Chicago teens would like to see more investment in job opportunities and businesses on the South and West sides, according to a survey conducted by My Block, My Hood, My City this summer.
The youth empowerment nonprofit collected responses in July during Downtown Day, an annual initiative that brings 1,000 teens into the city for a day of experiences that they select. Each participant was given a $50 prepaid debit card to use at destinations of their choice, which included the Art Institute of Chicago, Navy Pier, Shedd Aquarium, Water Tower Place and dozens more.
Teens were also asked how and where they would invest $50,000 — mirroring the collective sum of their gift cards — by placing push pins on a map of Chicago during the event. Of the 121 survey respondents, nearly 20% chose jobs as a priority, while about 15% chose businesses and retail. About 47% of the teens chose South Side community areas for all types of investment, while nearly 35% targeted the West Side.
The feedback will help My Block, My Hood, My City inform programming as the city grapples with how to make public spaces welcoming for young people while responding to concerns about large teen gatherings that can sometimes turn violent.
The data underscores that young people want to work and socialize where they live, but are contending with a lack of options in disinvested neighborhoods, the organization said.
“They want to be contributors in the city, and they want to be valued and looked at as an asset,” said Briana Mathews, manager of youth development at My Block, My Hood My City. “They want to be active in our city’s ecosystem.”
What Chicago teens want to see
As part of the survey, teens were asked to select from eight categories for investment: educational programs, recreational spaces, mental health resources, jobs, parks and outdoor spaces, restaurants, housing and businesses and retail.
While jobs and businesses and retail garnered the most responses, the third-most popular choice was a tie between educational programs, housing and mental health resources.
Downtown Day participant Del’Reona Cox, 16, said she would choose to invest the money in recreational spaces in her neighborhood, West Englewood. She envisions a place where people can listen to music, play basketball, draw: anything to keep people engaged and help them “find their crowds.”
“It would be to create a safe space for the teenagers – and maybe the older people – whose heads are not in the right places,” she said. “Like a reset to the mind. A fresh start.”
The neighborhood’s Ogden Park was approved for a new, $25 million fieldhouse in 2025, but further details have not been announced. In the meantime, the park has been the site of teen gatherings, including one in July that left some teens in police custody.
“I don’t go outside because of the teen takeovers,” Cox said. “It’s just not safe.”
Cox said police involvement has not helped to curb the gatherings either.
“They try to shut the parties down, but they just move it [to another location],” she said.
Downtown Day participant Del’Reona Cox, 16, said she would choose to invest money in a recreational space in her neighborhood, West Englewood. “It would be to create a safe space for the teenagers – and maybe the older people – whose heads are not in the right places,” she said.
Jeremy Battle/Sun-Times
The ACE Amandla Charter High School student said she understands why many of her peers said they would invest in employment. She earns money by doing hair, and some young people in her neighborhood work at the park or McDonald’s.
But there is a need for more jobs, especially year-round, she said.
And she wasn’t surprised by the survey respondents who selected housing.
“There’s a lot of abandoned houses and vacant lots that can be filled in for things,” she said.
She also agreed with those concerned about mental health resources, given the mindset of some in her neighborhood.
“They live based on Instagram,” she said. “Maybe they didn’t have the right resources and opportunities. Maybe somebody didn’t come in with open arms and redirect them.”
A need for stability
The city has made strides to employ teens through its Chicago Youth Works initiative, which created more than 32,500 jobs this summer, according to Mayor Brandon Johnson. Still, there is a demand for jobs that don’t require extensive transportation, Mathews said.
“I think they’re talking about jobs that they can walk to,” she said of the survey respondents. “That they can leave high school and then walk to Panera Bread or Chipotle — being able to see institutions in their neighborhood.”
Being successful in the workplace also requires stability, Mathews said, so it makes sense that teens are asking for more investment in educational programs, housing and mental health resources.
“I think that they recognize that those tools are important to be able to participate [in the economy],” she said.
When it comes to investing in housing, teens are not necessarily concerned with accessing living spaces, but sustaining them, Mathews added.
“And sustaining housing brings us back to money,” she said. “So being able to have the money to have the food in the house and pay bills. And when those stressors are on their families, it falls on them, because now they have to take on responsibilities.”
Removing economic barriers also allows teens the freedom to seek out new experiences. That is why My Block, My Hood, My City provided the gift cards and transportation to the excursions during Downtown Day.
As part of her itinerary, Del’Reona Cox chose to go on an architecture boat tour, visit the 360 Chicago Observation Deck and take a ride on Flyover Chicago at Navy Pier.
“I wanted to be a part of it to explore new things and to have memories to go back on,” she said.
Most Downtown Day participants signed up for attractions, like Flyover Chicago, water activities and museums, according to a My Block, My Hood, My City report. The goal of the event was to create a welcoming environment for teens in the Loop, but learning about their interests can inform development in their own neighborhoods, Mathews said.
“We really want city officials to take this and invest in the places that youth said,” she said.
“So the Near South Side and the West Side — being able to place an attraction or a museum or some restaurants in the places that they have identified as important to them.”