Money for Retailers on Chicago's South and West Sides

"Rahm Emanuel has earmarked $16 million in special tax money to try to jump-start the fortunes of struggling shopping areas in eight neighborhoods on the South, Southwest and West sides, the city announced Tuesday," reports John Byrne in the Chicago Tribune. These funds are available for entrepreneurs looking to rehab buildings and to chambers of commerce who intend to build infrastructures and add amenities like lighting in neighborhoods like: Austin, Chatham, and Englewood.

Emanuel frequently faces critics that claim he cares more about the city's bustling downtown than the city's struggling areas. "Black and Latino aldermen have long complained about a lack of attention and money from the city to keep up their once-bustling local shopping districts," Byrne writes. This project funded with tax increment financing (TIF) money (often characterized as the mayor's slush fund) may give the administration a way to combat that claim.