Is this the same Chicago that sold all their parking meters to Wall Street making infrastructure changes really difficult because it would cut into parking meter profits?
I live in small city where the exact opposite applies. The cycleways don't extend through richer neighbourhoods. The poorer neighbourhoods are plastered with cycleways. But there's lots of NIMBY people here.
There are plenty of charities that can do that, if needed because really bikes are cheap on the grand scheme of transportation options. Only the government can add bike lanes, that's what they need to focus on.
Chicago has a long history of segregation in the city. It's worse than a lot of cities in the US. POC are leaving the city in droves because the city hasn't well addressed the issues of the past. While I think wording it for pedestrian safety makes a lot of sense, this also makes sense in the context of Chicago