Public housing

Chicago's Notorious Cabrini Green Housing Project- Whats Left In 2010.

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• published: 23 Aug 2010
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Cabrini-Green is a Chicago Housing Authority public housing development on Chicago's Near North Side, bordered by Evergreen Avenue on the north, Sedgwick Street on the east, Chicago Avenue on the south, and Halsted Street on the west. At its peak, Cabrini-Green was home to 15,000 people, living in mid- and high-rise apartment buildings. Over the years, gang violence and neglect created terrible conditions for the residents, and the name "Cabrini-Green" became synonymous with the problems associated with public housing in the United States. Cabrini-Green was composed of 10 sections, built over a twenty-year period: the Frances Cabrini Rowhouses (1942), Cabrini Extension North and Cabrini Extension South (1958), and the William Green Homes (1962). The construction reflected the "urban renewal" approach to United States city planning in the mid-twentieth century. The Extension buildings were known as the "reds," for their red brick exteriors, while the Green Homes, with reinforced concrete exteriors, were known as the "whites." Many of the high-rise buildings originally had exterior porches called open galleries. A majority of residents in the completed complex were black. White flight from the complex escalated over the following decade; by the 1970s, its population was almost entirely black. During the worst years of Cabrini-Green's problems, vandalism increased substantially. Gang members and miscreants covered interior walls with graffiti and damaged doors, windows, and elevators. Rat and cockroach infestations were commonplace, rotting garbage stacked up in clogged trash chutes (it once piled up to the 15th floor), and basic utilities (water, electricity, etc.) often malfunctioned and were left unrepaired. On the exterior, boarded-up windows, burned-out areas of the façade, and pavement instead of green space, all in the name of economizing on maintenance, created an atmosphere of neglect and decay. The high "open galleries" were enclosed with steel fencing the entire height of the building to prevent residents from falling or being thrown off to their deaths giving the visual appearance of a large prison tier, or animal cages, which further enraged community leaders. Several infamous incidents contributed to Cabrini-Green's reputation. In 1992, seven-year-old Dantrell Davis was killed by a stray bullet while walking to school with his mother. In 1997, nine-year-old "Girl X," was viciously raped and poisoned in a stairwell, leaving her blind, paralyzed and unable to speak. Members of the infamous street gang, the Gangster Disciples, who controlled most of Cabrini-Green, were ordered by the gang's leaders to find the person responsible for the crime and brutally assault him. The attacker, Patrick Sykes (who was not a gang member), was later apprehended by police and sentenced to 120 years in prison. An unanticipated result of the steel fencing installed to secure the previously open gangways at Cabrini-Green was that it became difficult for police officers to see through the steel mesh from outside; in 1970, two policemen were killed by snipers from above. As of 2008, around 4,700 residents remained in Cabrini-Green.[2] Most of the buildings have been razed and the entire neighborhood is being redeveloped into a combination of high-rise buildings and row houses, with the stated goal of creating a mixed-income neighborhood, with some units reserved for public housing tenants. Controversy regarding the implementation of these plans has arisen. Despite these conditions, a strong community was formed by the dwellers of the buildings. Not everyone who lived here committed crimes. I bring this video to you to show whats left as of 6-27-10. The 4 hi rise buildings remaining are scheduled to be torn down by the end of the year. Crime has decreased dramatically (I would have been killed and robbed being here 10 years ago.) Still this video does no justice for the lives of the people who lived here throughout the years and what they endured. List of hi-rise buildings remaining. Whites- 1230 North Burling "Scamplife" 1230 North Larrabee "Tha Himalaya" Reds- 364 West Oak St. 365 West Oak St. (c) 9th Street Productions.