Bronzeville Community Area Plan

Under the administration of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot INVEST South/West project was initiated in 2019, thereby focusing on the ten neighborhoods of Chicago that need the immediate attention of policymakers. As a part of a semester, we worked as external planning consultants to examine the current conditions and provide recommendations based on sustainability and equity.

As a project leader of the Economic Group, I helped my team by researching the available retail units, homeownership patterns, and employment and income data of the residents of Bronzeville. On the other hand, I worked with the other team leaders and made sure that group leaders and team members are fully informed about the direction in which the project is going. I was also one of the members of a Speaking team and presented the Plan along with other members. The median household income in Bronzeville was $36,829, compared to the City of Chicago’s median household income of $56,433. 7,105 of Bronzeville’s residents live below the federal poverty line, with a total poverty rate of 29 percent and an extreme poverty rate of 14 percent.

Our findings helped us identify the issue of vacant lots in Bronzeville which showed years of disinvestment in this community. Keeping in view this, we selected a site at 4249 South Calumet Street which was laying vacant. We came up with the idea of the Pop! Court Community Plaza where community members can gather. The said community plaza can have positive social, environmental and economic impact. The Commercial Corridor Group came up with the amazing renderings which allowed us to see our ideas digitally.

After using various brainstorming tools and techniques, the entire class agreed on mainly three goals namely Resiliency, Livability and Equitable Growth. We then identified strategies for each goal and devise different metrics accordingly to measure the impact of our recommended goals.