CUED

Community Development Options:
An Assessment of the Economic Conditions in Uptown

In recent years, however, several factors have induced the Voice to take a closer look at economic development for Uptown's residents. First of all, the need for economic development for Uptown's low-income residents has become increasingly apparent to Voice. Also, as Voice's housing development and management programs have become more stable, the organization is now in a position to address Uptown's economic needs more directly. Although a new focus, the Voice feels that many of the organizational skills it has learned in community-based housing development are transferable to economic development. The national economic and political situation also presents a strong case for the Voice to place greater effort on initiating economic development strategies in addition to housing development. Dwindling public resources and commitment for subsidized housing at the federal level are necessitating the introduction of other mechanisms to bring about community development.

The beginning of a planning process on economic development at Voice was a search for additional information about economic development strategies appropriate for Voice to undertake. This search prompted the Voice to engage the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago (CUED) to assist in its economic development planning efforts.

From the start, the development of an economic development strategies plan for the Voice of the People has been a learning process, especially as this process leads both the staff and Board of Voice into a new substantive area and away from the field of housing in which it has gained considerable expertise and credibility. The Voice formed an Economic Development Committee, comprised of members of its Board, its staff, and its existing tenancy, to direct this learning process. Input from Voice residents and community leaders was also ensured through a formal survey of a sample of these groups. The survey inquired about Uptown's economic problems and the appropriate role for the Voice in solving them.

As the learning process was initiated, the Committee identified two areas that it would like to know more about; 1) the types of economic development strategies that had been implemented by other not-for-profit community-based organizations and 2) the specific opportunities and problems that present themselves in terms of Uptown's economy and the ability of its residents to secure jobs. These emphases were used in formulating the process by which the Voice would undertake its economic development strategies plan.

In order to evaluate the various approaches to economic development, the Committee did several things. The first activity it engaged in was a workshop held by CUED for Voice's Economic Development Committee and staff. The workshop focused on a discussion of economic development strategies employed by other groups locally or across the country. Four types of strategies were described: 1) those that relate to Planning and Research, 2) to Community Organizing, 3) to Business Development and 4) to Skill Training. (See the Appendix for details of the workshop agenda.)

Following the workshop, the Committee engaged in a general discussion of economic development and criteria that any economic development venture should address. The committee developed the following working list of criteria for Voice initiated economic development projects and grouped them based on High, Moderate or Low Relative Importance.

The committee also decided to evaluate Voice's existing program areas, housing management and housing development, for possibilities of creating economic development projects from ongoing or currently new activities in these areas. This assessment is being pursued by small working committees of the Board and staff.

Following a look at and discussion of various economic development approaches, the second part of the Voice's economic development planning process centered on Uptown's economy. CUED and Voice began a data gathering phase to find out more about Uptown as a neighborhood economy, the skills and capabilities of its residents, and opportunities for community economic development as perceived by other local organizations. More specifically, it involved a compilation of data about Uptown from published material. Three publications were primarily used: the U.S. Department of Commerce's Census of Population, Where Workers Work in the Chicago Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area put out by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, and Dun and Bradstreet Data Files. The data gathering part of this process also involved the pulling together of additional information about Uptown's problems, opportunities, and its residents by surveying Voice's tenants as well as a sample of community leaders and organizations active in Uptown. A detailed description of the methodology employed in this project is included in the Appendix.

The results of the data gathering phase of the Voice's economic development strategies planning process are described in this report. The next section, part II, contains a presentation of data about Uptown's residents and workforce. Part III describes the business sector in Uptown and opportunities it affords local residents. The fourth and fifth sections, respectively, discuss the findings of a survey of the Voice's tenancy and local community organizations. The final section pulls together the variety of conclusions offered in each part, it discusses key issues the Voice must debate before deciding upon a final direction in economic development, and it suggests recommendations for further action by the Voice of the People.

This website is maintained by Cedric Williams, Manager System Services,
UIC-Center for Urban Economic Development