Chicago - Cabrini Green

[i_am_hydrogen]

How will they be slums when 70% of replacement housing will be market-rate? And for those former residents of Cabrini-Green who want the small percentage of affordable housing that will be available, stringent standards have been set in place: they must work full time, pass drug tests, not have a criminal record, etc. The CHA has been very careful not to repeat the mistakes it's made in the past.

[ColDayMan]

Say it five times in the mirror and...

[boden]

Good shots Hayward. I know Cabrini Green is not south side, but I for one would love to see some posts of the south-side of Chicago.

[bgwah]

Cool pictures... Seems like they should keep one of the old high-rises towers just for historical value, though.

[ChiPsy]

Great thread, Hayward -- I'd love to keep seeing your pix as these come down. The transformation is a profound improvement for everyone there and for the city as a whole, and your pix will be great documentation.

Just for FYI, the current population of Cabrini-Green is as follows:

The Rowhouses: 734 residents.
The Reds: 360 residents, minus relocations from the 2 buildings currently being demo'd.
The Whites: 625 residents.

By next month, all but three Reds will be gone and by September two of the three whites are scheduled for demo. Next year (if the schedule holds), the three last Reds and the last White will be no more.

Check out pages 128 & 140/141 of this pdf if anyone's interested:

http://www.thecha.org/transformplan/...ces_030108.pdf

[ady26]

The replacements look great!

[Ex-Ithacan]

Nice tour Hayward. Good to see those rascals finally coming down. I was wondering what is going to happen to the building(old church?) on the right in this pic?




Also, I can't remember who the forumer was, but someone did a walk through tour of these projects a few years back. Quite the ballsy move (I thought).

Again, thanks for the tour.

[antinimby]

How and where did the government re-house the residents that was there?

[i_am_hydrogen]

Originally Posted by antinimby

How and where did the government re-house the residents that was there?

Some residents receive Section 8 vouchers to live in other housing projects around Chicago. Even fewer get the opportunity to live in affordable-rate replacement housing. But the vast majority of them are up shit creek without a paddle. They have likely resettled in other ghettos. And that raises one of the greatest criticisms of the demolition of Cabrini-Green: it has hasn't eliminated crime and poverty but merely redirected it to other areas which are ill-equipped to deal with it.

[ChiPsy]

I don't mean to be rude, but in the interest of accuracy, the adjectives in those first 3 sentences should be reversed: The CHA transformation is working for most families, largely through, as hydrogen notes, section 8 vouchers + new social support services, but also through the rebuilding of 17,000 public housing units so far (toward a goal of 25,000). It's an important sentiment, though, and *many* public interest lawyers are working to insure the CHA plan for transformation works for the original residents of these developments. The Chicago Tribune, among others, has documented the relative success of the transformation for CHA families and while it's going mostly well, hydrogen's considerations are well-put, because it's not working as smoothly for everyone.

Make no mistake, though, what stood here for the past 40 years was a hell hole of a degree rarely seen in U.S. urban life (e.g., >300 shootings in a single 1990's weekend in just one 3-building group in a similar South-side development) and by the time these projects hit their nadir, it had become obvious to everyone that it was unconscionable to let children grow up here. (Keeping in mind that was the purpose for which they were built.)

The irony is that local agencies knew at the time these were built that this model of public housing would be disastrous, but the Federal Government would fund nothing else. Forty years of reprehensible public policy ensued.

Thanks again for sharing your photos, Hayward.

[jodelli]

Hopefully people are relocated to lower density townhouse or low rise structures.
I'm glad to see the Taylor homes and Cabrini's Red and Whites come down. They became virtual vertical prisons over time, even the balconies were completely fenced in.

Nice pictures, Hayward.

[Cbautz]

I think the replacement housing will be fine over time. Mixed-income, let the trees grow and people personalize their yards, should turn into a nice community at least from a physical standpoint. The CMU homes stand just as well as more historic housing. Yea they are a little blan, there will be a lot of variation in the phases to come. 500% better than the towers in the park. We are going to see all of the CHA properties come down and redeveloped into mixed income properties. I think Statreway gardens near IIT is looking really good. The olympics will fuel another round on the southside, I think this reurbanization is very healthy for the city, its residents and the economy.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

And for those former residents of Cabrini-Green who want the small percentage of affordable housing that will be available, stringent standards have been set in place: they must work full time, pass drug tests, not have a criminal record, etc.

This is the key point, and the key to the success of the replacement housing. People talk as though the entire design paradigm of monolithic towers-in-the-park was a contributing factor to the inhumanity and decay of the projects, seemingly ignoring the dozens of similar such public housing projects in New York City that are still standing and successful. Key difference? New York always maintained a certain level of standards for its residents, in contrast to Chicago where you didn't need to work, could get mixed up in drugs, etc. etc. and still get your free apartment.

Me, I'd just eliminate Section 8 and public housing altogether and auction the land to private owners for development (these are monster proportions of the federal budget,and major holes in local property tax rolls, that only serve to perpetuate the 'underclass' and otherwise subsidize freeloading people who use the savings to buy cars, big screen TVs, shoes, etc... got any pictures of the Green highrises with satellite dishes bolted to the side?), but at least the path being pursued is the next best thing if the continued existence of subsidized housing is a foregone conclusion.

[Thundertubs]

I recall hearing about other Illinois cities recieving money to take on former Cabrini residents, particularly Rockford and Bloomington.

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Good photos.

[LMich]

Excellent tour, Hayward, and I'm sure it also reminds you of what's currently taking place in Detroit, too, with Woodbridge Estates (Jeffries Projects) and Gardenview Estates (Hermann Gardens). Now, if they could just get something going with Brewster-Douglass, we'd have something major going.

[ChicagoHiRiser]

One of the three remaining white highrises, 660 W Division, is no more:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/masstudio/4354766146/

The red midrise 412 W Chicago was demo'd last May as well.

Leaving two 15-story whites: 1230 N Larrabee & 1230 N Burling. And two red mid-rises: 364 & 365 W Oak St. And of course the rowhomes which are sticking around on Chicago.

Snails pace--even the demolition of 660 appears to have taken over two months so far and appears only 75% done.

[Kingofthehill]

Good riddance.

[Wheelingman04]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

Good riddance.

I totally agree. I remember Robert Taylor really well and it is so much better to see them gone. I drive right past where they were now and just think that I wouldn't dare do that a decade ago.

[VivaLFuego]

Easy to be glad the projects are gone if you don't live in a neighborhood where the former residents resettled to.

There was no good answer to the question of what to do with the projects. But the path being pursued has caused a lot of pain and cost (emotional and tangible) to a great many people, too; this is worth remembering even if there is some sense of 'victory' in the demolition of places where very dark and awful things happened.

Many other Chicago neighborhoods and inner ring suburbs (and even a few downstate locations as someone else noted) took a sharp turn for the worse in the 2000s as the population resettled, bringing their problems with and sparking new rounds of turf wars.

[lawfin]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Easy to be glad the projects are gone if you don't live in a neighborhood where the former residents resettled to.

There was no good answer to the question of what to do with the projects. But the path being pursued has caused a lot of pain and cost (emotional and tangible) to a great many people, too; this is worth remembering even if there is some sense of 'victory' in the demolition of places where very dark and awful things happened.

Many other Chicago neighborhoods and inner ring suburbs (and even a few downstate locations as someone else noted) took a sharp turn for the worse in the 2000s as the population resettled, bringing their problems with and sparking new rounds of turf wars.

I wonder are there statitstics that show wehre these former CHA residents have settled within the city.....where have they gone? within the city