Chicago Reporter (https://www.chicagoreporter.com/tag/obama-library/)
Organizers aim to avert gentrification brought on by the Obama library through an ordinance that would require the city and the University of Chicago to protect and support nearby residents.
Given Woodlawn’s history, neighborhood organizers want to ensure the presidential center will benefit black residents, not displace them.
Despite Barack Obama’s verbal assurances that his presidential center will benefit the surrounding community, many residents want a written guarantee that black families won’t be pushed out.
As plans for the Obama library advance, South Side communities can learn from groups around the country who have held developers accountable to their needs.
Black communities are often stereotyped as consumer wastelands. But immigrants and first-time entrepreneurs have tapped the unmet needs in the neighborhoods.
Washington Park is a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side that could undergo major changes if the presidential library is located nearby.
The Barack Obama Presidential Library could be the first of its kind built in an urban residential neighborhood. As a result, its economic impact is difficult to predict.