Explores competing constructions and understandings of the gentrifying neighborhoods on Chicago's near northwest side, noting how Puerto Rican youth are implicated in these changes. Explores contradictory images of neighborhoods, residents' responses to these changes, and various linguistic attempts to refashion new ethno-racial designations in…

Research was conducted to define methods for creating jobs for urban youth through small business expansion, particularly in Chicago. This report presents recommendations derived from the research. The first section suggests ways of increasing the effectiveness of Chicago's small business/neighborhood economic development efforts. The second…

Considers (1) how judicious planning and administration of public parks in urban areas can act to bridge racial divisions; and (2) how park administrators can, by creating neighborhood parks, give new focus to neighborhoods and prevent their further deterioration. (Author/GC)

Redlining of many urban communities and discrimination against the poor and minorities are common in the insurance industry, and these practices contribute to the deterioration of those communities. The utilization of a structural/disinvestment approach by social scientists should provide additional information about the uneven development of…

In 1974, residents of East Humboldt Park, one of the oldest working class communities in Chicago, Illinois, gathered together in a common effort to reverse the process of urban decay and deterioration in their community. With the help of a hired consultant, the citizens planned the future of their community, a process that was completed in 1976,…

Recent urban redevelopment efforts in Chicago (Illinois) have often come at the expense of current low-income residents as upscale living replaces businesses and homes and raises rents. Local Community Development Organizations (CDOs) offer an alternative path to economic development by being a foundation for neighborhood efforts that meet the…

An effort to integrate neighborhood technical assistance and student field training through a student workshop is described. Students in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana provided technical assistance to the South Austin Realty Association, a leading neighborhood organization in…

The Woodlawn Organization (TWO) is a community organization on the south side of Chicago which grew out of cooperative efforts of clergymen in the area, members of the Greater Woodlawn Pastor's Alliance, in 1959. TWO's approach to community problems, influenced by the thinking of Saul Alinsky, was directly to confront unfair business practices,…

During the 1995-96 school year, the 387 nonpublic schools of Chicago (Illinois) enrolled 104,636 students, while the 550 public schools had an enrollment of 412,921. One of every five Chicago students attended a nonpublic school. About 10% of Chicago private school students are in schools that cater to the upper and middle class, but the majority,…

A demonstration program, administered by a community based building maintenance, management, and construction corporation, was developed to provide technical training for minority adults in construction, building maintenance, and property management in the Chicago area. The program was concerned with seeking solutions to the lack of housing, job…