Quote:
Originally Posted by sentinel
Agree on the City's past fails on retail deserts, but I don't know how that relates to this immediate area, which is still CBD-adjacent rather than South or West side proper. One could argue that the existing retail that has sprung up over the past 10 years or so (Best Buy, Walkgreens, Whole Foods, HomeGoods, Portillos) serves the immediate areas more so than what you mention, and even then, I suspect it's mostly commuter workers who populated the area pre-Covid. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your comment?
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Roosevelt Road attracts Black/brown shoppers from the South and West Sides (especially West) much more so than North/Clybourn, and prevents their sales tax dollars from being lost to the suburbs.
There is a long tradition of Black shoppers visiting Roosevelt Road, dating back to the days when it was largely a Jewish-owned shopping district around Maxwell St and people arrived by streetcar. This is despite the fact that the Roosevelt district is quite far from, say, North Lawndale or Auburn-Gresham.
Roosevelt is ALSO perfectly positioned to capture wealthier shoppers from gentrified areas like South Loop, West Loop, and Little Italy/Tri-Taylor, so national retailers are very comfortable opening there because the trade area demographics are strong. It's really a way for the city to address the retail needs of two very different communities at once. Letting in residential or mixed-use would complicate the continued development of the area as a regional shopping district... right now there are zero residents nearby to complain about semi truck deliveries or increased traffic.