Jack Meltzer
Encyclopedia
Jack Meltzer was a leading figure
of urban renewal during the 1950s and 1960s primarily in the Hyde Park
neighborhood on the South
Side of Chicago, Illinois. He was one of three people who most shaped the direction of the future Hyde Park.
newspaper praised Meltzer as “a young man with a sense of humor and a sense of responsibility” in 1954 when "He was the planner in the middle of the maelstrom,” said Bruce Sagan, then and now publisher of the Herald. “As a planner he had this wonderful moment to work out this new idea— the problem was it was a very controversial idea.”
Throughout the mid-1950s, Meltzer was the public face of a program that dramatically
reshaped the physical landscape of Hyde Park and cemented the neighborhood’s reputation for public engagement on all public projects.
“No planner can proceed with a disregard for the wishes of the community if he is to succeed.
I hope the various civic groups in the community will make known their ideas and wishes to me,"
Meltzer said when he took up the planning of urban renewal
in 1954.
Meltzer remained calm at the time when neighbors and parents harshly rebuked him for his plan to demolish housing to make way for a school expansion.
“The amazing thing about Hyde Park ... is not its problems but the fact that it has
resisted them," Meltzer said in 1956.
As neighborhood groups and then-Mayor Richard J. Daley clashed over competing plans, Meltzer stepped in and offered to draft a compromise plan himself.
After leaving his role at the South East Chicago Commission in 1963, Meltzer would stay in Hyde Park for another 20 years as the first director of the Center for Urban Studies
at the University of Chicago
.
a master’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 1947.In 1983, he became dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas.
He retired in 1986, and relocated to Washington, D.C.
of urban renewal during the 1950s and 1960s primarily in the Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...
neighborhood on the South
Side of Chicago, Illinois. He was one of three people who most shaped the direction of the future Hyde Park.
The 1950s
As director of planning for the South East Chicago Commission from 1954 to 1958, he took on the job of planning how millions in federal money would be spent to fend off blight in Chicago's Hyde Park and Kenwood neighborhoods. The Hyde Park HeraldHyde Park Herald
The Hyde Park Herald is a weekly newspaper that serves the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.- Early history :The newspaper was founded in 1882, and claims on its masthead to be "Chicago's Oldest Community Newspaper." For the Herald's first seven years, it was a suburban newspaper...
newspaper praised Meltzer as “a young man with a sense of humor and a sense of responsibility” in 1954 when "He was the planner in the middle of the maelstrom,” said Bruce Sagan, then and now publisher of the Herald. “As a planner he had this wonderful moment to work out this new idea— the problem was it was a very controversial idea.”
Throughout the mid-1950s, Meltzer was the public face of a program that dramatically
reshaped the physical landscape of Hyde Park and cemented the neighborhood’s reputation for public engagement on all public projects.
“No planner can proceed with a disregard for the wishes of the community if he is to succeed.
I hope the various civic groups in the community will make known their ideas and wishes to me,"
Meltzer said when he took up the planning of urban renewal
in 1954.
Meltzer remained calm at the time when neighbors and parents harshly rebuked him for his plan to demolish housing to make way for a school expansion.
“The amazing thing about Hyde Park ... is not its problems but the fact that it has
resisted them," Meltzer said in 1956.
The 1960s
Meltzer would reinsert himself in the city planning process again in 1964 as the city planned the expansion and rerouting of a multi-lane highway through the city's Jackson Park.As neighborhood groups and then-Mayor Richard J. Daley clashed over competing plans, Meltzer stepped in and offered to draft a compromise plan himself.
After leaving his role at the South East Chicago Commission in 1963, Meltzer would stay in Hyde Park for another 20 years as the first director of the Center for Urban Studies
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
Before and After
Meltzer studied at Wayne State University in Detroit before going on to earna master’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 1947.In 1983, he became dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas.
He retired in 1986, and relocated to Washington, D.C.