Abstract

This oral history interview with Gene Tracy, conducted on October 29, 2003, by Michelle Burk, explores Tracy's experiences and observations of the Tremont neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio. Tracy discusses his long-term familiarity with the area, the changes brought by gentrification, and the impact on the local artist community. He reflects on the transformation of Tremont from a vibrant, diverse neighborhood into one increasingly dominated by wealthier new residents and developers, leading to the displacement of original inhabitants. The interview provides insights into the social dynamics, cultural shifts, and challenges faced by long-time residents as they navigate the evolving landscape of their community.

Interviewee

Tracy, Gene (interviewee)

Interviewer

Burk, Michelle (interviewer)

Project

Tremont History Project

Date

10-29-2003

Document Type

Oral History

Transcript

Michelle Burk: Ok, could you please state your name and spell it?

Gene Tracy: Gene G-E-N-E Tracy T-R-A-C-Y.

Michelle Burk: Thank you. And today is the 29th of October, 2003. Mr. Tracy, you currently live in Tremont—?

Gene Tracy: Yes I do.

Michelle Burk: Correct? And how long have you lived there?

Gene Tracy: Approximately two years.

Michelle Burk: But you have been familiar with the community for much longer than that?

Gene Tracy: Yes I have.

Michelle Burk: How were you familiar with the community?

Gene Tracy: Oh, I’d say approximately fifteen, maybe eighteen years ago, somewhere in there, it’s kind of vague, ‘cause it was party time. I met a person when I was working as an elevator operator down at, West Ninth Street. And so we started hanging out, and he was an artist, and he bought a place on land contract. (It) was a—I don’t know what it was before. If I keep talking I might remember. But it was on Professor and Literary, approximately. And he decided (to) turn it in—you know, that was gonna be his studio. He was gonna stop working, and become an artist. And join, you know, start the art community down there. And, so he bought the building on land contract for fifteen thousand dollars and had a total income, I’d say yearly income, maybe two to three thousand dollars per year. And it was truly amazing to see him survive. But it always seemed that whenever he started to struggle, he sold another piece of art. And he was able to get the building. So then ( ) hung around there, and that was the start of it.

Michelle Burk: Does he still live in Tremont?

Gene Tracy: Unfortunately, the yuppifiles moved in and they want to gentrify the neighborhood, and so they started building all these new hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, four hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, on up to millions of dollar houses, townhouses, condominiums, and the like, which are all tax abated. And then they reappraised the property, and that fifteen thousand dollar building was reappraised at a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. And knowing that he’s ( ) through his earnings, he’s probably up to making five thousand dollars a year. He just couldn’t afford the taxes. It was, it was, they drove him out. So he’s now in Mexico. And he wasn’t able to sell his building for a (hundred) and fifty thousand dollars, he was only able to get, like ninety-five. Which was a lot more than he had paid for it, but nowhere near what he needed. So was this a good thing for him? Maybe, he ended up in, on the high road in New Mexico, in betw—the high road in between Taos and Santa Fe, which is supposed to be the major art path where all the rich folks out there—but he is, he got to realizing they have it, for there.

Michelle Burk: Were there a number of other artists in the Tremont area that you knew?

Gene Tracy: Yeah, there’s a couple still there. There’s Tim Herron, and he owns the Manly Pad, oh, can’t think of their names. Well, there’s a bunch, I’d say there’s a hell—hundred ten, fifteen of them. They’re eluding me right now.

Michelle Burk: And they—

Gene Tracy: It’s mainly because of that standard-based report card. Time for sound effects. [Sound effects toy]

Michelle Burk: And do they still live in the neighborhood? Were they unaffected by the increase in—

Gene Tracy: Yeah, no, and maybe. There’s, there’s some that were forced out, there’s some that are just barely hanging on. And so there, there’s a transition going on now. And (I) think a fine example of that is that’s a, it’s a, it was Ron Naso. That was my friend’s name. I don’t think I said that, did I. Owned a studio gallery on Professor, and they were the ones that initially started the art walks in all of Cleveland. And then Murray Road caught on, and the other place caught on. But they were the initial art walk people. And after building this tradition of the art walk, the Tremont West Corporation came in and took over the concept of art walks and squeezed folks out. Hey Uncle ( ) Man! [Other teacher walks in]: Stopped by and see if you’re still alive, hadn’t seen you for so long!

Gene Tracy: Hey! Other teacher: I just had an epiphany.

Gene Tracy: Really? [Tape is turned off, then on.]

Michelle Burk: Ok, we were talking about the Tremont West Development Corporation and—(the art walks)?

Gene Tracy: Yeah, and so they took over the art walk and advertising it and promoting it, [Noise from hallway] and then they demanded that people chip in fifty bucks. You know, to them.

Michelle Burk: To attend?

Gene Tracy: [Clears throat] Well no, not to attend, but to [interruption] to advertise, but you know, they would take over the advertisement of (it.) Which means they started buying things, and the Plain Dealer, and they, they shut out, what would be the best way to say it? Since they were advertising, they didn’t want anybody else advertising. And they usually found ways to advertise for free. [Other teacher walks in]: I do have your notes.

Gene Tracy: Oh! Awfully kind of you sir. Other teacher: I—oh, I’m sorry. [Tape is turned off, then on.]

Gene Tracy: So, so they drove the initial people that had established it, and made it grow, and just kicked ‘em out. And most of the long-time artists that started the artist community were just left to the wayside. And they’re still there. They still open on art walk night, but they’re not getting any publicity. They don’t—can’t cough up the cash. And so there’s—you know, rather than to say ok, you know, you were here, you know, you’re artists, and to include them in there, it’s strictly a monetary thing with them. And that’s how they view the neighborhood, strictly monetary.

Michelle Burk: That’s how the Tremont West Development—?

Gene Tracy: Right, most of the development people there. And there’s other ones, and I can’t think of their names. But they, they’re just there for the money. And they want their property to appreciate, and probably sell it off someday. And a lot of the people involved just bought properties—[noise] strange noises in the place. They buy properties just for speculation. And so they’ll do anything to drag up that market value.

Michelle Burk: Do you happen to remember when the Tremont (West) Development Corporation was created?

Gene Tracy: I would say, maybe ten years ago? That’s something that’s easy to check on, you could probably go chat with them, and get their perspective of it. But as a developer, there’s no concern for the residents that are, have been living there for a long time. And you take, with the opening of all these restaurants and bars, there’s no parking for those places. And rather than zoning ‘em, so, and saying, ok, we’re going to open a place, you’re gonna create parking somewhere, there will be parking, they don’t. So that, because of the type of community it was, there was very little driveways built. And so there’s not that much off- street parking for the residents that have the houses there. And so when this influx of yuppifiles moved in, they take all the parking spots away from the people that have lived there for years. And it’s a constant struggle down there, for parking. And yet they’re opening restaur—another res—they just opened two, I think, two new restaurants and bars in the neighborhood, knowing full well that it’s gonna increase congestion. And cause more headaches for the long-time residents. Let alone the noises, and the things that go on till two o’clock in the morning.

Michelle Burk: With the bars?

Gene Tracy: Right.

Michelle Burk: So they don’t have parking available for the new restaurants and the bars, so you’re saying that the people who go to those places are taking parking from the residents?

Gene Tracy: Right.

Michelle Burk: Ok. Did these new restaurants and businesses start to pop up around the same time as the Tremont West Development Corporation?

Gene Tracy: Oh, (they) walk hand in hand.

Michelle Burk: Ok.

Gene Tracy: You know, that was part of the development. So was it—it was good, in a way. But then again, you have to have some integrity in making sure it’s a livable space for people. And the, I don’t believe they have that integrity. And as for all the new buildings, you take a, you know, when you take a look at these buildings, they’re allowing this one person—and I can’t remember—he owns one of the restaurants, but he’s one of the speculators, [loud noise in background] and he bought up a lot of land. And so now they’re building on that land, and they’re dumping the dirt, the fill from those basements that they’re digging onto people’s property. Or right next to people’s property. So rather than taking it to a landfill, like they’re supposed to, they dump it right next to people’s houses. And it’s not clean fill, because of the neighborhood, year-end, you know, when they tore down houses, they just buried over ‘em, and you have all this garbage and things. So a friend called me over in the summertime, and she had moved there, bought a house, and it was, it was horrendous. There was this big mound, tall—twice as high as her house, of dirt. Which in any other place, would be totally illegal. And it is against city zoning laws. And yet, she has complained and complained, and because the guy’s so rich, I imagine, they don’t do anything about it.

Michelle Burk: The man built his house, and the dirt was left by your friend’s house?

Gene Tracy: They—not just built one house, several houses. And they just keep dumping, and they find a sp—you know, what they have is like several properties they’re developing, and so one property’s their dump zone. And so, it should be totally illegal. And they should be required to make sure that dirt is not there. I mean, it’s not pretty, either. It’s, like I said, it’s got junk in it, it’s garbage.

Michelle Burk: How long did they leave it? Is it, is it still there—?

Gene Tracy: It’s been there—yeah!

Michelle Burk: Wow.

Gene Tracy: Yeah. It’s, it’s truly, just unbelievable. And I ( ) say it’s not the only mound. And ( ) some other ones. So, how they allow that, how they get by the city that way, [noise] who knows? But one of the reasons that they are developing that area, it’s the island. You know, this little island, that’s secluded from all the other parts of the city. They eventually wanted, they made one attempt to get rid of the CMHA housing, which would instantly jack the property values up. But that failed. But you can be sure that they’ll keep trying to shut down CMH(A) housing, and then they’ll have this little island that’s totally protected right near downtown. And so all their SUVs, they won’t have to spend a lot of money putting gas in ‘em to drive in from the burbies. So, what’s next?

Michelle Burk: The CMHA housing that you just mentioned, what do you remember of them trying to get rid of that?

Gene Tracy: Shoo. Very little at this time.

Michelle Burk: How long ago?

Gene Tracy: Maybe, two years ago. About the same time I was buying a house in the neighborhood, there was a—I forget how they avoided it, or what transpired, but there was a big to-do at the time, and I can’t recall. You’ll have to investigate that one.

Michelle Burk: I spoke to someone yesterday who is involved in the community and he had said that the Tremont West Development Corporation was planning on rebuilding the area of the CMHA housing. They were planning on relocating the residents to somewhere else, building new houses, and then giving them the option to move back in.

Gene Tracy: H-hm. Yeah, that’s a good way to do it. Yeah, but where are they gonna build these new houses, and do people want to be uprooted? Or, you know, then the question would be is, should they really be given a choice? I’m sure Tremont West is saying, “you know, this is subsidized housing and da da da da, and so we’re going to do what’s good for our neighborhood,” which translates into, “we want more money in our pockets.” So that’s, that’s a whole issue onto itself. So they would be more than happy to build something somewhere else, and to have these people move out. ‘Cause that would, you know, that’s another spot that they could tear down, and use for development. And the second they did that, you would jack, I’d say it’d be a three hundred percent increase in property values. Which would start the snowball rolling again for gentrification. As they built the new places, and which will cause the other places to appreciate right along with them. I mean, it would just be ( ) and ( ). And then all the folks in the neighborhood really couldn’t afford it after that. Except for the tax abated people. Like me, for instance. [Loud noise] And I tried to pay my tax, my fair share, to the schools. I figured the city and the county could get their own money. And they do, because of House Bill 920, that, that ensures that any increase in taxes due to property reappraisal goes right into their pockets. And that the schools have to pass another levy. I mean, that’s, and that was put through by George Voinovich when he was down in the house. And it’s probably the sleaziest thing that was ever done to public education. Do you know about House Bill 920?

Michelle Burk: No.

Gene Tracy: Well isn’t that special. Let’s take for instance, and use some simple numbers. If you’re paying a hundred dollars in property tax, fifty-three dollars goes to the school, and the city, state, or the city, county, and one other entity divides, is a remaining portion. So when they reappraise the property at a hundred percent increase, which raises your property taxes a hundred percent, that means you now are paying two hundred dollars in taxes. However, only fifty-three dollars still goes to the schools. In order for the schools to get a hunk of that, they have to increase their levy. And so, this is why people get so upset. Their property values go up, they think their money’s going to the schools, and currently, they’re going to need another levy, and it’s not going to ever pass. Because of that. And as a matter of fact, the state has undermined the school system this year by 119.6 million dollars.

Michelle Burk: Wow.

Gene Tracy: And next year it will be 126 million, so forth and so on. But that’s one of the bad things, again, about the tax abatements that they give. It calls on the retired people, the long-time residents to support all these rich new people coming in. All the increased services go to the rich people. I know, oh by the way, I tried to pay my taxes, I was saying that. But Barbara Byrd-Bennet refused to take ‘em. Because she’s tax-abated, and that would have meant she would have been embarrassed, and would have had to pay her taxes. So, there you go. Ok, go on.

Michelle Burk: What are some of your earliest memories of the Tremont community? Some things that stand out in your mind, maybe the, the different ethnicities of people who lived there? Maybe the types of businesses?

Gene Tracy: Well, it was, in the beginning at least, when I hung around there, it was a neighborhood. It was—when they’d have the art walks or when you go to a bar, it was the people there. It was, you could go to the park and there’d be, you know, all sorts of ethnicities. I mean it was a melting pot. So everybody would just be walking around, and they’d be stopping in, and it was pretty friendly. It was a, I would say, maybe a throwback to the 60s type thing. And you know, now it’s just suits and things. You know, just—it’s changed considerably. So, there was art, you know, we—one of the things that happened there was an art auction that was started. And that was a yearly thing that helped the starving artists at least, you know, get money to pay the bills over the wintertime. And, you know, that’s changed. It used to be like, just this nice little party got together. All sorts of strange things. They’d be doing performances. The artists would be doing something here and there. And it was never planned or really orchestrated that well. But it was like they just, ok, we’re doing this, and then a whole bunch of neighborhood people would be there, they’d come in, everybody was invited. That type of thing. And I guess there’s still some of that flavor now, but it’s more organized. They have a Tremont Art Festival at the park, at Lincoln Park. And I went there, and it was just like, you had, would you say manufactured goods, it was more like an arts and crafts thing, it was, it didn’t reflect all the different artists there. Mainly ‘cause they charge a huge, a huge fee to set up. And to have a thing there. So most people don’t want to do that. So there you go.

Michelle Burk: Was the change gradual over time? Or is there a specific turning point when everything became formalized in the art community?

Gene Tracy: Well, was there a turning point? Again, you know, some of it’s good, some of it’s bad. You know. I’d say it’s a little better ‘cause they can charge a little more for their wares, their goods. Nah, it was more of a gradual thing. I would say the, the major change came with the opening of like, Lola’s, and all in that little spot there, where they open these high-class restaurants and shortly following that, they started building the townhouses. And the three hundred thousand dollar houses. And I think that is where you saw the, brought in the major change.

Michelle Burk: Do you see how the new residents who move into the more expensive housing, how do they get along with old-time residents of the community?

Gene Tracy: Well, I don’t know. I haven’t seen them. They have their own little community I guess. And you know, I don’t go to, you know, Lola’s or any place like that. Most of those places. I hang out at the place called the Literary, which is a little pub, and that’s still the flavor. You know, and, as a matter of fact, the guy at the Literary won a national award for websites or something, da da da—dealing with websites, or website movies. And that national award, and so, I mean, you can go in there at any time, and somebody’ll be doing something. You know, I shouldn’t say at any time. But you walk in there, and they may be doing a TV show for cable, they may be displaying somebody’s art, somebody might want to do performance art one night, so they’ll be doing performance art. You know, just strange and bizarre things. Showing movies on, they have TVs in—is there one TV?—yeah, one TV set up there, just showing strange movies and, somebody finds something really, really, really strange, you know, it’s on the, it’s on the screen. You know, and so it’ll be movie night. And so I’ve seen some pretty strange things in that bar, to say the least.

Michelle Burk: Has it been there a long time?

Gene Tracy: As long as I’ve known it. Since I’ve been going there, that used to be, you know, the place to hang out. I didn’t go there that often, you know but, when I did, it was always like, bizarre. And I could walk in there some nights, and there’s nobody in. And they’re only open on the weekends. Like Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and that’s it.

Michelle Burk: So it’s one of the things in the community that has remained unchanged?

Gene Tracy: I would say pretty much so, yeah, they worked at that, to make sure. But they’re trying, they’re trying to close them down. So Tremont West is doing everything they possibly can to drive them out.

Michelle Burk: What do they do? Do they try to raise their—or do they raise their taxes? Or—

Gene Tracy: Well that’s, yeah, that’s one of the things. And you know they, they hit them up with building inspections and this, they pretty much control that, I have a feeling. And so they’ll, they really want to drive them out. And we were talking about it. However, remember it is a bar. And so my little brain cells were being punished by alcohol abuse. So I can’t remember the whole conversation. But they were, I’d say in a few words, bothered. And I can’t recall what that was.

Michelle Burk: Do you think that they’ll take measures to assure that they’re not driven out?

Gene Tracy: Well, you know, you get to a point, certain point, where you have no choice. You know, and I think they’re reaching that point. It’s like, you know, just the grief and the headaches, and all the other, the pressures that they bring down on you. You know, do you want to go through that in you life? And the type of people we’re talking about, the answer is no. Will they stand and fight? Sure. But then there’s just so much you can do. And they take, like my friend Ron, he really didn’t want to move. You know. And then it just kept creeping up and they reappraised him one time, went up to like, thirty-eight thousand dollars a year. And then that ultimate jump to a hundred and fifty thousand was the death knoll. But it was like a constant struggle. There was a parking lot next to him, again, he did not have direct access to his backyard. He had to do street parking. But there was a parking lot between his building and the next building. And it was pretty much when somebody else owned it, it was like a thing, you know, ok fine, park there, who cares? You know? But then this a, [laughs] one of the interlopers came in, the carpetbaggers came in, bought the place, and just made his life a living hell with that parking lot. And so there was always this tension going on. You know, this tension. And the guy who bought it only turned a profit. The second he turned a prof— you know, had a buyer for the place, he was out of there. And the new creep moved in. And I don’t, I think he still owns the place, I’m not sure. But he moved in, paved the place, and again, the same thing. Same, “this is my parking lot, da da da da da, you know you can’t park here,” you know. “Well you can park here a little bit,” you know. And they came to some, some sort of agreement, but it was always this constant struggle. And then I’m sure that, again, it’ll get sold again. ‘Cause it’s strictly just for profit. It’s not to actually live there. Or else make it work. Now it was a big building, mind you. And, so.

Michelle Burk: The parking lot belonged to the person who owned the building next door or the building that your friend lived in?

Gene Tracy: Yeah. Now, he had a chance to buy that one time, and he kept kicking himself for not doing it. ‘Cause that would have made his life a whole lot easier. I guess he could’ve gotten it fairly inexpensive, but it’s one of those things. If you’re only making five thousand dollars, probably three thousand dollars at the time he had a chance, and you’re trying to pay off this other fifteen thousand dollars on that type of budget, it’s not one of those things that you really wanna have. And so, who knows. But you may, you know, are you gonna go interview people in the neighborhood or are you just—?

Michelle Burk: This will be my last interview.

Gene Tracy: Really?

Michelle Burk: Yes.

Gene Tracy: You should do one more. You should go down, talk to Andy and Lynn at the Literary. And, I’m sure you would get some good stuff that would fill in a lot of the blanks that I haven’t filled in. So just head down there, like, Thursday, or, I’d say, like Friday night. You know, just pop in there. It’s right—do you know the neighborhood at all?

Michelle Burk: A little bit.

Gene Tracy: You know where Lemko Hall is? That,

Michelle Burk: No.

Gene Tracy: It’s a what, triangle building? Where as you come, you know where the coffee house is?

Michelle Burk: M-hm.

Gene Tracy: Ok, right across the street from the coffee house we have that strange angled building. That’s Lemko Hall. And that’s Literary, that goes down that way.

Michelle Burk: Ok.

Gene Tracy: So the Literary is just as you get to the end of Lemko Hall, on Literary, the bar is right there. And please stop in there, and just tell them Tracy sent you, and that you need to hear about the neighborhood, and they’ll give you stories that you’ll just go “WHAT?” And really fill in some of the gaps. So, any other, more questions?

Michelle Burk: Um, do you remember how long ago it was that your friend purchased his, his building—

Gene Tracy: Somewhere fifteen to eighteen years, somewhere in that neighborhood. ( ) used to live down by oh, down by the bridge in the flats, that goes across by the Flatiron. And again, that was an artist community. And as a matter of fact, the guy that owned that building, a guy named Scully, also owned the Bible Press, or whatever that pla—that big massive unit is down there. And he just recently sold that and got out, and I guess he moved and went to Pittsburgh. So, but, you know, they, a whole bunch of the artists that used to live there followed him when he bought the place and sold that place, ‘cause, again, that was another one of those gentrification things. That, the artist community was right—there was a big artist community down right by the Cuyahoga River, that little section there. And almost the entire building was artists, and they got moved out. And so most of them, I think the majority moved into Tremont. So there was an influx of people right there.

Michelle Burk: Did the majority of them have to move out because of property taxes?

Gene Tracy: No, that was a case of Scully taking advantage of the situation. And he had a chance to sell it for a bunch of money, then when the people that bought the place got it, they skyrocketed the rent, and that moved them out.

Michelle Burk: Why did you move to Tremont?

Gene Tracy: [Laughs] It was a strange occurrence indeed. I had been in ill health, and so, while I was at the hospital, the—I always lived—oh, I can’t say that. The most of my life, I’ve lived downtown. ‘Cause it was great. We didn’t have to go anywhere, and if you had to, you know, if I were working at another school, I was always going away from traffic, rather than into traffic. And I’m the person that meets the path of least resistance. So, you know, downtown was ideal for me. I did do a stint out in Euclid one time, and that was too scary. I lasted two years out there. I had to come back to Cleveland. And so anyhow, I was living downtown, and when I came back from the hospital, they had jacked my rent up to eight hundred bucks a month from, (what) was it, five-fifty.

Michelle Burk: Yeah?

Gene Tracy: And I went, “Wha—?” So I figure, ok, time to go looking for a house. And that was really strange for me, because I had never wanted to ever own anything, or be that attached, to, you know, just wanna be able to just—truly a gypsy at heart, I guess. So, I started looking for houses. And again, I’m not a person that wants to do a lot of work. Again, meeting the path of least resistance. So I started looking at rehab houses. And again, they’re going for nine hundred to a thousand bucks a month, you know, that were respectable. And I thought, hey, this would be a cool house to live in. And I just missed out on like, one or two houses. And I came across these brand new houses that were being built by Sutton builders, and were being marketed through Riser properties. And I started looking at, there was a house over on Fifty-fifth and Fleet area, and you know, nice house, pretty much, well, the same as mine. And then took me over here to this house in Tremont, and with the tax abatements and with the ten thousand dollar down payment from the city, a brand-new house, I was able to get for eight hundred ten bucks a month. I went, fsh, this is a no-brainer. And so when I went to the one in Tremont, you know, somebody had supposedly already purchased the place. And they were just showing it to me. And one of the sales points for me is that it had a Jacuzzi tub, a bath tub. Which is what I was—I wanted. I said, I didn’t care. If I’m gonna buy a house, I’m gonna have this Jacuzzi bathtub. That’s how it’s gonna be. So I walked up, you know, we walked up the stairs and in the bathroom there was a Jacuzzi bathtub. So it was like—and the backyard of my place, it is the whole Flats. I overlook the Flats. So it was like, this was ideal. It was eight hundred bucks a month, which was what I was looking for, it was like karma had hit. It was like, ok. And so, just, ok, let’s sign the deal. And had everything done and clothed, which was amazing, in two weeks. Which if you know, buying houses, that’s unrealistic. Even so, there it was. Now I had a house. And I’m still not comfortable living in it.

Michelle Burk: Why is that?

Gene Tracy: It’s just me. It’s just, what am I doing in a house? You know, so is it a good thing for me? Sorta, I guess. But it’s totally against my nature.

Michelle Burk: Did the community of Tremont have anything to do with you deciding to live there—?

Gene Tracy: Absolutely not. Yeah, no, I gotta say it had something to do with it. But I have a feeling it was more—one of those things. And it was, I would imagine it had something to do with it, because I had a choice between the two houses. But the other house didn’t have a Jacuzzi bathtub. Plus it had a two, two car garage, and that was essential, ‘cause I always have two cars. And my convertible and the hard-top for winter, the convertible always stays in, and a spot for my motorcycles. So it’s like, had to have that, and it had that. And the other house did, too. But then aga— END OF SIDE Ad START SIDE B

Gene Tracy: So besides having a whole backyard being the Flats, which is maybe a good thing and bad thing because of the smells. And the asphalt plants and all that. Fortunately the steel mills are on their way out. I woke up one morning and there’s deer in my backyard. Just hanging out. I’m going, “wha—?” So I tried to take a picture of them, and of course, by the time you get a camera, they’re not there. And you try to tell people about, “Well, I have deer in my backyard.” And they go, “Yes you do, sure you do.” But I finally got a picture of them. And they came to eat the apples from one of the apple trees that were there. And so. And let’s see, what else would be there. The, the ground is strange because that neighborhood, I don’t know what went on there, but it’s like about, an inch—not even—a quarter-inch of soil, and then this slag. It’s like you can’t—to dig a little fire pit in the backyard, took me a good hour and a half with a sledge hammer and stuff, just to dig down, maybe, oh, a circle two and a half feet in radiu—er, diameter, and about a foot deep. Took an hour and a half to two hours to dig. And so, the grass just doesn’t grow that well. And which doesn’t upset me too much. But I actually did find a spot, I actually had a tomato. And I’m not the garden person. My—somebody said, why don’t you plant some stuff. I said, ok, I can do that. I was walking through and they had some tomato plants, like five for a dollar. So I said, ok, I’ll buy some. I’ll buy ten of them. I’ll get two dollars worth of plants and my whole total care taking of the plants was, if they grow, they grow, if they don’t, they don’t. And I actually got tomatoes. Really nice ones. They were beefsteaks about this big. [Measures about one inch] ( ) midget tomatoes.

Michelle Burk: Did you meet a lot of members of the community when you moved in? Or have you gotten to know some?

Gene Tracy: No, I’ve—well, I know the people around me. But I guess it’s the way I, my lifestyle has been. It’s like, I always exist away from where I’m at. You know, like, my home spot is there. It’s like, so, everything I do is away from that spot, I guess. So to actually meet folks there, no I can’t say that I have. Have I met more people from the neighborhood since I hang out there? Probably. But you know, there it’s secluded, in reference to where I usually hang out.

Michelle Burk: Do you frequent, um, some of the businesses down there? I know you said you don’t go to some of the newer restaurants.

Gene Tracy: M-hm.

Michelle Burk: But are there other businesses that you go to?

Gene Tracy: Probably the little corner deli. It’s on the corner of Professor and Literary. But not, you know, it’s like, as a matter of fact, I go a lot less to places now. Used to go to Edison’s, and don’t go there. The crowd has changed. So, don’t stop in there that much anymore. The Treehouse, when it first opened was sort of a place to go, but the guy cheated so many people there.

Michelle Burk: How so?

Gene Tracy: Oh, that guy’s a loon. He, you know, he had artists come in and do some work, did a whole bunch of work and didn’t pay them. He’s had battles with people in the neighborhood, you know, where, over parking, that stuff. Made the news a while back. So the guy’s a loon there. So, and so, don’t go there anymore. So pretty much, well, I head out. But wait— there, I brought this whole place to the Lincoln Park Pub. You know, that’s right at West Fourteenth and Scranton? No, not Scranton. Starkweather. And so that’s where we all go, inservicing on Friday nights, is the Lincoln Park Pub. So I guess I do, that was new. No, I think I was going there before I moved. So that was one of the spots that I went to before I moved. ‘Cause I would always go by—that’s how it came about—I would always go by that place as I was coming to visit my buddies over in Tremont. And on Fridays, we go to a place every now and then called Dempsey’s, and they had already, the school had already been going there. And with Dempsey’s, you paid an arm and a leg to get stuff, it was very expensive. So I stopped into Lincoln Park Pub one time, and it was like heaven. Heaven had struck. A dollar a beer, and really good eats for fairly reasonable, and shots and stuff. So you could buy a whole round for, for everybody in the place for under twenty dollars. And so that now is our place to be.

Michelle Burk: Would you say that that kind of atmosphere is characteristic to the old Tremont?

Gene Tracy: Yeah.

Michelle Burk: Reasonable pricing?

Gene Tracy: Yeah. That would be more of the old Tremont style.

Michelle Burk: How has the crowd at Edison’s changed, that you mentioned?

Gene Tracy: [Sighs] I would say, you know, that’s, it’s years since I’ve been there, I’m trying to think. It was a, I don’t think aloof is the word I’m looking for. It was a—maybe non-human? Yeah. [Laughs] You know, they’re the type of folks that would, you know, they’d come into a bar, and it’s not a very large place. And rather than just stand off to the side and allow a passageway through, they’re the folks that’s, you know, it’s not crowded, you know, there’s plenty of places where you could stand that you—but they’ll stand right in the middle, and they won’t move. And so you constantly have to say “excuse me,” you know, and then they give you the look. And it’s like, I don’t need this. And that’s the type of thing. You know, it’s non-courteous. Self-centered. And you see that a lot in the halls here at school. You know, there’s people just stop right in the middle of the hall, that’s their spot. They’re not gonna move, no matter how much they inconvenience others. So that’s the scary thing, you know, when you see that developing all around the place. But yeah, that’s one of the first things I noticed, is, you know, that lack of courtesy. Not caring about others. You know, that being conscious of where you are, in the world. I imagine they voted for Bush, too. Nah.

Michelle Burk: Did you—the lack of courtesy, is that something that you notice in Tremont now? Or did you mean that here in this school?

Gene Tracy: Well, I think it’s a thing across, across the nation. But, yeah, it was more noticeable. You know, I think that’s probably one of the first things you notice. Same way with parking and things like that. It’s, you know, big SUVs, like, I saw a Hummer just pull right onto the sidewalk ‘cause they didn’t want to park it somewhere where somebody could steal it. Pull up right in front of somebody or park in front of somebody’s driveway. You know, just not caring what they do. What else, ah. Just stopping right in the middle of the street. You know, just come stand there, and let, you know, they let somebody run in, and they’ll just park right there in the middle of the street. You know, instead, you know, they coulda pulled up to maybe about, maybe forty, fifty feet down the way, there’s a spot that they could actually pull in, and whoever was with them would have to walk now. And you know that the person they just dropped off was not handicapped, or whatever. So, yeah it gets pretty bizarre—

Michelle Burk: Do you have a—

Gene Tracy: Or wait, wait, wait. I could think of something that just happened recently. There, it was a Cadillac Escalade, just talking on the phone, light’s green and they’re talking on the phone. And you honk the horn, they’re not gonna move. And there’s no way you can get around them. You know, the streets are small there. And so they’re right in the middle of this exit— intersection, talking on the phone, probably lost, but you know, trying to get directions to find out where to go, but it’s their right to sit there right in the middle of the street and inconvenience everybody else. Just talking on the phone. And you beep your horn, and they flip you the bird. Oooh. [Claps hands] How sweet that is. So that’s the type of people, yes.

Michelle Burk: Do you happen to know anything about the block clubs in Tremont?

Gene Tracy: No. I think I got a flyer on them once. And usually I would have probably gotten involved in the political nature of the neighborhood. But school and everything else keeps me pretty much well occupied. But I do know Joe Cimperman, you know, really well. When I was teaching over at Martin Luther King he was like, forget what he was, he wasn’t actually a teacher, he was just like, he was affiliated with somebody. Maybe tutoring there, or something like that, at the time. So that’s when I first met him.

Michelle Burk: Who is Joe Cimperman?

Gene Tracy: Councilman for the area.

Michelle Burk: Ok.

Gene Tracy: What? You’re doing this historical stuff and you didn’t even know that?

Michelle Burk: I’m here to learn.

Gene Tracy: Hello? [Echoes]

Michelle Burk: [Laughs]

Gene Tracy: [Sound effect]

Michelle Burk: Did a lot of the kids here at Lincoln West come from the Tremont neighborhood?

Gene Tracy: Some of them. Some come from the projects, the CMHA projects. A number of them do live over in that neighborhood.

Michelle Burk: Do you happen to know if some of the new residents in Tremont who are living in the more expensive housing, if they have kids that they send here?

Gene Tracy: I would probably say they don’t. But I can’t guarantee that. But I think that’s one, one of the benefits of the disguised voucher programs, because with those tax abatements, that’s enough to pay for tuition. So it’s a ( ) for that situation. Let’s see, what would be—for a hundred fifty thousand dollar home, you’re being abated somewhere in the neighborhood of two thousand five hundred, two thousand six hundred dollars. Which is enough to pay for tuition. And a three hundred thousand dollar home, now your in the five thousand dollar range, and five hundred thousand—so you’re getting your tuition paid for if you have a kid.

Michelle Burk: For clarification, your friend that had to move out of the Tremont area, about what year was that that he left?

Gene Tracy: Ah, the same year that I moved in. So about two years ago.

Michelle Burk: Ok. So about 2001, right?

Gene Tracy: Yeah, I guess.

Michelle Burk: And do you, do you happen to know how the majority of the old residents of Tremont view what is happening to the neighborhood?

Gene Tracy: Oh, they’re ticked.

Michelle Burk: Yeah.

Gene Tracy: Yeah. They’re not too happy with the situation. Again, if you take away someone’s parking spot, they’re pretty, they’re pretty angry. You know? And then you’re increasing traffic on the streets, you know. You try to drive your car home at night after a hard day’s work, and it’s just traffic jam. You just don’t need that. So yeah, they aren’t, they aren’t happy with it. I’m sure there’s a percentage that are. But I would say across the board, they’re not pleased. But for those semi-longtime people, they’re kinda happy. They’re property is appreciating, and they’re hoping to sell it eventually. So.

Michelle Burk: Is there anything else you want to add about the neighborhood?

Gene Tracy: Well, the architecture of some of the churches, that’s pretty amazing. We’ve got, just some nice looking buildings down there. What else? They have the one little thing. There’s like a obelisk, it’s like the Washington Monument, isn’t that called an obelisk?

Michelle Burk: I’m not sure.

Gene Tracy: It’s like a miniature Washington Monument. It’s got freedom of speech, freedom of religion, you know, the other freedoms. It’s got four things on it, which is pretty cool. You know, and it’s, and that’s it, right there in Tremont. I always thought that was really unique to the area. But, I think that’s about it.

Michelle Burk: Ok then.

Gene Tracy: Good.

Michelle Burk: Thank you.

END OF INTERVIEW

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