Where Downtown Meets Neighborhood: Industrial Displacement in Chicago, 1978-1987

Abstract

Public and private officials promote downtown growth as the panacea for central cities battered by economic change. Cities have mobilized substantial resources to make that growth happen. The downtown growth strategy, however, increasingly is receiving criticism for ignoring neighborhoods and for producing negative impacts on nearby neighborhoods, residents, and businesses. In Chicago between 1978 and 1987 massive downtown growth produced industrial displacement–the forced relocation of businesses–alongside the new investment, jobs, and tax income. Studies of two Chicago industrial districts show that industrial displacement is widespread but has had different impacts on specific industries, sizes of firms, and owners or tenants, In one district, industries and their industrial council have resisted displacement by opposing loft conversions and proposing municipal zoning legislation to protect viable manufacturing areas. Although it is difficult to achieve effective community organizing and creative land use planning, the political will to do so may lead to a balance between downtown and the neighborhoods.