Shared this collage of pics at 63rd/Halsted on the day of the Grand Opening of Whole Foods Market Englewood. Unfortunately on this day I didn't exactly make it for the official grand opening and never made it inside just as it was about to rain heavily once I arrived. There was a line of customers going into the store which caused me to change my mind as far as shopping in this store on that day. On the other hand it was great to see the excitement and the activity on this day. Things have slowed down since then but a Whole Foods Market in Englewood is a sign that this often beleaguered community on Chicago's south side is on its way back.

Back in June 2013, I posted this collage of shots from my quick stop to this intersection on Sixth Ward blog . This is basically the heart of Englewood which during much different and better times was a commercial area full of retail that could rival downtown Chicago. Thanks to the shopping mall and other economic effects such as "white flight" the commercial area declined to the point of what you see here. Those storefronts are mostly gone and has been replaced by a community college. Imagine what happened in this area just about 3 years later. Perhaps the commerce will begin to return to this area sooner than many of us will imagine. Think Whole Foods Market opened a store here , a Starbucks and a Chipotle. Unfortunately another building has gone down thanks to fire but that just means another place worth building upon in the future here. Can't wait to show you a similar scene from here back in September 2016. That image was also something posted - though after...

I finally had an opportunity to somewhat reenact photos taken on New Year's Eve 2007 on 87th Street. Unlike back in 2007 when these shots were taken on a simple point and shoot digital camera, these photos were taken on my iPhone with an olloclip lens. Click on all pics for larger resolution. Across the street is a Family Dollar store. If you can see the grand opening sign near the front entrance don't let that fool you, this particular store has been open since sometime in 2007. A local community organization wrote in their newsletters that year that they wanted a grocery store at this location. Even 10 years later no grocer has stepped forward to turn this back into a grocery store. Before 2007, this space was home to a locally owned Food Basket store.  Moving along on 87th Street, here is a branch of Illinois Service Federal . Earlier in 2007 it was the site of a fatal bank robbery which made the local news. A teller was killed by gunfire during that ...