Bronzeville’s future as a real estate ‘gem’ threatens its legacy as Chicago’s Black Metropolis

Bernard Loyd, the founder of Build Bronzeville, poses for a portrait inside The Forum in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo: Trent Sprague/for City Bureau)

Longtime residents and advocates look to affordable housing plans and intentional investment to keep the celebrated Black neighborhood Black.

It wasn't until Michelle Kennedy left Bronzeville for City Planning graduate school in the 1990s that she learned her Chicago neighborhood’s name. 

After observing a classmate's presentation on the “real estate gem,” she asked him to show it to her on a map. Kennedy was shocked to find the heralded Bronzeville included the Prairie Court Apartments where she grew up. 

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