Following complaints of crime, crowds and trash, Lakeview residents may see Chicago’s annual Pride Parade move from iconic Boystown to downtown Chicago.

In August, Alderman Tom Tunney (44th Ward) asked Lakeview residents to participate in an online survey regarding the future of Chicago’s Gay Pride Parade, which drew more than a million people.  

Sept. 5 was the last day residents were able to complete the survey, and although the results showed the residents’ disapproval of the move, Tunney is still considering shifting the Pride Parade to Grant Park in an effort to accommodate the safety of Lakeview residents.

Tunney said Lakeview residents reported that crime was their biggest concern followed by large crowds and traffic congestion, according to the 44th Ward’s website.Nearly 60 percent of the survey’s roughly 3,400 participants said they want the Pride Parade to remain in Boystown. Rich Lawrence, a Rogers Park resident, said the parade should stay in Boystown.

“I think it’s a shame that they want to move it out of the neighborhood,” Lawrence said. “If the gays and lesbians are the ones that have changed that neighborhood into what it is, then I think that is where it should be held.”

Lawrence said he has been a server at Nookies Tree, 3334 N. Halsted St., a restaurant located in Boystown, for three years. He said it is pointless to move the Pride Parade to Grant Park because it would not draw as many people. 

“I know eventually once the crowd disperses [from] downtown most of them would probably find their way back to Boystown anyways,” Lawrence said. “It kind of defeats the whole purpose of having this neighborhood in Chicago as being voted as the best gay neighborhood in the entire world and we can’t even have our pride festival in our neighborhood.”

Aaron Norton, a 35-year-old Lakeview resident, said moving the parade to Grant Park is not the way to solve the problems caused by the parade. He said Lakeview residents have to find a way to address issues that the parade creates. 

“If that’s the reason that it’s being moved, then that’s not really a solution, it’s just displacing those issues onto another neighborhood,” Norton said. “So it seems to me if that’s really the reason that it’s being moved, then a better notion might be to address those problems here.”

William Nelson, a 20-year-old South Side resident, also said the Pride Parade should stay in Boystown because residents surrounding Grant Park may not want to deal with the aftermath of 

the parade. “Who’s to say that people by Grant Park are not going to complain about the same thing?” Nelson said. “If they are complaining about trash and it being too loud and obnoxious in Boystown, they’re probably going to complain about the same thing in Grant Park.  Either you’re going to get rid of it completely or just leave it where it’s at.”

Syed Adekunle, a Lakeview resident, said he worries about the  lostrevenue. Adekunle said if the Pride Parade leaves Boystown, Lakeview businesses will lose revenue, but he also said hosting the parade in Grant Park will be safer than keeping it in Boystown.

“There are a lot of police around [in Boystown], but it’s not enough,” Adekunle said. “It will be safer in Grant Park, but the businesses in Lakeview will be affected.”

Lawrence said the Pride Parade generates a generous amount of money for the 24-hour restaurant and moving the parade will affect both the business owners and the employees. 

He said the Pride Parade is the busiest day of the year for the restaurant and that it makes so much money that it feels like Christmas.

Lawrence said the newer residents of Lakeview are probably the ones who want to see the Pride Parade moved to Grant Park, adding that those people knew the neighborhood’s dynamic before they moved to Boystown.

“These new people move into the neighborhood and then all of sudden they have to deal with all this and they want to change it because it’s too much for them,” Lawrence said. “Well, you kind of knew this was going on in the neighborhood before you moved in.”