Mayor Brandon Johnson says his recent economic development initiatives on the West Side have created real change and reduced violent crime.
On Oct. 2, Johnson visited the Austin HOPE Center for the first time since it opened in August. Part of the development of the first pediatric and behavioral health building on the West Side was funded by $5 million from Johnson’s Housing and Economic Development bond — and among the first projects to receive money from the $1.25 billion bond.
After his tour of the Austin HOPE Center at 5036 W. Chicago Ave., Johnson sat down with Austin Weekly News to discuss how his office is working with community organizations — like those that were instrumental in opening the center — to create tangible change in Austin.
Johnson said he started discussing what could go on the property where the Austin HOPE Center now sits when he was still a Cook County commissioner. Then, he met with Pastor Contrell Jenkins — CEO of Stone Community Development Corp., which led the project, and pastor of Lively Stone Missionary Baptist Church — about how to acquire the land.
“It started with a conversation, literally in his sanctuary, and we carried that conversation into this economic development bond, connected him with our Department of Planning and Development, and of course connected with Lurie’s [Children’s Hospital],” Johnson said, the latter of which offers exams and services for specialty care, behavioral and physical health inside the Austin HOPE Center. “We began to just game out what government tools we could use to help see this project come to fruition.”
When asked what structural or budgetary changes Austin residents can expect after projects are taken from an executive level to a permanent fixture in the community, Johnson gave an example out of his economic development bond.
From that bond, $135 million went toward construction of sustainable “green social housing.” He said developers will take the $135 million as a loan and pay it back once they make money from their development. The loan will then be used for the next project.
“It replenishes itself, and the development begets more development,” Johnson said, all without having to go to private developers or the federal government for funding. “That’s how government is providing a structure that can perpetuate without us having to go back and review another tool for a different product.”
It’s likely that Johnson’s administration has provided more money for the neighborhood of Austin than any Chicago mayor before him.
“I haven’t seen this type of development,” Johnson said. “Austin will not be ignored, not under my administration.”
Johnson credits development as part of the reason most violent crime in Austin has dropped since he took office in 2023.
According to Chicago’s violence reduction dashboard, last year, there were 1,338 violent crime victimizations in Austin. In 2022, the year before Johnson took office, there were 2,020. That includes 137 shooting victimizations in Austin in 2025, compared to 215 in 2022; 40 homicides in 2025 and 48 in 2022; 284 robberies in 2025 and 445 in 2022; 38 vehicular hijackings in 2025 and 126 in 2022.
Johnson said decreasing violent crime can be attributed to multiple factors, including development like the Austin HOPE Center and affordable housing like the Austin United Alliance Apartments next to the old Laramie State Bank that opened last month.
This summer, Johnson’s youth employment initiative provided 33,000 jobs to young people — 1,778 of whom live in Austin, the Chicago neighborhood with the most participants. And West Side schools have received a financial bump during Johnson’s term, when he’s released over $1 billion of Tax Incremental Financing money into Chicago Public Schools.
“Students on the West Side, particularly here in Austin, have benefited from the largest investment of any single administration,” Johnson said. “I’ve given more to our public schools in three years than my predecessors combined, and certainly no administration has given more to our young people to create jobs.”
Tangible change has also come from partnering with organizations like the local faith community and Austin African American Business Network Association, which is leading development on Soul City Corridor.
“All of that is playing a role in driving violence down,” Johnson said. So far in 2026, there’s been 28 homicides in Austin, compared to 40 last year. “Now, we’re seeing a 30% reduction this year in homicides, which is a step in the right direction, but I have real skin in the game. I live here. This is where I’m raising my family.”
To further uplift the Austin neighborhood, Johnson said, “The entities that do the work, it’s our responsibility to come up with revenue sources to help advance that work.”
He gives the example of the Good Food Fund, which increases access to food on the South and West Sides. Johnson’s office launched the $5 million fund in 2024 to provide grants and low-interest loans to local food businesses. And he recently launched the Neighborhood Market Grant Program, where 50 organizations that are already positioned to provide healthy, affordable food in their communities can get up to $10,000.
“It’s those types of matches and that type of collaboration that allows for that community-driven and -led process to be successful,” Johnson said. “That’s really at the heart of my administration: The work that the government has to do is, one, get out of the way, and two, provide the necessary tools in order for the community organizations and partners that are already doing the work to be more effective at delivering those services.”
Johnson said it’s a lesson he learned as a teacher, when he centered students and families’ feedback to improve his classroom.
“It’s the community experience that will lead to the solution. We often talk about how those who are closest to the challenges are closest to coming up with the solutions,” Johnson said. “It’s important as mayor that I model the excellence of that axiom, if you will, because it’s not just a cliche or a statement. It’s a belief and a value.”
Austin development
In addition to the Austin HOPE Center, Johnson’s office has provided funding to several other Austin businesses and enterprises, including:
- Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation at 5500 W. Madison St. – over $12 million from TIF money
- Forty Acres Fresh Market at 5713 W. Chicago Ave. – $3 million from Neighborhood Opportunity Fund
- Redevelopment at 5544 W. North Ave. – over $2 million from Community Development Grant
- Mildred Wiley Wellness Hub/Bethel New Life at 4950 W. Thomas St. – $2 million from Community Development Grant
- Karaoke On The Ave! at 5234 W. Chicago Ave. – $250,000 from Neighborhood Opportunity Fund
- The Community Theater/Joseph’s Place at 912 W. Chicago Ave. – $187,500 from Neighborhood Opportunity Fund
- Clean Community at 5213 W. Potomac Ave. – $116,290 from Workforce Solutions Grant
- A House in Austin at 533 N. Pine Ave. – $115,085 from Community Development Grant
- James L. Bowers, Attorney at 5940–42 W. Chicago Ave. – $114,900 from Neighborhood Opportunity Fund
- Excel Community Development Corp. at 4825 W. Chicago Ave. – $92,106 from Workforce Solutions Grant
- Shawn Michelle’s Homemade Ice Cream at 5246 W. Chicago Ave. – $60,000 from Neighborhood Opportunity Fund
- New Moms at 5317 W. Chicago Ave. – $37,332 from Workforce Solutions Grant
- Advance Equipment Manufacturing Co. at 4615 W. Chicago Ave. – $28,860 from Small Business Improvement Fund