New development and job growth is still more prevalent in areas where white people live – WBEZ (Chicago)

Urban planner and writer Pete Saunders said race affects all the building blocks that make up growth, and individual decisions by residents, business owners and developers all add up to what he calls “Black avoidance...At the individual level, it is a rational choice, but in total, when you combine all those individual choices, it becomes something that has a great impact on those particular communities."
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Strelnikov
4 years ago

Well, no one know how blacks are being oppressed like a white guy in urban planning.

Riverbender
4 years ago

Is there any possibility that crime in the white areas is lower as well? Could that have a bearing on job growth too?

Freddy
4 years ago

Something to think about.
If we (black-white-red-yellow) were all in an enclosed room with no windows and the light went out. What color are we?
If some disease (not Covid) made us all blind at the same time. What color are we and would it matter? We would have no choice but to work together.
So why does the pigment of our skin determine what we accomplish in our lives?

lana
4 years ago

How about lightfoot, foxx, preckwinkle put their money together and open some shops in the downtown area. Ha, ha, ha, ha

streeterville
4 years ago

New development and job growth occur where new development and resulting job growth can be sustained. Note that when corporations are compelled to open locations in low-income high-crime areas, the “business experiment” often fails, due to high “shrinkage” (employee and/or customer-base theft), or high operational costs (high turnover of employees, and/or high maintenance/repair/replacement costs). New development can be heavily subsidized by taxpayer monies to motivate such development, but sociological and business factors often cause these locations to fail regardless. It’s not “racist” if these businesses fail to sustain themselves at already compromised locations. It’s also not simple “white privilege” when… Read more »

debtsor
4 years ago
Reply to  streeterville

“It’s not “racist” if these businesses fail to sustain themselves at already compromised locations. It’s also not simple “white privilege” when these business locations fail.” The people we’re dealing with aren’t viewing development and job growth through the traditional lenses of profit and loss because shrinkage, employee turnover, operation losses don’t concern them. They are not capitalists. They are communists. They see disinvestment in BIPOC wards as a failure of capitalism and an opportunity for communism and central planing to replace it. From the article: “I think it’s really on policymakers to promote investment in other places to create equal,… Read more »

Last edited 4 years ago by debtsor
nixit
4 years ago

Wonder how new development and job growth track in areas with larger than average Asian populations like Chinatown, Argyle Street, Naperville, etc?

Mike
4 years ago

Crime is still less prevalent in areas where white people live.

Just to balance the WBEZ headline.

Maybe the primary concern is people do not want to get shot, and less people get shot in areas where white people live.

I noticed the Obama’s moved to an area where whites people live, as did the vast majority of wealthy people of color.

The Paraclete
4 years ago
Reply to  Mike

It really is that simple! But our representatives can’t talk about that elephant. It’s a lot less headaches if you just throw your money in the incinerator than deal with the city and all the drama. Let’s all just pretend we don’t see the correlation.FJB

ProzacPlease
4 years ago

What part of “Stop shooting at each other” do they not understand?

The “disinvestment” will continue until the shooting stops, not the other way around.

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