Uptown neighbors wary after 3 slayings
Danger not gone from area despite new gentrification
By Monique Garcia
Tribune staff reporter
10:56 PM CDT, September 10, 2007
For the last 20 years, Bill Muslem has watched the story of Uptown unfold from behind the counter of his convenience store on the corner of Montrose Avenue and Hazel Street.
A lot of things have changed in those two decades, he said. For one, Muslem and his customers are no longer afraid to walk to and from the store after dark. Redevelopment and an influx of new residents have for the most part replaced "the gangbangers and drug dealers," who used to hang out on Hazel Street, he said.
But after a recent spate of fatal shootings—three in a week, including two on the same block—"you can tell people are scared," said Muslem, 46.
