Businesses in the Ravenswood Industrial Corridor believe they will benefit from a broadband initiative that would bring high speed Internet service to the area according to a study released recently by the Ravenswood Community Council.
Ravenswood is among 12 Chicago neighborhoods targeted for broadband development. The Ravenswood corridor, once home to many small light industries, is now making way from artists to internet-based businesses.
RCC reports that 31 out of 54 businesses on the corridor report they would benefit from a high-speed network.
Among the businesses on the strip currently are Everyblock, Gapers Block and LimeRed.
“We are more than pleased with the feedback from the local businesses,” RCC Executive Director Charles Daas said.
The needs survey of 1oo businesses included 54 on Ravenswood Ave.
Daas said the survey indicated businesses were looking for a way to connect. The area has been without a chamber of commerce since the collapse of the Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce in 2011. The Ravenswood Community Council picked up some of the activities of the former chamber. More recently the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce announced a name change and an intent to serve parts of the area.
“Ravenswood is establishing its own identity,” Cleetus Friedman an SSA commissioner and owner of City Provisions noted about the study.
Daas said the study is “just one effort to secure the economic vitality of the neighborhood.”
