More than 40 Bronzeville residents packed into a schoolbus last night to visit Mayor Richard M. Daley's house, demanding that city officials approve 500 vacant, city-owned lots in their neighborhood for affordable housing.What do you think might be the effect of a possible Olympic games on Chicago's black neighborhoods? Might they be positive with new development in black communities or could this drive out of the city a significant number of black Chicagoans?
The residents, members of the Housing Bronzeville, want the City Council to approve their proposal before its August recess. Their goal is to have officials set aside the lots for middle-income families, ahead of the International Olympic Committee's decision on which city will host the 2016 games.
The activists say the Olympics could displace tens of thousands of residents in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood if the city does not commit the lots to homes for families making about $40,000 to $60,000 per year.
Their concerns echo those of other residents in South Side communities who have said they worry that an Olympic spotlight would lead officials and businesspeople in the city to gentrify historic black neighborhoods.
Dispatches from Chicago's south side.
Friday, July 17, 2009
For an answer on housing, Bronzeville residents visit the mayor's house
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