Black community, economic and social capital: the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago/Chicago

charlie calls our attention to an interesting article in Politico, "How a South Side Chicago Neighborhood Is Trying to Keep Its Black Residents," about black outmigration from Chicago and how this impacts black neighborhoods alongside urban disinvestment and other ills. 

A companion article, "The Demise of America’s Onetime Capital of Black Wealth" discusses the decline of black businesses and black capital in Chicago, in particular larger businesses that operated at a national scale, like Johnson Publishing, or regionally like the Independence Bank, dairies (imagine, black-owned dairies!), etc.

Another companion article, "Black People Are Leaving Chicago en Masse. It’s Changing the City’s Power Politics," discusses how this is a result in part of "black flight," and leads to other urban changes.

The Englewood article covers how the neighborhood perseveres, with a variety of community initiatives and a strong block club network, even as outmigration, crime, and disinvestment continue.  

It's a great illustration of the urban sociology approach to "collective efficacy" and engaged communities and residents.

It does get at why I was originally somewhat skeptical of the collective efficacy approach ("Urban Health, Nasty Cities, Broken Windows, and Community Efficacy," 2005; "Broken windows/collective efficacy," 2019). 

You have efficacy, organized citizens, but things still languish. 

But my thinking about such issues at the time was under-sophisticated.  What I didn't understand at the time that it is not either/or.  (At a talk by Robert Fishman at AU I made this point, that I had been stuck on either/or, not thinking about and/and.) 

Chicago is one of the only cities in the country where block clubs post signs calling for positive behaviors ("New Signs On The Block," WBEZ-FM/NPR).

Community organizing may not be enough in the face of disinvestment. The community organizing and engagement part of community efficacy needs to be combined with systematic investment and support in building pan-neighborhood organizations and economic and community revitalization initiatives. 

Chicago-based Joe Louis Milk Company went out of business in the late 1970s.

Capital is required.  In other words, while community efficacy contributes to community success, it can't fully substitute for capital.  After all, the solution to disinvestment is investment.

At the end of the day, you need capital in order to initiate improvements in terms of commercial and residential buildings, the creation of businesses, the strengthening, expansion and operation of civic assets--schools, parks, libraries, recreation facilities, cultural spaces, etc.

-- "Social infrastructure in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami," 2020
-- "A wrinkle on BTMFBA: let the city/county own the cultural facility, while you operate it (San Francisco and the Fillmore Heritage Center)," 2021

The companion article, "The Demise of America’s Onetime Capital of Black Wealth," reiterates the importance of capital accumulation and how it influences the success of local economies and economic power, and how the decline of black banks in Chicago makes it that much more difficult to ward off disinvestment.

It reminds me of two stories.  There's a great section in Death and Life of Great American Cities about Jane Jacobs on a road trip through Northeast cities in decline, but one neighborhood in one city thrived.  The difference was this neighborhood retained a community bank which continued to lend to local businesses and residents.

The other is a New York Times Magazine article ("Why New Orleans’s Black Residents Are Still Underwater After Katrina") on the Liberty Bank and Trust Company of New Orleans, and its struggles after Hurricane Katrina.  Having locally-focused banks is key.  But as the American economy is increasingly organized at the national scale, it is much more difficult for community banks to exist, and for locally focused loan portfolios to not be considered high risk.

(Chicago had another nationally recognized locally focused community development oriented bank, ShoreBank, which didn't survive the 2008 recession.)

Social infrastructure.  What sociologist Eric Klinenberg calls social infrastructure in his book, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life.

And systematic neighborhood revitalization initiatives.  It does reiterate the point I made about the need for systematic neighborhood revitalization programs.     

While I am a strong proponent of self help, it's not enough.  People need assistance, especially when they are already active.  Expecting them to do it all themselves, especially in economically challenged areas where investment capital is limited, is a fools errand.

-- "The need for a "national" neighborhood stabilization program comparable to the Main Street program for commercial districts: Part I (Overall)"
-- "To be successful, local neighborhood stabilization programs need a packaged set of robust remedies: Part 2"
-- "Creating 'community safety partnership neighborhood management programs as a management and mitigation strategy for public nuisance programs: Part 3 (like homeless shelters)"
-- "A case in Gloucester, Massachusetts as an illustration of the need for systematic neighborhood monitoring and stabilization initiatives: Part 4 (the Curcuru Family)"
-- "Local neighborhood stabilization programs: Part 5 | Adding energy conservation programs, with the PUSH Buffalo Green Development Zone as a model," 2021

Neighborhood plans.  And also for systematic community revitalization planning, and a strong focus on civic engagement, as I outlined for St. Louis:

-- "St. Louis: what would I recommend for a comprehensive revitalization program? | Part 1: Overview and Theoretical Foundations"
-- "St. Louis: what would I recommend for a comprehensive revitalization program? | Part 2: Implementation Approach and Levers"

and am remiss on for Eastern Montgomery County, Maryland, in terms of the second article:

--"East County, Montgomery County: Council redistricting spurs ideas for revitalization | Part 1 -- Overview"
--"East County, Montgomery County: Council redistricting spurs ideas for revitalization | Part 2 -- Some transformational concepts"

and lamented about concerning DC's poorer neighborhoods:

-- "Social urbanism and equity planning as a way to address crime, violence, and persistent poverty: (not in) DC," 2021

Conclusion.  You need both community organizing and civic engagement as well as capital.  Interestingly, in many places they think money is enough, but all too often it isn't.  Neighborhood revitalization initiatives often fail because of lack of community engagement.  But usually, the biggest issue is both lack of money and lack of substantive civic engagement.