Suchergebnisse

Historic preservation and urban renewal are frequently interpreted as being at odds. Where the former seeks to preserve, the latter commonly looks to dismantle in order to rebuild. Following World War II, urban renewal philosophies sought to revitalize decaying urban neighborhoods via massive demolition, slum clearance, and rehabilitation. Initiated by local and state legislation, entire blocks of commercial and residential buildings were razed in order to revitalize urban neighborhoods—an impetus for economic redevelopment. This clearance of aging building stock in urban neighborhoods was conceived to provide an opportunity for a new model of housing. The Great Migration in the early 20th Century brought large populations of blacks to Chicago, creating densely populated communities on the South Side that hardened racial fault lines, demanding a need for an urban, high density housing model. The ultimate solution for this need was construction of concentrated, high density public housing. Slum clearance and urban renewal in the 1940s and '50s created large scale displacement of black families on Chicago's Mid-South Side. While many found housing in the deeper South Side, in areas rapidly changing with the onset of white flight, the poorest moved into public housing. In 2000, Chicago Housing Authority's (CHA) Plan for Transformation promised to demolish, rebuild, or renovate Chicago's public housing, serving as a catalyst for widespread neighborhood change in the mid-south lakefront communities of North Kenwood, Oakland, Douglas, and Grand Boulevard (Quad Communities), razing some 18,000 units of low-income housing. Between 1979 and 2015, designation of four historic landmark districts in Chicago's Mid-South Side secured historic preservation as a stabilizing priority for the area. The elimination of high-density, low-income residential housing demanded immediate community development initiatives. Preservation of existing historic building stock provided the stabilization strategies and leverage for redevelopment and revitalization planning. This document investigates historic preservation as a fundamental role in attracting and informing architectural, demographic, and cultural diversity in the revitalization of the Mid-South Side. In addition to the principles of New Urbanism, economic impact studies provide evidence that a mix of building age, size, and use contribute socially, economically, and culturally to the creation and rehabilitation of diverse, sustainable, mixed-use neighborhoods. In addressing the Quad Communities' economic redevelopment initiatives, the empirical evidence assembled in this document illustrates how existing historic building stock in and adjacent to the Quad Communities informs new construction, infill, and market rate housing, supporting sustainable urban neighborhood revitalization.