Community Meetings Capture Mid-South Residents’ Transit, Retail Concerns

Change is not only inevitable, but a necessary and healthy part of the life cycle of any city. Change is not coming in the Mid-South – it is here. However, as longtime residents remind us, as we plan for the future of the Mid-South, we must remember, honor, and preserve the history, institutions and traditions established in these Chicago neighborhoods. It is in this spirit that Reconnecting Neighborhoods is working to support the restoration of a once-vibrant area to its rightful place as one of Chicago’s flagship communities.

On Feb. 20 and 27 and March 5, 2008, Reconnecting Neighborhoods held its first round of community meetings in the Mid-South study area. Thank you to all who participated in these meetings.

The communities in this study area, spanning 35th to 43rd streets and King Drive to the Lake, are rich with assets and opportunities. Residents living in and near the study area eagerly shared their views on how to maximize the resources of their community.

Hosted by Ald. Toni Preckwinkl (4th Ward) and Bernita Johnson-Gabriel of Quad Communities Development Corporation , the meetings combined an overview of existing conditions with discussion and mapping exercises to determine community desires for the future of the Mid-South. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) helped the Metropolitan Planning Council facilitate the meetings, and provided keypad polling technology to record the sentiments of those in attendance.

Some highlights from polling conducting at the meetings were:

Security, distance and reliability were the top impediments residents cited to using public transit

Location, history and diversity were seen as the community’s top assets.

More businesses, especially retail and entertainment, ranked atop the list of community desires, with improved transit a close second.

Please encourage your neighbors to participate in Reconnecting Neighborhoods by filling out the community questionnaire on this Web site. Starting in May, we will begin compiling your input into preliminary recommendations to present for your critique in a second round of meetings this summer. Stay tuned!