Developing Vibrant Retail in Bronzeville

When the Bronzeville Alliance, a coalition of local community organizations, invited the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) to help staff and provide recommendations to its Bronzeville Retail Initiative, MPC jumped at the opportunity to support coordinated retail planning, retention, and recruitment efforts in this community. This work advances and complements Reconnecting Neighborhoods, a partnership between the City of Chicago, Regional Transportation Authority, the consulting firm HNTB, and MPC’s Community Building Initiative, to forward retail, transit and pedestrian improvements around the Plan for Transformation in the Chicago’s Mid-South, Near West, and Near North neighborhoods. 

Charged with guiding the Bronzeville Alliance toward its goal of vibrant retail corridors, the Bronzeville task force analyzed reams of past plans and market data, toured the community, and interviewed more than 75 residents and stakeholders. This report presents the recommendations resulting from that process.