breakdancers Literally just flexing out there man That's the videos like that are definitely one of my main weak points on social media Like if I see or you know Like show show time those guys like new york show time guys or yeah break dancers or like robot dancers anything like that For some reason like they those there's a reason why those were so captivating and go viral so easily It's like it's something about them.
It's just Yeah, I was gonna say, it's, it's like acrobatic and joyful. There's like a spirit to it. Yeah. That's never co ed when I was younger. I was like, man, I just can't, I just don't have the, the, the physicality that they do. And so, so seeing them being able to provide platforms for that it's really it's full circle in a way that I think is really cool.
Yeah, that's awesome. Are, are most are most of those Are most of the dancers local or are they coming from all over the place? Some are local but they do come from all over because they were literally just trying to find a space. I was like yeah you know we have a plaza here you guys can just Come through, we got speakers, let's make an event.
We actually had a battle, a banking battle there last year. So, yeah, being able to kind of bring that stuff back is dope. Yeah. What would you say? What's the most surprising thing you've learned about this area since becoming older person specifically? There's a lot of things that we've learned. One thing that's pretty wild is you've got Rose Hill Cemetery in the middle of the ward, right?
Mm hmm There used to be a place where the Bureau of Forestry kind of would chop down trees after a really big storm We found out after the city had to kind of leave that land that buried underneath there is actually old McCormick place so there's Yeah really? Yes. So I don't know the details on what McCormick Place was like before McCormick Place we know now, but apparently there was an old part where a lot of it was torn down and I guess pieces for some reason are in the cemetery there.
We also have Civil War soldiers that are at Rose Hill. It's really nuts. What we're actually thinking about doing, and we haven't done it yet, is like a scavenger hunt across the 40th to be like hey, come to this location, take a picture over here, where's this mural at, stop at this local business, and maybe figure out like a prize for everybody who's able to hit all the different parts of 40.
That I want to do, and I want to do a 40th who's got talent at the plaza, like yo, you want to sing, you want to do a spoken word, so we want to do those kind of things too to kind of like showcase everything we got here. How do people find out about all these different things? Yeah, you can go to 40thWard.
org, which is our ward website. You can sign up for our newsletter, so you get an email every Friday. We'll let you know what events are happening. And so, we've been kind of noodling around what are community events that we could do that aren't political, they aren't government, they're just people coming together and understanding we're one community.
And so, talent shows, scavenger hunt, pet mayor, or whatever. We want to think of those ideas to get people kind of, Social media, I'm guessing is probably out a lot of that. Cause nobody, nobody's going to, I hate to break it to you. Nobody's going to that website. But if, you know, 40th ward or Andre for 40th, I've got, so I'm probably, I can say this with a lot of confidence.
I am the most accessible city council member in the city of Chicago or history of Chicago. I'd even say I'm on Twitter. People DM me. We got a TikTok account, Facebook, Instagram. So you look up 40th Ward along any of those, you're going to find us and people can reach out to us directly to find out what's happening.
So, because I was. As, like I mentioned before, didn't know much about an other person did, I think I'm really invested in over communicating, so people understand what they get in the equation and what we all do. Yeah, love it. What would you say, what's the, what's a common misconception that people have about this area?
Yeah, okay, this is whack, but I, okay. When I first got elected, there was a friend of mine who would help me in organizing and she had told me she was like, Oh, 44. It's kind of bland. They're like, you know, what's over there? You know, people know, like Logan Square or Rogers Park. And so I think I took that as a challenge and made sure check out the neighborhoods, look at everything we've got going on and by being able to showcase all the different spots in 40 on our, our different platforms I think that has changed the outlook of what people thought of 40.
Like they know we throw down, they know I'm like everywhere. They know we're promoting events. We're bringing theaters, we're bringing arts district over here. So we're adding energy that wasn't there before. And it's cool when I see people who are like. Yeah, just moving to the ward and I wanted to make sure it was a 40th cause I knew this is going on over here.
So I think, I think that's been a really cool change. We've been able to bring them out. Yeah, hard to disagree. So I guess it's pretty much out, out of questions. So bottom line, just in summary, why do you think someone should want to, out of all the net, all right, let's break this down actually out of all, out of anywhere, why would they want to live in Chicago?
And then if they're, if they're choosing Chicago, why would you want to live here? Yeah. I mean, I think you want to move to Chicago because. I went to the siren. You can edit that out. He was like, you should go to Chicago, man. Right. Follow the narrative. No. I think why people should come to Chicago is because I do firmly believe it is the greatest city in the country.
I would put it up against a lot across the world. I mean, there's places I haven't gone, but when it comes to the city compared to the rest of the country, like you get everything, you get your New York metropolitan, busy, dense. Like big city, right? You got a transportation system that as it continues to improve is one of the best in the nation.
You got that small town vibe as well, right? So if you like New York, great. If you like Minnesota, Great. You like Boston. Cool. You like Philly. Great. It's got a little bit of all of that. Yep. And then that's without even talking about summertime Chi Yeah. Cause it's summertime in Chicago will make you endure the winters.
Right. It's got a little Miami all of a sudden. Yeah. So you've got all of that. And then the winter allows you to like huddle in and work on projects. Cause it's I'm not going out. So what are we doing? You've got the small town feel where you don't have any kind of attitude from the neighbors.
It's like a neighbor feel like everyone kind of knows each other. There's this Chicago accent, which is like endearing and hilarious if you're coming from somewhere else. Yeah, I think, I think there's nothing really like it. And people are very sincere and open in a way that you see in different towns, but you can't get everywhere.
And sometimes you can't get it in those big cities.
Chicago's got that mix of everything. Yeah. I'll put it up against anybody. As much as anyone in the country likes to talk about oh, Chicago and like the national narrative. Yeah. I would not trade this city for any of the cities they come from with that kind of critique.
Sure. Ever.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, obviously all of that, not all of it, but you know, a lot of that is just. Political theater. Yeah. You know, this, the easy, an easy scapegoat. It's look at the, do a deeper dive on the stats here. And, you know, per capita, things like that. It's like really not, you know, and you don't, you don't hear about people who come to Chicago and then like runaway screaming.
They're like, man, I, I didn't expect this. Like the fact that the, the river runs through it also is kind of, it's got a lake front. It's got so many things about it that are so much beyond what the narrative is that overall like it's cool watching tiktok videos of people being like This is my first time in chicago and like you guys have no idea I think that's that's a lot more the truth than what you see on like a fox news or something.
Of course Yeah How would because I mean obviously a lot of people coming across this like safety and crime and things like that are going to be Something that they care about. So what would yeah, what would you say to this area as far as that goes? Yeah, I mean I think like Blake. And unfortunate reality is that like a lot of big dense cities, you've got a small margin of folks who either do desperation, lack of community, find themselves committing crime.
And it rugs a gamut and there is violent crime in places. I don't think it's anywhere near the amount it's painted nationally. And I think if you're navigating through town, maybe the one thing I'd advise anyone, and that's in any town is don't stay looking at your phone be up, be aware of your surroundings, see what's going on, go over places where you see people hanging out, you know, enjoy yourself, enjoy life being, being that kind of generally alert in big cities is always a good way to move but yeah I made it this far, I haven't had an incident, and a lot of people, that's the majority of folks, you know, Anything I didn't ask that you were hoping I would ask? Maybe I got some trivia. So, Lily Wachowski lives in 40, Matrix director. Oh, wow. Really? Steve Albini from who just passed away, was producer for Nirvana and other folks, lived in 40. We've got a lot of it's okay if you would have talked to me a couple years ago Lily Wachowski had a studio here where you would find the matrix chairs the original Like models that they use for like those.
Well octopus robots or whatever. Yeah, and a theater I remember me and my wife came and checked us by and sat down in the matrix chairs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah It's there's so much cool stuff That's in the war that I think, I don't think people dig like that. When we do scavenger hunt, we're going to show people like all the different spots do an old, can you do like an overlay on Google maps with that?
And you kind of have that's the thing we want to develop. We want to flesh it out and really do a big, in a way that like, People see there's just a lot of really cool stuff And a lot of like things that I want folks to know and check out. Yeah. Yep Okay, we gotta wrap up soon. If that's cool.
Yeah the guy only one more sure one more one more minute probably Yeah, what would you like to promote if anything? I mean, okay. So we're going to have like the rezoning about Western. We're never meeting there. We do developmental town hall. It's interesting. If you were talking to me right now, I think a lot of things that I think about are the city stuff.
So right now the first two things is I think we need new leadership at CTA. So we've been pushing to kind of get that change. And the other thing that's just front of mind is like the mayor wanting to have a billion dollars worth of tax dollars. To pay for a stadium out here. Oh, yeah, and just like literally everyone I talked to this like no one wants that Yeah, so I think I don't know why but those are the things that it's not promoting But these are the things that I know i'm actively working on the things on your mind right now Yeah, but i'd also say stop on by 5620 northwestern.
That's our ward office Come on, say hello if we can help you with anything show you around happy to do so and reach out hit me up online always available And there's always something happening right on all the person, Andre Vasquez. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah, man. Thank you so much.
