FROM DAILY MAIL: President Barack Obama’s promise to build and revitalize blighted neighborhoods was a centerpiece of his first term in the White House. But now, nearly nine years after he left the Oval Office, he might be destroying one critical area in the city he called home, the Daily Mail can reveal.
His $850 million presidential center in Chicago – due to open in April – has come under fire from residents, community leaders and even onetime supporters who now warn that the massive 19.3-acre facility in Jackson Park is gentrifying the neighborhood, increasing rent and forcing families out.
Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor, who represents much of the area where the center is being built, told the Daily Mail she is a fan of Obama and believes in the project but has fought aspects of it to protect her constituents. Her efforts have had mixed results.
“We’re going to see rents go higher and we’re going to see families displaced,” Taylor told the Daily Mail. “Every time large development comes to communities, they displace the very people they say they want to improve it for.”
“This was no different, and we’re living what is actually happening,” she said. “The city of Chicago should have done a Community Benefits Agreement before the first shovel went into the ground, but they didn’t.”
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