Overview
POAH and the City of Chicago have teamed up with a strong coalition of community-based organizations and stakeholders to transform Woodlawn into a ”neighborhood of choice” – a transformation centered on the redevelopment of three city blocks along South Cottage Grove Avenue between East 60th and 63rd Streets.

A “neighborhood of choice” is one that links housing improvements with a wide variety of programs and services as well as investments in infrastructure to create a community that offers access to opportunities and amenities for all residents.

In 2011, the Woodlawn team received a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative implementation grant in the amount of $30.5 million for this effort. The grant will support new and renovated housing, as well as programs and services for residents, broader investment in community schools, public safety, infrastructure, job training, and more.

Vision for Renewal
Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood is an engaged and historic community with resources that provide a strong foundation for economic growth and enhanced community services.

The Woodlawn Choice Neighborhood plan is rooted in the revitalization of the distressed Section 8 Grove Parc Plaza Apartments, located on a 12-acre site at the heart of the Woodlawn community. The site was historically a barrier to investment in the surrounding blocks but today is being rebuilt as a vibrant, healthy and attractive mixed-use/mixed- income urban community.

The vision for renewal was developed through a collaborative planning process with a broad range of community stakeholders. The Woodlawn Choice plan is built on three overlapping components – Housing, Neighborhood, and People:

The Grove Parc site – recently a barrier to investment in the surrounding blocks – is being rebuilt as a vibrant, healthy and attractive mixed-use/mixed-income urban community. This new community will feature homes for households at all income levels and stages of life, including affordable and moderate-income rental apartments as well as homeownership units for moderate- income and market-rate buyers. The plan also calls for new spaces for commercial, retail and community facilities.

Beyond the Grove Parc site, the Choice housing plan calls for major investments to return Woodlawn’s nearby abandoned buildings and vacant land to productive use. These investments will include an estimated 355 rental apartments and 45 new homeownership units, as well as a new Woodlawn Housing Loan Fund to support the efforts of homeowners, homebuyers, and smaller local developers to reinvest in the community’s historic buildings.

Neighborhood
The Choice program builds on these major housing redevelopment efforts to promote coordinated investments in the broader Woodlawn neighborhood, aimed at creating the conditions for the community’s resurgence.

The Choice plan for neighborhood investments builds on the community “Quality of Life” plan developed through an inclusive process coordinated by the Woodlawn New Communities Program (now Network of Woodlawn), which is the Neighborhood Partner for this effort in Woodlawn.

The plan provides new funding for public safety, helping to address a critical neighborhood need. It supports improved economic opportunities, both by creating new permanent jobs targeted to Woodlawn residents, and by providing employment programs through a new satellite of the Center for Working Families based at Kennedy-King College. It deploys flexible resources to help meet other needs for improved infrastructure and amenities within the community such as walkable streets and broadband internet access.

People
The Choice plan for Woodlawn recognizes that the neighborhood’s people are its most important asset, and it makes a very significant investment in programs and services to help former Grove Parc families and their Woodlawn neighbors reach their full potential.

These “people” programs will be based at a new Woodlawn Resource Center which is being built on the redeveloped Grove Parc site. This Center will house the satellite Center for Working Families, including a family internet center; a homework help room staffed by the Woodlawn Children’s Promise Community; and staff from Metropolitan Family Services available to help connect Grove Parc families to the other resources they need to succeed.

The Woodlawn Resource Center will be open to the entire community, and will also link residents to a robust network of organizations serving the residents of Woodlawn.

Community Engagement
Community engagement is a critical element of the Woodlawn Choice Neighborhood effort. POAH’s involvement in Woodlawn was brought about by the action of engaged Grove Parc residents and community members. The plan for the site’s redevelopment was developed through intensive review by community stakeholders and the Choice plan for the neighborhood is derived from the community’s Quality of Life Plan.

As the effort moves ahead, there will be extensive opportunities for neighborhood residents to become involved – through community-wide town hall meetings; recurring working group sessions on key neighborhood issues like public safety and infrastructure; and more. Email us to find out how you can get involved.