Black businesses are looking to benefit from the DNC in Chicago

Mo Green, senior director of civic and community engagement for the Chicago 2024 Host Committee, said that community members can look to the West Loop as an example of the long-term boosts for the city. “These are folks that saw how the West Loop completely changed and the Near West Side completely changed from the convention in the 90s in Chicago. They’re excited to get a piece of that pie of the convention that’s coming here,” Green said. Thomas pushed back on the notion that the 1996 DNC spurred development for the West Loop, instead crediting Oprah’s Harpo Studios and the Chicago Bulls consistent championship wins during its Michael Jordan era in the ‘90s.  The West Loop area was once the site of a myriad of meatpacking warehouses where houseless people were able to find work. Development favoring higher-end restaurants and establishments and tech companies has since pushed out the population, and gentrification is still a concern.  As of July 2022, the median household income for the area was $93,202, and according to the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, as of last year, 43.4% of the area’s population was white while 24.3% were Black.  The expected price tag...