Bronzeville, a neighborhood of Chicago, was the epicenter of a Black renaissance before it fell on hard times. Now, it's booming again. Here's the story of its incredible turnaround.
Many forgot the illustrious history of Bronzeville. But not Harold Lucas Jr., who yearned for this formerly vibrant"Chicago Sun-TimesIncredibly, Lucas's vision came to pass. Not only has Bronzeville seen a dramatic revival over the last few decades, but the community stands out in a new study as one of the roughly five percent of American neighborhoods that had a high rate of poverty in 2000 but has since seen the rise of"inclusive prosperity.
But a group of dedicated community leaders and organizers, including Harold Lucas Jr., banded together to fight for something better. They formed the Mid-South Planning and Development Commission, which offered a comprehensive vision for preserving, developing, and celebrating Bronzeville and its rich history. Their idea was to create a place that championed Black culture; a destination that people would want to visit and live in.
Recognizing how living in concentrated poverty often failed their residents, the Chicago Housing Authority, under the federal government's, began demolishing public housing high-rises and replacing them with mixed-income developments. The Robert Taylor Homes, known for their extreme, concentrated poverty, gang warfare, dysfunctional heating systems, and broken elevators, had become a poster child for the failures of urban policy. The buildings were torn down, one by one, starting in 1998.
"To see two tracts from the rest of the neighborhood experience such positive change is impressive — especially when considering the fact that only 193 total tracts in the entire country experienced large reductions in poverty without community displacement," Morris says.By 2004, Bronzeville was booming, and a slew of Black-owned businesses started opening shops in the area.
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