Senator Dick Durbin has served in government since 1983 and in the U.S. Senate since 1997. He is currently the Democratic Whip, which is the second highest office in the U.S. Senate. Issues of equity and fairness for all Americans have always been the focus of his public service.
The largest city in Senator Durbin’s home state of Illinois is, of course, Chicago, a city where community-focused lending is strong and where he has been a longtime advocate for community development, especially the South and West Sides. One neighborhood that he has continued to champion is Pullman. Located on the Far South Side, this community was founded by the railroad magnate, George M. Pullman.
In the late 1870s, Pullman purchased four thousand acres far south and east of Chicago to create what he believed to be a new utopian community for his workers — one of the first of its kind in the nation. Pullman would be a community with access to parks, schools, churches, educational programs, a theater, a library and various other amenities — things that other communities in Chicago did not have. He also wanted a location to erect a new manufacturing plant to build his popular “Pullman Palace Cars” for the burgeoning rail travel across the nation.
Pullman, like many other communities in Chicago, went through several cultural and economic transformations. The Pullman Car Company stopped making sleeping cars and, later, industries surrounding the community (i.e., steel mills, paint factories, etc.) moved away and the community declined.
After years of economic hardship, Pullman is now on the upswing again. The community, thanks to 9th Ward Alderman Beale, Senator Durbin, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives and others, has been granted National Park status citing its contributions to the civil rights movement, organized labor and the role it played in the creation of the first national Labor Day holiday.
Since the early 2000s, manufacturing and big businesses have returned to the area, starting in Pullman Park where 180 acres of brownfield left by Ryerson Steel has been transformed with companies like Method, Whole Foods, Gotham Greens, Walmart, Amazon, and more to come.
Senator Durbin revisited Pullman in August of this year. The purpose of this tour, led by 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale, was to showcase projects of growth in Pullman and to demonstrate the significant impact that federal funding has meant for the area. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) like Chicago Neighborhood Initiative/Greenwood Archer Capital (CNI)/(GAC), Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF), IFF, and Allies for Community Business (A4CB) have used federal grants from the CDFI Fund to finance housing and commercial retail projects in Pullman, helping to stabilize the community and create vital spaces which attract millions in private investments.
These mission-driven CDFIs are making the Pullman neighborhood, which has, for a long time, been underserved and overlooked, one of the fastest-reemerging communities in the Chicagoland area. Renewed investment, led by CDFIs, has helped to significantly revitalize this community, which now has its first stand-alone and casual sit-down dining establishment in over 30 years – a Culver’s Restaurant. Pullman is also home to the Pullman Community Center, the largest multi-sport complex in the state of Illinois.
Pullman is evidence that, with strong federal, state, and local government support, CDFIs can help create the kind of lasting equitable community development that transforms neighborhoods for future generations. “It was an honor to have Senator Durbin come visit the Pullman Community Center and experience the transformation that is taking place there,” explained DeMario Greene, CCLF’s Director, Policy and Government Relations. “This Center is a cornerstone of the new Pullman neighborhood that is being built by community-focused lenders like CCLF and our partners and is a testament to what CDFIs can do when they work collaboratively. As such, it was only fitting that this be the site where we articulated our vision for a thriving community where its residents can happily live, work, laugh, and learn by building upon its historic past to create a vibrant and innovative future. The community development dollars our elected officials have so tirelessly advocated for have created several monumental firsts in Pullman, and, with their continued support, we know there are many more milestones yet to come.”
CDFIs are focused on ensuring that this momentum continues. Upcoming projects that are in development in Pullman are a new Veteran Roasters location, which could create roughly 60 new jobs for local veterans, and the site of the first nationally branded hotel in the Pullman community, in partnership with the Pullman Hotel Group, LLC.