Regarding “Life on the North Shore” (Aug. 31, Page 1):
“North Shore” connotes precisely those attributes listed in your article: “estate,” “snob,” “good breeding” and “social class.” It is unfortunate that suburbs west of the lakefront North Shore communities of Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe, Highland Park and Lake Forest aspire to be like these generally white and affluent areas.
The extension of exclusive communities to new areas of development such as the Glenview Naval Air Station, Ft. Sheridan and Techny only exacerbates the imbalance between jobs (the Edens Corridor has more jobs than downtown Dallas) and the shortage of low- and moderate-income housing units. The Northbrook Chamber of Commerce, for example, acknowledges the difficulty in filling local jobs because of the lack of affordable housing.
In addition, regardless of income, housing discrimination is alive and well. Outside Evanston, the entire north suburban population east of Interstate Highway 294 is less than 1 percent African-American. The Interfaith Housing Center’s recently completed HUD-funded audit demonstrated that throughout the North Shore and adjacent communities, minority families and families with children are discriminated against in two out of three cases. Congregations and groups such as the League of Women Voters are working to make the northern suburbs more accessible to people of different races, religions and lower incomes, and the Interfaith Housing Center has worked for 25 years to change the “North Shore” label.
