Welcome to 2023. For years we’ve been your Guide to the Good Life on the South Side of Chicago. The good news is the Good Life is literally coming to change the face of our communities, one development at a time.
We’ll be looking at those changes throughout the year as they occur and as they are planned, and we’ll keep you informed. We may inform you through an article in a regular monthly edition of the South Side Drive.
However, some changes that are happening on our side of town may be so big, so important, so innovative, so needed – that they require a Special Report. The innovative development projects, designed to drastically alter the cultural, educational, economic, and housing landscape of the South Side community of South Shore have been on the minds and on the drawing boards of developers and activist community residents for a long time. Perhaps Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s INVEST South/West initiative was the spark that was needed to put the pedal to the metal and get things really going. Many of you read about the Thrive Exchange Project in the August Special Edition of the South Side Drive.
There are no more hard copies of that issue, but if you didn’t read it the entire issue is accessible at
https://southsidedrivemag.com/investmentreturns-to-south-shore/. That’s one development project to look forward to. This Special Report is about another.
In fact, throughout this year of change, we will be publishing special reports, not only on the developments coming to the South Side, but also on other special topics our readers want to know about.
In this Special Report, we’re excited to tell you about a group of highly accomplished developers, a team who happen to be Black and highly respected and engaged South Shore residents who saw a need in South Shore for more housing, more jobs, more . . . well, you’ll see.
As you will read, the XChange Project came straight out of the pages of the Quality-of-Life Plan for South Shore. You will read about the QLP in this issue and we’ve added a link to the
plan to read for yourself.
You can also be one of the residents, like me, committed to assist in the speedy implementation of this long-awaited plan if you are in one of our three South Shore Wards.
We look forward to a new year and more opportunities to share the Guide to the Good Life of the South Side of Chicago in 2023.
