Cabrini Green

Cabrini Green is an area of Chicago that was once known as a very dangerous place (and is still considered as such by some people).  It was home to high rises that were built but never maintained; these structures gave Cabrini Green an appearance of a slum due to the lack of up-keep in and around the buildings.  

In recent years, those involved in the housing projects decided to make a change.  They tore down every last public housing high rise in Cabrini Green, and began major renovations.  New buildings were put in their place that would attract buyers (both previous public housing tenants and new tenants from mixed-income backgrounds) in hopes that mixed-income housing would take flight.  

In retrospect, this plan sounds like a good idea.  Tear down the old high rises, build pretty new housing, integrate the community, and viola - Cabrini Green has been transformed.  

WRONG.

In order to tear down the high rises, all the previous tenants had to be displaced - but where?  Our tour guide explained to us that the tenants had three options.  

1. Move to an available space, still within public housing

2. Choose to rent an apartment that would be subsidized by CPH, with the tenants only having to pay a certain percentage of their total income

3. Remove themselves from CPH all together

These tenants are technically guaranteed a place in the new mixed-income housing, but not all return, and CPH does not seem too concerned with the people that don't come back. Honestly, the places that were torn down were once their homes.  I believe it should be a responsibility of CPH to make sure that the past tenants get what was promised to them.  Our guide gave the impression that the needs or concerns of the people were not being taken care of or listened to in the slightest.  He even said that he knows it is not "right or fair" but that " it's just the way it is."

Just the way it is does not seem like the heart warming story that this was supposed to be.  Promising tenants new, better homes and then not caring about where they end up seems very cold to me.  While reading Koval,  almost all that was mentioned were things about improving the landscape to make it look more appealing and the generation of profit (other aspects were mentioned as well, but not as heavily as these two).      From these readings, and in hearing our guide speak to us, it is becoming more and more apparent to me that the government of Chicago is clearly more worried about its appearance than its residents.

Koval further states that the integration of the community is the only way to begin to fix the problems of Chicago.  I agree with this to an extent, we all must come together in some form or another- but kicking people out of their homes to make them "look pretty" and not caring about what happens to these people is not the way to do it.  To begin to fix Chicago's problems, they have to talk to the people, get to know them, and form a solution.  Making the landscape look nice to try to out do other cities/ make it look like we're doing something about our problems, and pretending like the problem has been fixed is not the way to go about it at all.