Culture of Opportunity: Obama's Chicago by Janowitz Rebecca

Author:Janowitz, Rebecca
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee
Published: 2010-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

Urban renewal in Hyde Park–Kenwood embraced multiple projects. The success or failure of individual ventures depended on the caliber of community participation in the planning process. The university and the planners looked to the commission and the conference to manage community opinion and win acceptance for their proposals. If the community heartily disliked the project, it was rejected. One example, the South West Hyde Park Neighborhood Corporation Project, was a relatively small proposal organized and planned entirely by the University of Chicago under a state-authorized program. St. Clair Drake, who lived in Hyde Park–Kenwood and taught at Roosevelt University, had worked on behalf of the HPKCC. But he led the charge against this project on the grounds that it ignored the needs of the community, especially blacks, by building housing only for university students and employees. Moreover the housing to be torn down was not obviously deteriorated, particularly in comparison with other buildings that were being demolished. The targeted buildings housed many black families who considered their homes an improvement over what had previously been available to them. Drake’s criticisms resonated with the wider community, and the project was abandoned amid an uproar that damaged relationships between the university and community members for years.

By contrast, an urban renewal proposal for northwest Hyde Park succeeded. Planning for this proposal actually began in the community. Prominent Hyde Parkers, including the University of Chicago’s Maynard Krueger, organized a not-for-profit corporation. Their work is often cited by defenders of the urban renewal process, as a sizable number of black residents participated, among them Earl Dickerson. The project itself was not very sexy, and a great deal of time was spent determining exactly how much land would be cleared for institutional purposes. But the negotiations between university officials, planners, and the community were marked by civility and a recognition of the validity of each other’s concerns.

The final and by far the largest project was the Hyde Park–Kenwood Urban Renewal Project, which covered 855.8 acres—almost the entire neighborhood excluding only the University of Chicago campus, other project areas already described, and the Illinois Central railroad right-of-way. Most of the buildings included were designated for rehabilitation, not demolition.

Just over 100 acres of land in Hyde Park–Kenwood were cleared and divided as follows: nearly 43 acres for housing, with a maximum of 1,949 dwelling units; 8.1 acres for commercial reuse; 17.2 acres for institutional uses; 8.6 acres for private parking; and just over 28 acres for public agencies, with the largest shares going to the Board of Education and for streets and alleys.

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