Hyde Park, "that elite enclave"?!

So after starting this blog yesterday, I did a vanity google search. Of course this new-kid-on-the-block blog of mine didn't show up but what did show up were a number of anti-Obama blogs that mentioned Hyde Park. One characterized it, bizarrely, as "that elite millionaire enclave." What?? Not only has this critic never been to Hyde Park, he's clearly never been to Chicago or even talked to anyone from Chicago. Another one described it as a liberal elite neighborhood, home to the University of Chicago.

One of the reasons my husband and I moved to Hyde Park twelve years ago is because it is not just diverse in the ethnic sense, but also in the socioeconomic sense. I've been saying to friends for years that we not only have neighbors who are African American, Asian, Latino, White, etc. in proportions that are unmatched by any other urban neighborhood in the country, but that it is also the only neighborhood I know of where you can buy a home for less than $100K or one for a million. Taking a look at this week's Hyde Park Herald, I see properties for sale that range from $92,900 (a 2BR co-op apt) to $1,300,000 (a Georgian mansion)... and everything in between. The median home price is $240,000. That's a pretty diverse price range, especially considering that Hyde Park is small: roughly ten blocks by ten blocks.

As for the liberal elite criticism, of course we have liberal thinkers here. That's what keeps the place a cultural gem. But let's not forget where Reaganomics all began: the University of Chicago's Dept. of Economics. Remember Milton Friedman? Where would Republicans be if not for the conservatism that has arisen, and continues to arise, from that department? Yes, Hyde Park has its Nobel Prize-winning "elite" here, the ones who dreamed up "trickle-down economics" by cutting taxes for the rich. Here's a very interesting Wall St. Journal article by an ex-resident of Hyde Park that sheds light on these completely nonfactual criticisms of Obama and his home base. Worth a read.