Small changes, scattered success Despite the obstacles, some neighborhoods and lives are turning around. Businesses are slowly moving into some of the abandoned buildings nearby. I hope to do better in the future, but I'm very, very behind in my bills. Jones, a former chef instructor, says her bakery has created three jobs and is serving neighborhood residents. It's great to see a small business growing and getting national attention.
Property taxes are up in Pilsen, and there are new stores, new sidewalks, new homes.
I think it's the zone. Despite the signs of progress, the zones have struggled to put their federal seed money to use in the neighborhoods. All of the cities got off to a slow start setting up an organization to distribute the money and track spending. If someone gave you money to build your city up, it seems to me you would come up with creative ideas to make your city thrive. From the front porch of his home in Camden, with its view of a scrubby field where a factory once turned animal bones into gelatin, Pedro Caban says he doesn't know what the zone is supposed to be doing.