My Encounters, My Life: YSEALI PFP Day 13: Great Cities Institute and Springfield

2 May 2019

Once again, having a chef within the team is always an asset.

Makes me feel like I'm in London

My host, a member of University of Illinois Board of Trustees, arranged for me to meet Dr Teresa Córdova, Director, Great Cities Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Extended the invitation to fellow Professional Fellows and glad we were all able to make it.

Taking the "L" for the first time.

I now fully appreciate what it meant by the Loop, an area where several lines converged

The station right opposite of our corporate housing was Clark/Lake Station

What was supposed to be one hour of meeting ended up being a meaningful three hours of wide-ranging discussion.

Dr Córdova shared with us the beginnings of the Great Cities Institute, which was born out of the Great Cities Commitment made when UIC expanded its campus southwards. The commitment was to serve the neighbouring communities. The Great Cities Institute was set up when UIC started its College of Urban Planning.

College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, where Global Cities Institute is housed

Dr Córdova provided insightful background to how Chicago became plagued with gun violence. Our conversation would give us a good foundation to appreciate the community issues the City faces.

In the mid-1970s, the internationalisation of production led to an exodus of manufacturing companies from Chicago as they move to areas where labour was more inexpensive, and where infrastructure was paid by the government. On the housing front, banks did not allow loans for African Americans to move into White American neighbourhoods (red lining) and realtors were selling properties to buyers of the same ethnicity of the neighbourhood (blockbusting). With manufacturers and retailers moving out of some of these nieghbourhoods, the lack in policy to support out-of-job Chicagoans resulted in chronic joblessness.

Long term unemployment results in adverse impact on self-worth and sets people into a state of dependency and hopelessness, which were conditions ripe for violence. According to a study by Great Cities Institute, about half of African Americans of age 20 to 24 years old were neither working nor in schools, or what the Institute termed as "joblessness rate". The communities with the top 10 joblessness rates mirrored those with the top 10 crime rates.

A souvenir from UIC Great Cities Institute

Great Cities Institute had published several game-changing researches that had shifted the conversation on joblessness and crime. I had the privilege to read the report on "The Fracturing of Gangs and Violence in Chicago: A Research-Based Reorientation of Violence Prevention and Intervention Policy" on the first day of my fellowship attachment with Metropolitan Family Services. In this report, it debunked the common misconception by law enforcers on the nature of gangs. Due to several measures by the City, such as the shutting down of Chicago public housing in some areas, the traditional hierarchical structure of gangs had been disrupted into a mesh of gangs of "cliques".

Took the opportunity to get an autograph on the report on Gangs co-authored by Dr Córdova

I asked about youth unemployment and strategies to resolve it. Some recommendations from the research on "Revitalizing Manufacturing and Expanding Opportunities for Chicago’s Black and Latino Communities," the Institute had done pointed to paid mentorship; employment subsidy; tax incentives. In West Chicago, the Manufacturing Connect initiative, by the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council, prepares youth for precision and advanced manufacturing jobs as well as wrap-around services.

The Council also brings together unions, government and corporations to support its efforts in achieving Industry & Inclusion 4.0, a quest to prevent inequality and to ensure that jobs are created for those who need them the most.

We also learnt about Participatory Budgeting and how Great Cities Institute played a key role in making PB Chicago a reality.

The Council also works on the Ownership Conversion Program, which facilitates ownership succession from retiring business owners to those who were excluded from opportunities.

YSEALI Professional Fellows with Dr Teresa Córdova, a former elected member of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners (New Mexico) and the only woman to have ever represented the district

Most people would mention about Crazy Rich Asians when they heard I was from Singapore. Dr Córdova, though, took notice of the strategic location of Singapore in the global trading route from the movie and gained interest on the island city :)

Lunch at neighbouring Greek town

Dr Eve Pinsker, Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, UIC hosted us to Greek cuisine.

Fish, deboned

In the afternoon, we made our way to the Union Station, where we'll be embarking on the Amtrak train ride to Springfield, the capital of the State of Illinois.

Departure hall

Look at that double decker train

"Is that normal?" asked Ivy

Wrote a blog post during the journey, since there was free wifi and power source

We finally arrived after a 3-hour train ride

Received by Chris Pearce, Brad Cole and Angel Lewis

Illinois - the Land of Lincoln

We went to Westwoods Lodge for a late dinner.

Westwoods Lodge

Those were real hunts

Menu

Ordered a Pony Shoe, the mini version of the local food - Horse Shoe

We would spend the next few nights at the Pearce Ranch at New Berlin, a township bordering Springfield. It was late, but we were excited about staying in a farmhouse and the flora and fauna that surrounded us.