Wrightwood Neighbors Reflect on 5 Decades of Progress

At 50 years young, the Wrightwood Neighbors Association is the new kid on the block when it comes to Lincoln Park's neighborhood groups.

But that hasn't stopped the organization from giving back—in a big way—to the area it calls home. Residents living within the borders of Diversey Parkway to Fullerton Avenue and Halsted Street to Lakewood Avenue rely on the neighbors association for everything from beautification efforts to renown events like the Taste of Lincoln. 

The 300-member association celebrated its 50th anniversary at the end of September, when members looked back on its five-decade journey. 

"It's changed from a demographic of 20-somethings who loved the area because of the bars, the clubs, the vitality … to those 20-somethings staying, having kids, buying homes and raising families," said Ken Feldbein, past president of the association who moved to the neighborhood in 1970. "It transitioned from almost slummy, middle class to upper class."

Other Wrightwood veterans attending an end-of-summer 50th Anniversary Celebration on the rooftop of Lakeshore Sport & Fitness also recalled the less glamorous years in the Lincoln Park neighborhood when asked to describe the strides the area has made.

"I joined because we had a horrible gang problem," said member Mike Realmuto, former crime chair who signed up in 1977. "There were shootings, there was violence, and we wanted to fight the gangs."

Specifically, he remembered a rival gang shootout at Uncle Frank's hot dog stand, which he says stood near the intersection of North Halsted Street and West Wrightwood Avenue.

"We decided we had to start aiding money for the police department and start some community policing efforts," he said.

And that's just what the Neighbors did.

They reached out to the Schwinn family, who used to live in Lincoln Park, and asked that they match a donation from the group to the Chicago Police Department. They created a long-range plan for the neighborhood and even built the city's first dog park, Wiggly Field. 

Then 29 years ago, the association hosted the first Taste of Lincoln, which has since raised a total of $2.5 million for schools, parks and libraries, said past president Allan Mellis.

Today, the Wrightwood Neighbors include members of all ages and backgrounds. Some were born in the Lincoln Park area, while others have moved there.

Courtland Hickey, 31, and his wife Erin Anderson-Hickey serve as the group's membership and newsletter chairs, respectively. Hickey says he's most proud of the grants to education and the arts the association helps to provide.

"That makes Lincoln Park what it is and provides things many other neighborhoods don't have," he said. "There's certainly something to be said for that."