CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — On the West Side, Mayor Lori Lightfoot led the celebration for the third anniversary of the INVEST South/West initiative. The City’s been spurring development along business corridors on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
She said the gathering wasn't a "victory lap," but rather the first day of what she called “Phase Two” for the initiative.
Maurice Cox, Commissioner of Planning & Development, says the next phase will involve development in residential areas across the South and West Sides.
“It made sense for us to start in the commercial corridor, but now it’s about going into the streets and blocks where people live and filling in the gaps with new opportunities for housing,” Cox said.
The commissioner said he hopes people who moved away because of safety and other concerns will “come home.”
Specifically, Cox said the city will promote construction on the “thousands of vacant lots” across various communities. Lightfoot noted that many of those properties are already owned by Chicago.
“We, unfortunately, own 10,000 vacant lots,” Lightfoot said.
Applause from the West Side audience suggested that transforming those lots will clearly please people in the neighborhoods.
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