This study addresses two related sets of questions. First, how do banks differ with respect to commercial lending across different neighborhoods? Do some communities receive greater or lesser amounts of lending, even when levels of business activity are taken into account? Secondly, and in order to answer this first set of questions, it was necessary to construct a master list of businesses to assess the potential demand for credit in these neighborhoods. Thus, the second set of questions concerns the validity of commercially available business listing sources.
Policy Brief
Neighborhood Broad Discussion Paper for Grand Boulevard Community Development Corporation
The present city administration and the previous administration both made commitments to increase the representation of neighborhood groups in the planning and decision making for the city. Neighborhood planning boards were put forward as the vehicle for this participation. These discussions to form neighborhood planning boards by city officials has stimulated the interest of the Grand Boulevard Community Development Corporation (GBCDC) to investigate the possibility of forming such a board.
Energy Conservation in the Low and Moderate Income Residential Sector: Possibilities and Contradictions
Since 1981 the University of Illinois Center for Urban Economic Development has conducted three market and financial feasibility studies requested by community-based organizations interested in starting energy conservation ventures. The three groups were located in different areas of the city of Chicago, South Shore, Lower Westside and Uptown, but shared the same ideas and purposes for considering an energy conservation venture.
Greater Grand Boulevard Economic Development Study
This report presents the results of research on opportunities for economic growth in the Greater Grand Boulevard Community. Socioeconomic data were collected and analyzed, and fifty-five block club leaders, business people, church leaders, social workers, elected officials and other activists were interviewed. The University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Urban Economic Development (CUED) carried out the research and wrote this report for Grand Boulevard Residents Encouraging Action Together (GREAT) and Centers for New Horizons.
Community Inc.: The Rationalization of Civic Life
In the business world there has long been a tension between the forces of small business and competition and those of centralization, oligopoly and corporate dominance. Less attention has been paid to the same phenomenon applied to civic life and community organizations. A couple of recent proposals in Chicago suggest a certain corporate mentality, emphasizing centralized control, monopoly, and efficiency, rather than participation, pluralism and attention to individual and local needs.
Taylor Street Parking Demand and Supply Study
This report presents results of an analysis of parking demand and supply in the Taylor Street commercial area from Morgan Street to Racine Avenue. The motivation for this analysis is the interest of the Taylor Street Business and Residents Committee in determining how to maximize the limited parking facilities in the area for the benefit of local businesses and residents.
Work Book for the Planning Meeting for a National Conference on Demilitarization and Transition to Civilianization, April 27, 1992
This report presents the technical documentation as presented in the Planning Meeting for a National Conference on Demilitarization and Transition to Civilianization held on April 27, 1992.
This report contains the following:
1) a written agenda of the National Conference on Demilitarization and Transition
2) draft #2 of Civilianization of Military Personnel and Community Development Intervention: A Proposal and Prospectus for Collaborative Planning and Implementation and the Rebuilding of America's Communities; Douglas Gills, February 1992.
Federal Priorities for Community Development: Recommendation to the Clinton-Gore Administration
Representatives from the main coalitions of community development organizations, policy, research and advocacy organizations, and individual community organizations in Chicago (see attached list) met during December 1992 and January 1993 to discuss recommendations for priorities during the early stages of the Clinton-Gore administration.
The First Year of PRAG
The goal of the PRAG evaluation conducted by the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago was to examine the degree to which PRAG had achieved, or worked toward, the objectives identified in the Urban Communities proposal. Three overall objectives were identified:
1. To promote research (at universities and within community organizations) that is driven by, and can be applied to, community needs.
Forging Partnerships for a Healthy, Viable Community: Provident Hospital, Urban Development Corporation and 'North Washington Park' Area Residents
This study outlines a proposal for the strategic rebuilding of "North Washington Park," a small section of Grand Boulevard, located in the Mid South region of Chicago. Despite the underdeveloped, destabilized physical character of the community, active community residents and community-oriented organizations have significant internal resources and strengths which, if adequately articulated, can contribute to rebuilding of the overall neighborhood.