Samy Rivera

UNIV 390
24 Mar 2015
Englewood Asset Map
Englewood is located in the 6th Aldermanic Ward, contains 30,000 residents, and
is easily accessible through public transportation. Although most people recognize
Englewood for its violence, this reputation obscures the assets and capacities of the
neighborhood. My asset map comprised of three categories: local institutions, community
associations/social environment, and gifts of individuals. Under the local institutions
category I included health and social service institutions, parks, schools and colleges,
affordable neighborhood housing, empty buildings that could be used for neighborhood
development, grocery stores, and the transportation infrastructure connecting Englewood
to the rest of the city. In the community associations category I listed churches, the
farmers markets, restaurants, community organizations, libraries, and cultural centers.
Finally, in the gifts of the individuals I included festivals, skills, demographics, and
notable previous Englewood residents.
This final category required more intuitive thought to find the underlying assets
within the data. For example, an asset that might be easy to overlook is that 99.7% of the
population in Englewood speaks English proficiently. This means that language barriers
within this community will not be an obstacle for community organizing. Next, the large
youth population between 18-24 year olds that is unemployed is an asset for the
community as volunteers for community projects and even youth coordinators/peer
mentors for younger children. I also included the names of notable previous Englewood
residents because these examples can be sources of hope to the community. Included
below is the list of Englewoods assets, the asset map, and an asset map action plan.

Englewood Community Assets Map

Local Institutions
Health services: Beloved Family Community Wellness Center; St. Bernard Hospital;
Kennedy King
College Wellness Center
Social services: ACCION Chicago Small Business Funding;
The Sky is the Limit Recovery Facilities; Jane Addams Hull House Association
State parks:
Junction Grove
Park;
Memorial Park
Schools and
colleges
King College;
Urban Day
Academy

Ogden Park;

Community
Associations/
Social Environment
Churches
Farmers Market
Cultural centers: Hamilton Park; Sherwood Park

Restaurants
Kennedy

Gifts of
Individuals

Schools
Service clubs

Ryan Harris

Festivals
Service class skills
Youth
English proficiency
Notable previous Englewood residents:
Jennifer Hudson, Chaka Khan, Derrick
Rose

Empty buildings
housing
Transportation
Infrastructure
Community organizations
CTA
Dan Ryan Expy

Libraries

Affordable neighborhood housing

Grocery Stores

Englewood Asset Map Action Plan

Chicago
Excel
Affordable

Social Justice Issue: Englewood is an up-and-coming neighborhood seeking to increase

its inhabitants economic and communal prosperity. Currently it is lacking upgraded and
revitalized housing, economic development, and community life. Team Englewoods
Quality of Life Plan from December 2005, still provides a framework for revitalizing
the community in those areas. I used it as a starting off point for the following action
plan.
The End Goal: Build diverse retail plazas, shopping centers, cultural centers, and
revitalized housing units throughout Englewood.
Intermediate Plan: Develop the Englewood center surrounding Kennedy-King College,
as in the northwest corner of 63rd and Halted, as a plaza to generate more commercial and
communal activity.
Action Plan:

Teamwork Englewood, Resident Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E.),

Bethel Community Church, and the New Communities Program of LocalInitiatives Support Corporation/Chicago would plan specific developments in
Englewood. Of course, these organizations would need to continually feel the
pulse of the community by holding community meetings to brainstorm and ask for
support. Since there are three parts to the objective (housing, economic
developments, and community life) there must be action initiated in those three

areas.
For revitalized housing to occur several initial support services are necessary. The
plan would establish a housing resource center to provide financial and technical
assistance to homeowners, homebuyers and renters. Creating a path to home
ownership would create stable communities and render them eligible to

participate in the citys Micro Market Recovery (MMRP) Program. The MMRP
program essentially provides people who are ready to buy or rehab a home with

forgivable loans or subsidized funds to assist them.

In the economic development area, Englewood residents will create a business
council that will approve development plans in the downtown area, and
advocates for local businesses. As an incentive, small business owners will be
provided with mentorship, technical assistance, training, and networking
opportunities to support each other. Other employment opportunities will come

from local construction projects.

Finally, community life will flourish as vacant lots are reclaimed as green spaces,
gathering places, art exhibits, urban agricultural sites, block clubs, and install
sculptures at Englewood gateways. All of these ideas and many others will allow
Englewood residents to feel more united, proud of their community, and a

heightened sense of empowerment.

To achieve the intermediate plan: Englewood business council will strategically
manage and distribute city funds like Special Service Areas (SSAs) and Tax
Increment Financing (TIF) according to each improvement project.

Works Cited
1. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/426.html
2. http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Englewood-Chicago-IL.html
3. http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/tif/englewood_neighbo
rhoodtif.html

4. http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/dcd/tif/plans/T_106_Englew
oodNeighborhoodRDP.pdf
5. http://www.chapinhall.org/sites/default/files/old_reports/332.pdf
6. http://www.citylab.com/housing/2013/02/class-divided-cities-chicagoedition/4306/
7. https://www.scgov.net/HometownEnglewood/CRA%20Plan/CRA%20Plan
%20Update%202014%20Final.pdf
8. http://www.greaterenglewoodcdc.org/community-asset-report/
9. http://www.englewoodportal.org/directory/category/373
10. http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140909/englewood/englewood-tech-hubaims-fight-unemployment-empower-south-siders
11. http://www.apartments.com/local/englewood-chicago-il/
12. http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/micro_market_recover
yprogram.html