Photo by David Jenkins for MPC
Strengthening Chicago’s New Mixed-Income Communities
Reconnecting Neighborhoods is supporting residents of new Chicago Housing Authority Plan for Transformation mixed-income communities in three Chicago neighborhoods – the Near West, Mid-South, and Near North – by identifying and attracting transportation, infrastructure, and retail investment. Starting in 2007, a two-year community planning process sponsored by the Regional Transportation Authority and City of Chicago led to a strategy for each neighborhood, with specific recommendations ranging from new El stations, street cars, and improved streets that balance the needs of drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to new retail corridors and bus routes. The Metropolitan Planning Council facilitated the community engagement process and, starting in 2009, is partnering with community, private, and public sector leaders to implement improvements that will connect these once-isolated neighborhoods back to the fabric of the city.
Bronzeville Alliance
As a part of Reconnecting Neighborhoods, MPC is working with the Bronzeville Alliance, a group of residents and organizations committed to the economic, social and cultural redevelopment of the historic Bronzeville community. Located on the South Side of Chicago, the Bronzeville community includes the neighborhoods roughly bounded by 18th Street on the north, the Dan Ryan Expressway on the west, 67th Street on the south, and Lake Michigan (18th to 47th Street), Drexel Avenue (47th to 51st Streets), and Cottage Grove Avenue (51st to 67th Streets) on the east. The Alliance works to create and sustain a vibrant, intergenerational, mixed-income community that is locally owned and controlled, and reflects and honors the community’s historic African-American heritage.
The March 2012 MPC report, Developing Vibrant Retail in Bronzeville, offers recommendations for coordinated retail planning, retention, and recruitment efforts in the community.
Multimedia
Developing Vibrant Retail in Bronzeville-
- Publication
- (1 MB)
- Mar 9, 2012
- When the Bronzeville Alliance, a coalition of local community organizations, invited the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) to help staff and provide recommendations to its Bronzeville Retail Initiative, MPC jumped at the opportunity to support coordinated retail planning, retention, and…
2012 Plan for Prosperity: Innovative Solutions for the New Normal-
- Publication
- (1 MB)
- Jan 12, 2012
- To read MPC's 2012 Plan for Prosperity, download the file. The following is MPC President MarySue Barrett's introductory letter.
Sometimes, things aren’t what they seem. For decades, the United States enjoyed what appeared to be boundless economic expansion. Consumers spent and borrowed…
2010 Census: African-Americans leaving city for suburbs-
- Daunting is the fact that 200,000 Chicago residents left the city since the 2000 Census. Even more concerning is that nearly 89 percent of them were African-American. This loss in the city was accompanied by strong African-American growth in the suburbs, particularly in the far south and…
- Keepers and Seekers: The Next Mayor's Priorities for a Prosperous Metropolitan Region
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- Publication
- (3 MB)
- Jan 31, 2011
- MPC believes a healthy, prosperous region— and its core city—is competitive, equitable and sustainable. In the fall of 2010, we compiled a list of economic development, infrastructure and housing-related challenges the next mayor will face in achieving this goal. The following briefing…
Plan for Prosperity: 2011 Policy Objectives-
- MPC's Plan for Prosperity 2011 is our policy objectives guide for the year. Focusing on creating a more sustainable, equitable, and competitive region, this guide details MPC's recommendations on how to make our communities more livable for all of metropolitan Chicago's residents.
More related multimedia »
Links
- Reconnecting America
- Reconnecting America is a national nonprofit working to integrate transportation systems and the communities they serve, with the goal of generating lasting public and private returns, improving economic and environmental efficiency, and giving consumers more housing and mobility choices. More info »
- Sustainable Communities Initiative
- On June 16, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U. S. Department of Transportation announced an interagency partnership to improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide. This is a new opportunity to realize some of Reconnecting Neighborhoods’ recommendations. More info »
- Reconnecting Neighborhoods (external website)
- The official Reconnecting Neighborhoods web site provides updates on the project’s progress, in-depth background information about the two-year community planning process that led to the final recommendations report, and links to resources on Chicago’s mixed-income communities, transit-oriented development, and more. More info »
- Transportation for America
- MPC is a member of Transportation for America, a broad coalition seeking to align national, state, and local transportation policies with an array of issues such as economic opportunity, climate change, energy security, health, housing and community development. Subscribe to T4America’s blog to stay up to date on federal legislation related to these goals. More info »
More related links »
Visit the Reconnecting Neighborhoods web site
for more background information on this project.
Collaborators
Partners
City of Chicago
HNTB
Regional Transportation Authority
Mid South Task Force
Near North Task Force
Near West Task Force
Expert Panel
Intergovernmental Advisory Committee
Funders
The 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods
JPMorgan Chase
The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
Allstate
