Chicago 21 Plan
Encyclopedia
The Chicago 21 Plan was a comprehensive development plan released in 1973 intended to revitalize the areas surrounding the Chicago Loop
, Chicago's central business district. The 125-page document, subtitled "A Plan for the Central Area Communities" was published by the Chicago 21 Corporation, which was made up of members of the Chicago Central Area Committee (CCAC), founded by some of Chicago's most influential business and civic leaders.
The cornerstone of the Chicago 21 Plan was the proposed creation of a new residential neighborhood in the 600 acres (2.4 km²) of unused railroad yard bordered by the Loop to its north and the Chicago River to its west. The CCAC and Chicago's business and civic leaders praised the Chicago 21 Plan as a bold initiative to stave off middle-class white flight
to the surrounding suburbs and revitalize a city hit hard by declines in manufacturing and industrial employment following World War II.
Opponents of Chicago 21, however, charged the CCAC with trying to create a fortress-like moat around the important Loop businesses, pushing the poorer residents of the central-areas to outlying neighborhoods. These low-income residents created the Coalition of Central Area Communities to fight for a community voice in the planning process. Spurned in their efforts, they eventually changed their name to the Coalition to Stop Chicago 21. Over the following decades, the CCAC continues to play a powerful role in Chicago's real estate development as the low-income members of the central area communities (Pilsen and Cabrini–Green, especially) still wish to have a louder voice in the planning process.
was elected mayor of Chicago in 1955, he inherited a city dealing with the issues facing many urban American centers - mainly a decline in manufacturing and industrial jobs and the exodus of middle-class white residents to the outlying suburbs. This "white flight" was prevalent especially in Chicago's West Town
neighborhood, where the white population decreased from 98% to 55% from 1960 to 1980. Daley focused his efforts on revitalizing the downtown areas. In 1958, the Department of City Planning issued the Development Plan for the Central Area of Chicago. The plan called for a University of Illinois campus south of the Loop, the creation of McCormick Place
as a convention center and several federal buildings and plazas in the North Loop.
As his term as Mayor progressed, Richard J. Daley's planning and development staff was continuing to create a relationship between City Hall and the downtown business community, mainly the CCAC. The city was losing its manufacturing jobs and this new coalition saw the only way to revitalize Chicago was to cater to commercial growth in the Loop. The consequence of this philosophy was stated by one long-time journalist as "Mayor Daley was totally focused on the downtown; he was so focused that Chicago's neighborhoods went to hell."
Cautious of the feelings of many in the city's white population about racial mixing, the majority of the public housing built between 1946 and 1976 was contained in the 6 miles (9.7 km) square area of the South Loop which was almost an exclusively African-American neighborhood. "Overcrowding caused living conditions in the black ghetto to deteriorate rapidly during the 1950s and 1960s." Fearing this deteriorating community's proximity to the downtown business district, the CCAC sought for a way to essentially create a moat between the two. Real estate developer Arthur Rubloff was quoted by the Chicago Daily News
as saying that "I'll tell you what's wrong with the Loop. It's people's perception of it. And the perception they have about it is one word - B-L-A-C-K. We have a racial problem we haven't been able to solve. The ghetto areas have nothing but rotten slum buildings, nothing at all, and businessmen are afraid to move in, so the blacks come downtown for stores and restaurants." The CCAC decided that the solution lay in the unused rail yards existing just south of the Loop.
From 1970-1973, the CCAC convinced numerous investors to support their plan and together, they created the Chicago 21 Corporation and drafted the Chicago 21 Plan: A Plan for the Central Area Communities, which was made public in 1973. The "21", of course, was in reference to the plan's desire to usher Chicago into the 21st century. the central areas of Chicago would be transformed from a struggling manufacturing center to residencies and office space for downtown companies. Mayor Daley was presented with the Plan and immediately took to the idea - the city would get an up-to-date development plan for the central areas with the built-in support of the business community and they wouldn't have to pay for it. City Hall would not, however, use its bonding power with public money to purchase the land from the railroad, as the Chicago 21 Corp. originally hoped.
Without the city leasing the land to the developers at a low interest rate, the Chicago 21 Corp. would have to use privately-raised funds to build their new neighborhood. Now assuming the risk, the burgeoning Dearborn Park would have to cater to middle- to upper-income residents. The CCAC knew it could not get public sentiment behind the project without pledging some of the residences to be subsidized for low-income minorities, however the business leaders were privately worried about the so-called "tipping point" of the percentage of African-American residents at which whites would abandon the neighborhood. The CCAC planned to reserve one of the large buildings for low-income public housing, but it would be reserved for senior citizens, as opposed to families.
Over the next 12 years and three subsequent Mayoral administrations, the Dearborn Park development went through various stages of design and finally was built and entirely sold by 1986. Civic and business leaders lauded the development as an ingenious use of land which was wasting away. Millions of dollars in new property tax revenue poured into City Hall. Today, the neighborhood still thrives - Richard J. Daley's son, Richard M. Daley
, now mayor, moved into the South Loop in 1995. Not all Chicagoans, however, were pleased with Dearborn Park, nor the coming tide it signaled in Chicago real estate development.
Those in of the Chicago 21 Corporation were anxious to have African-American figureheads on the board of directors, African-American real estate agents involved in the sales and African-American contractors participating in the construction. These positions were not given out of a sense of social good, however, but to avoid discontent and protest in the Black communities.
Spokespersons from the Pilsen, Cabrini–Green and mostly-Hispanic West Town neighborhoods, formed the Coalition of Central Area Communities (later changed to the Coalition to Stop Chicago 21) and protested that Chicago 21 was "proof positive of the city's plan for wholesale displacement of poor people." They accused the Dearborn Park developers of having unofficial quotas on the number of African Americans who would be allowed in the new neighborhood and of intending for the new neighborhood to essentially wall off the African-American residents along State St. They argued that "[t]he main concept of the Chicago 21 Plan was a fortress city. This redevelopment was to create an ever-increasing buffer zone to protect the downtown investments from the growing number of poor and minority people living in Chicago's surrounding neighborhoods."
In his book Global Decisions, Local Collisions: Urban Life in the New World Order author David Ranney argues that, in attempting to appeal to commercial growth, the federal government has cut public housing programs and emphasized privatization. As housing is no longer seen as a social good, but a commodity, there is no incentive for private developers to build housing for the poor. This sentiment was echoed by those protesting the Chicago 21 Plan. A 1978 editorial in the Chicago Defender
stated that "If this was a federally funded project, HUD, the Labor Department or some other agency would have descended on the planners with an ultimatum long ago. They cannot here. So who is going to put pressure on the planners? We believe that pressure must be generated from within by the banks, retailers, manufacturers, etc., whose money is in Dearborn Park. They must do it out of a sense of social responsibility."
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
, Chicago's central business district. The 125-page document, subtitled "A Plan for the Central Area Communities" was published by the Chicago 21 Corporation, which was made up of members of the Chicago Central Area Committee (CCAC), founded by some of Chicago's most influential business and civic leaders.
The cornerstone of the Chicago 21 Plan was the proposed creation of a new residential neighborhood in the 600 acres (2.4 km²) of unused railroad yard bordered by the Loop to its north and the Chicago River to its west. The CCAC and Chicago's business and civic leaders praised the Chicago 21 Plan as a bold initiative to stave off middle-class white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
to the surrounding suburbs and revitalize a city hit hard by declines in manufacturing and industrial employment following World War II.
Opponents of Chicago 21, however, charged the CCAC with trying to create a fortress-like moat around the important Loop businesses, pushing the poorer residents of the central-areas to outlying neighborhoods. These low-income residents created the Coalition of Central Area Communities to fight for a community voice in the planning process. Spurned in their efforts, they eventually changed their name to the Coalition to Stop Chicago 21. Over the following decades, the CCAC continues to play a powerful role in Chicago's real estate development as the low-income members of the central area communities (Pilsen and Cabrini–Green, especially) still wish to have a louder voice in the planning process.
Historical Context
When Richard J. DaleyRichard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley served for 21 years as the mayor and undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago and is considered by historians to be the "last of the big city bosses." He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F...
was elected mayor of Chicago in 1955, he inherited a city dealing with the issues facing many urban American centers - mainly a decline in manufacturing and industrial jobs and the exodus of middle-class white residents to the outlying suburbs. This "white flight" was prevalent especially in Chicago's West Town
West Town, Chicago
West Town, located in Chicago, Illinois, northwest of the Loop, is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas. Its name may refer to Western Avenue, which was the city's western boundary at the time of West Town's settlement, but more likely was a convenient abstraction by the creators...
neighborhood, where the white population decreased from 98% to 55% from 1960 to 1980. Daley focused his efforts on revitalizing the downtown areas. In 1958, the Department of City Planning issued the Development Plan for the Central Area of Chicago. The plan called for a University of Illinois campus south of the Loop, the creation of McCormick Place
McCormick Place
McCormick Place is the largest convention center in the United States. It is made up of four interconnected buildings sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about 4 km south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA. McCormick Place hosts numerous trade shows, including the Chicago Auto Show,...
as a convention center and several federal buildings and plazas in the North Loop.
As his term as Mayor progressed, Richard J. Daley's planning and development staff was continuing to create a relationship between City Hall and the downtown business community, mainly the CCAC. The city was losing its manufacturing jobs and this new coalition saw the only way to revitalize Chicago was to cater to commercial growth in the Loop. The consequence of this philosophy was stated by one long-time journalist as "Mayor Daley was totally focused on the downtown; he was so focused that Chicago's neighborhoods went to hell."
Cautious of the feelings of many in the city's white population about racial mixing, the majority of the public housing built between 1946 and 1976 was contained in the 6 miles (9.7 km) square area of the South Loop which was almost an exclusively African-American neighborhood. "Overcrowding caused living conditions in the black ghetto to deteriorate rapidly during the 1950s and 1960s." Fearing this deteriorating community's proximity to the downtown business district, the CCAC sought for a way to essentially create a moat between the two. Real estate developer Arthur Rubloff was quoted by the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
as saying that "I'll tell you what's wrong with the Loop. It's people's perception of it. And the perception they have about it is one word - B-L-A-C-K. We have a racial problem we haven't been able to solve. The ghetto areas have nothing but rotten slum buildings, nothing at all, and businessmen are afraid to move in, so the blacks come downtown for stores and restaurants." The CCAC decided that the solution lay in the unused rail yards existing just south of the Loop.
CCAC, the Chicago 21 Plan, and the Creation of the Dearborn Park Neighborhood
Three of Chicago's most influential business leaders, Gordon M. Metcalf, then CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Co., Donald M. Graham, CEO of Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago (then the biggest employer in the downtown area) and Thomas G. Ayers, President of Commonwealth Edison Company, were the brain trust behind the idea of turning 600 blighted, abandoned acres of train yards located behind the old Dearborn Station on Polk Street into a mixed-income community of 120,000 people. If the CCAC could develop this land and populate it with the right people, it could essentially "protect" the Loop from the low-income African-American Communities along State St.From 1970-1973, the CCAC convinced numerous investors to support their plan and together, they created the Chicago 21 Corporation and drafted the Chicago 21 Plan: A Plan for the Central Area Communities, which was made public in 1973. The "21", of course, was in reference to the plan's desire to usher Chicago into the 21st century. the central areas of Chicago would be transformed from a struggling manufacturing center to residencies and office space for downtown companies. Mayor Daley was presented with the Plan and immediately took to the idea - the city would get an up-to-date development plan for the central areas with the built-in support of the business community and they wouldn't have to pay for it. City Hall would not, however, use its bonding power with public money to purchase the land from the railroad, as the Chicago 21 Corp. originally hoped.
Without the city leasing the land to the developers at a low interest rate, the Chicago 21 Corp. would have to use privately-raised funds to build their new neighborhood. Now assuming the risk, the burgeoning Dearborn Park would have to cater to middle- to upper-income residents. The CCAC knew it could not get public sentiment behind the project without pledging some of the residences to be subsidized for low-income minorities, however the business leaders were privately worried about the so-called "tipping point" of the percentage of African-American residents at which whites would abandon the neighborhood. The CCAC planned to reserve one of the large buildings for low-income public housing, but it would be reserved for senior citizens, as opposed to families.
Over the next 12 years and three subsequent Mayoral administrations, the Dearborn Park development went through various stages of design and finally was built and entirely sold by 1986. Civic and business leaders lauded the development as an ingenious use of land which was wasting away. Millions of dollars in new property tax revenue poured into City Hall. Today, the neighborhood still thrives - Richard J. Daley's son, Richard M. Daley
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party, and former Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. He was the longest serving Chicago mayor, surpassing the tenure of his...
, now mayor, moved into the South Loop in 1995. Not all Chicagoans, however, were pleased with Dearborn Park, nor the coming tide it signaled in Chicago real estate development.
The Coalition to Stop Chicago 21
Almost immediately following the publishing of the Chicago 21 Plan, community groups in the near downtown communities began protesting the lack of their input in the planning process. They had almost everything to lose if the central areas were re-developed and almost nothing to gain. Residents in the surrounding neighborhoods were worried that the rising property taxes would price them out of their houses. Many worried their houses would be outright destroyed by re-development, never to be replaced. Residents of nearby Pilsen (Chicago's largest Mexican-American community) complained that the city was using precious public funds for new roads and infrastructure for Dearborn Park as their streets and schools fell into disrepair.Those in of the Chicago 21 Corporation were anxious to have African-American figureheads on the board of directors, African-American real estate agents involved in the sales and African-American contractors participating in the construction. These positions were not given out of a sense of social good, however, but to avoid discontent and protest in the Black communities.
Spokespersons from the Pilsen, Cabrini–Green and mostly-Hispanic West Town neighborhoods, formed the Coalition of Central Area Communities (later changed to the Coalition to Stop Chicago 21) and protested that Chicago 21 was "proof positive of the city's plan for wholesale displacement of poor people." They accused the Dearborn Park developers of having unofficial quotas on the number of African Americans who would be allowed in the new neighborhood and of intending for the new neighborhood to essentially wall off the African-American residents along State St. They argued that "[t]he main concept of the Chicago 21 Plan was a fortress city. This redevelopment was to create an ever-increasing buffer zone to protect the downtown investments from the growing number of poor and minority people living in Chicago's surrounding neighborhoods."
In his book Global Decisions, Local Collisions: Urban Life in the New World Order author David Ranney argues that, in attempting to appeal to commercial growth, the federal government has cut public housing programs and emphasized privatization. As housing is no longer seen as a social good, but a commodity, there is no incentive for private developers to build housing for the poor. This sentiment was echoed by those protesting the Chicago 21 Plan. A 1978 editorial in the Chicago Defender
Chicago Defender
The Chicago Defender is a Chicago based newspaper founded in 1905 by an African American for primarily African American readers.In just three years from 1919–1922 the Defender also attracted the writing talents of Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks....
stated that "If this was a federally funded project, HUD, the Labor Department or some other agency would have descended on the planners with an ultimatum long ago. They cannot here. So who is going to put pressure on the planners? We believe that pressure must be generated from within by the banks, retailers, manufacturers, etc., whose money is in Dearborn Park. They must do it out of a sense of social responsibility."