By Mike Tobin
January 11, 2014
Photo courtesy affordablehousinginstitute.org
As President Obama laid out his “Promise Zones” for economic development, he made a notable omission — his hometown of Chicago.
The president’s beginnings were on the South Side of that city, first as a community organizer, then as a state senator.
Today, though, swaths of the city are a powerful reminder that the “War on Poverty” is not over. And some wonder where the federal government is.
The Englewood neighborhood is probably the most severe example of poverty in Chicago. It is a focal point of the street violence that plagues the South Side. On many streets, the boarded up homes seem to outnumber the occupied ones.
“This used to be a working-class poor community,” state Rep. Mary Flowers said. “There used to be hospitals here, libraries, schools, transportation, stores, theaters. That’s all gone now.”