Here is my entry in the Chicago ward remap contest. First, a little background on me. I'm presently living in Wisconsin where I moved a year and a half ago. Previously, though, I lived in the city of Chicago for 18 years and in nearby Skokie for 3 more years. I was very involved in local politics there so I am acutely aware of the political dynamics of the city including its ward remap process every decade. Unfortunately, I never had a mayor not named Daley in those 18 years so my perspective is probably very much colored by that fact. I was no fan of the machine politics of the city and was glad to see so many new alderman (relatively for Chicago) elected in this last election.
I was guided in this remap by several factors. One was to keep the numbering of the wards similar to what it had been before. I was able to do that with this map with one exception. I moved the 16th ward from the south side where it was a majority African-American ward to the near northwest side where it was a majority Hispanic ward. Minus that one exception, I was able to keep the wards numbered roughly where they have been up to now.
The second factor was to try and keep as many neighborhoods together in one or two wards, keep them as compact as possible and also try to keep boundaries along major highways or roads, not down side streets.
Thirdly, I wanted to keep the ward populations as close to the 53,912 number. I was able to have no ward over 55,000 and none under 52,800.
Finally, within the above two parameters, I wanted to make as many majority minority wards as possible given the segregated nature of the population distribution in the city. While I didn't make 19 majority African-American wards and 14 majority Hispanic wards, I was able to create 16 super majority African-American wards and one plurality African-American ward and 13 majority or plurality Hispanic wards and even 1 plurality Asian ward, the 11th, which is also a huge machine ward. The 11th was the home of both Mayors Daley. With the Chicago machine being the machine it is, the Ed Burke run 14th ward which is 3/4 Hispanic now makes it doubtful that even my 80% Hispanic 14th ward would remove him. Also, Dick Mell's 33rd ward is and ha been a majority Hispanic ward and I have no doubt he would be re-elected even with this remap.
Knowing the generalities of my remap is one thing. Let's start by looking at breakdown of the individual wards starting with the north side wards. The north side wards can also be broken down into the lakefront voters of the 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 46th, 48th and 49th and to some extent the 40th, 47th, and 50th wards affectionately known as the "lakefront liberals" which got that name during the elections of the former mayor Harold Washington. For a deeply racially polarized city that was fairly evenly divided between whites and blacks in the 70s and 80s, the white liberal vote along these lakefront wards helped put Harold Washington in the mayor's office. The far northwest side wards of the 36th, 38th, 39th, 41st and 45th have historically been areas of Polish and Irish "white ethnic" voters, although in the past 20 years the Hispanic population has been growing in these areas as the old guard move out. Lastly, the near northwest sides including wards, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 35 are areas of the highest concentration of Hispanics on the north side.
First, the lakefront wards.
42nd - Alderman Brendan Reilly
Primary neighborhoods include River North and Streeterville (known as the 'Gold Coast'). This is by far the richest of all the Chicago wards. The most change in this ward from its present configuration is the loss of the Loop an the southern end of the ward to the 2nd ward.
White: 75.0
Black: 5.5
Hispanic: 5.1
Asian 12.6
43rd - Alderman Michele Smith
Primary neighborhood is Lincoln Park. It includes DePaul University and the Lincoln Park Zoo. Michele was just elected after a close but unsuccessful run in 2007 and a progressive Democrat. Much of this district is unchanged from its present configuration.
White: 84.5
Black: 3.7
Hispanic: 4.7
Asian: 5.5
44th - Alderman Thomas Tunney
Primary neighborhood is Lakeview. Wrigley Field and 'Boys Town', the first primarily gay neighborhood in Chicago is located in this ward. Alderman Tunney is the owner of a longtime Lakeview restaurant, Ann Sathers (I highly recommend their cinnamon rolls, by the way) and is the only openly gay alderman. An interesting story about Wrigley Field and the 44th ward is after the 1990 census the 44th ward boundaries went around Wrigley Field meaning that the rooftop apartments across the street were in the 46th ward while the ballpark itself was in the 44th.
White: 80.8
Black: 4.2
Hispanic: 6.7
Asian: 6.6
46th - Alderman James Cappleman
Primary neighborhood is Uptown. James Cappleman is also one of the new aldermen. He won after giving the longtime 46th ward alderman, Helen Shiller, a close race in 2007. Shiller who once was the lone progressive alderman to vote against Daley's annual budgets, but in recent years had become a near rubber stamp for him in the council, decided not to run in 2011 and this was effectively an open seat.
White: 55.7
Black: 18.7
Hispanic: 11.6
Asian: 11.6
48th - Alderman Harry Osterman
Primary neighborhood is Edgewater. This ward is a definite family affair. Harry's mother was alderman of this ward until 1989 when her chief of staff, Mary Ann Smith, was appointed. Smith served until 2011 when she decided to call it quits.
White: 57.3
Black: 14.6
Hispanic: 13.8
Asian: 11.8
49th - Alderman Joe Moore
Primary neighborhood is Rogers Park. It is home to Loyola University and is the most diverse racially of the north lakefront wards. It is the only lakefront ward which does not have a White majority although it is a sizable plurality. Alderman Moore is a longtime progressive and critic of the former Mayor Daley. He has been alderman of this ward since 1991.
White: 44.5
Black: 25.4
Hispanic: 20.5
Asian: 6.6
Non-Lakefront Northside Wards
50th - Alderman Debra Silverstein
Primary neighborhoods are West Ridge and West Rogers Park. Debra is another new alderman as she beat longtime 50th ward alderman Bernie Stone. She also is the wife of the state senator for the area which no doubt helped her in the race against Alderman Stone. Bernie once had the city of Chicago build barriers down the median of Howard Street which divided Chicago and the city of Evanston. This ward is also diverse as it has only a plurality of White voters. It also includes a large Orthodox Jewish population and a south Asian population in and around Devon Avenue.
White: 46.2
Black: 11.7
Hispanic: 18.1
Asian: 21.3
40th - Alderman Patrick O'Connor
Ward includes parts of West Rogers Park and Lincoln Square. Alderman O'Connor is one of longest serving members of the city council having been elected in 1983. This was the same year as Harold Washington becoming mayor. He caucused primarily with the white opposition to Mayor Washington, but he was not an outright enemy of Mayor Washington.
White: 55.5
Black: 4.9
Hispanic: 19.7
Asian: 17.3
47th - Alderman Ameya Pawar
Primary neighborhoods include Lincoln Square and North Center. Another first time alderman and the only Asian alderman in Chicago. He replaced Eugene Shulter who decided not to run when he thought he was promised an open shot at a county political office. This is also the home ward for Mayor Emanuel. Mr. Pawar beat Shulter's hand picked replacement with 50.8% of the vote even though the ward has only a 5% Asian voting population.
White: 76.0
Black: 2.7
Hispanic: 13.9
Asian: 5.6
32nd - Alderman Scott Waguespack
This ward includes much of the Roscoe Village and Bucktown neighborhoods. While Scott Waguespack is not one of newly elected alderman, he was first elected in 2007. He is another progressive non-machine alderman who defeated the machine candidate in what was the long standing ward of former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski. My remap took some of the southwestern portions of his district and added some to the northeastern part.
1st - Alderman Proco 'Joe' Moreno
My remap altered this ward considerably. It was a plurality White population in its present boundaries, but it has now become a majority White ward. While this doesn't preclude the Hispanic Alderman Moreno from retaining his seat, it does heightened the possibility of a White Independent candidate from making a run here. An interesting side note is that until about 10 years ago the 1st ward always included the Loop and downtown area of Chicago. That was until then Alderman Roti was linked with the Chicago mob.
White: 67.3
Black: 12.6
Hispanic: 12.0
Asian: 6.7
27th - Alderman Walter Burnett
This is a plurality African-American ward now and remains so, but to a somewhat lesser degree. The precincts it dropped were on the eastern end as this ward used to pick up African-American votes by stretching to the Cabrini-Green housing projects. There are no more high rise projects there and it is right next to the gentrified areas of River North and Old Town. What it lost there was made up by a more Hispanic population to the west and north.
White: 28.4
Black: 44.6
Hispanic: 23.7
Asian: 2.1
16th - Alderman JoAnn Thompson
This was my one ward that completely switched locations. Formerly, the 16th ward was in the primarily African-American south side Englewood neighborhood. Alderman Thompson would have to fight it out in the new 20th ward with Alderman Cochran. Both alderman were first elected in 2007. In order to reflect the growing Hispanic population and the growth of the city wide population on the north side rather than the south side, it was moved to the near northwest side around Humboldt Park and has become a plurality Hispanic ward.
White: 39.9
Black: 8.7
Hispanic: 47.5
Asian: 2.4
26th - Alderman Roberto Maldonado
Primary neighborhoods include Humboldt Park and Logan Square. In order to make up the area lost to the new 16th ward, the 26th picked up Hispanic areas to the west in the old 30th and 31st wards. While it loses it's super majority Hispanic status, it does it just barely as the overall population in this new ward is 65% Hispanic but only 59.4% VAP.
White: 31.9
Black: 5.0
Hispanic: 59.4
Asian: 2.4
35th - Alderman Rey Colon
Primary neighborhoods include Logan Square and Avondale. The 35th loses some of Logan Square to accommodate the 26th moving further north but it is still a super majority Hispanic ward.
White: 31.3
Black: 4.0
Hispanic: 61.2
Asian: 9.6
33rd - Alderman Richard Mell
Primary neighborhood includes Albany Park. One of the deans of the city council. He's been an alderman since 1975. He is the father-in-law of our former governor and convicted felon, Rod Blagojevich. His ward has become increasingly more Hispanic through the years, but he still keeps winning. A definite old machine alderman.
White: 33.3
Black: 3.6
Hispanic: 51.4
Asian: 9.6
39th - Alderman Margaret Laurino
Primary neighborhoods include Sauganash and Mayfair. Another family affair in this ward. Her father was alderman from 1965 to 1994 when he resigned due to a criminal investigation and poor health. She has only faced one runoff election since and is a safe machine ward.
White: 48.2
Black: 2.7
Hispanic: 25.7
Asian: 20.6
45th - Alderman John Arena
Primary neighborhood includes Edgebrook. This is another of the new alderman. Alderman Arena won by just 29 votes out of over 12,000. He is a progressive Democrat in a ward never know for it's independence from the machine.
38th - Alderman Timothy Cullerton
Primary neighborhood includes Portage Park and Belmont-Cragin. Alderman Cullerton was appointed just a few months before the 2011 aldermanic elections and won the election a few months later. Yet another family run ward, the Cullerton family has run this ward for over 100 years. Timothy is just the latest.
White: 60.3
Black: 2.2
Hispanic: 30.6
Asian: 5.3
30th - Ariel Reboyras
Primary neighborhood includes Hermosa. The previous 30th ward wound itself like a snake around the 31st ward to pick up Hispanic voters. This is no longer necessary and in this remap is a much more compact ward still retaining its super majority Hispanic nature.
White: 27.4
Black: 2.3
Hispanic: 65.9
Asian: 3.3
31st - Alderman Rey Suarez
Primary neighborhood is Belmont Cragin. Alderman Suarez has been alderman of this ward for 20 years and was recently named vice mayor by Mayor Emanuel. Most of this ward is unchanged although it moves a bit to the west to accommodate wards 16, 26 and 30 retain their Hispanic majority.
White: 27.0
Black: 2.3
Hispanic: 65.9
Asian: 3.3
37th - Alderman Emma Mitts
Primary neighborhood is Garfield Park. Although this in the northern half of the city, this is a west side African-American district. There is not much change to the ward other than giving some of its eastern most precincts to the 27th to make it more of a AA plurality.
White: 1.5
Black: 81.9
Hispanic: 15.3
Asian: 0.2
29th - Alderman Deborah Graham
Primary neighborhood is Austin. This ward borders the suburb of Oak Park and was made a little less of a African-American super majority again to help the 27th retain its plurality. She is another new alderman having been appointed in 2010 and winning re-election in 2011.
White: 10.4
Black: 67.4
Hispanic: 19.9
Asian: 1.4
36th - Alderman Nicholas Sposato
Primary neighborhoods are Montclare and Dunning. This is yet another new alderman and one who defeated a longtime machine alderman's hand picked candidate. This will probably be one ugly contest in 2015.
White: 69.3
Black: 4.0
Hispanic: 22.1
Asian: 3.8
41st - Alderman Mary O'Connor
Primary neighborhoods include Norwood and Edison Parks. Another first timer. This was a ward that was represented by a Republican for 20 years, Brian Doherty. He did not seek another term after unsuccessfully running for state senate. This ward has probably the most suburban feel of all the Chicago wards.
Having run out of time before submitting for the contest, I will add my descriptions of the south side wards tomorrow.