I remember a different history, and I don't miss those awful towers a bit.
I remember being in military uniform in the early 90's and still being harassed by the locals as I walked down Division St the 3 miles to the train I had to get to. I remember everyone I knew, black, white, well off, poor.. all of them hating being around those things.
I remember the other set further up north (that still exist, and I'm not sure if they were "renovated") just two years ago when I lived nearby, and the crime that centered around it.
I also can't provide any sort of evidence to this, but I strongly remember an idea that these were only ever intended to be stopping points - temporary housing, and the problem being them becoming "homes" at all. No "Home" in this country should resemble a prison cell as much as those did. Complete with block wardens, cages to prevent violence or suicide on porches, etc.
To that end, is it really a bad statistic when you see that 44% that weren't in the system 10 years later? The single biggest bucket if you lumped "no longer qualified", "lost contact", and "private market" would be almost 30% ten years later don't need to be in there anymore. Add in the other 35% that are in mixed rentals (a la the questionably effective Wilson Yard development), or just accepting a subsidized rental, I'd say that the bulk of the community - those who lived there as well as those who lived around there, are doing better without those terrible towers.
If this article is trying to make me feel bad that Cabrini Green was shut down, I consider the author and the individuals who put it on the site completely lacking in any credibility.
I was there when it still existed. I'm also the author of the piece.
We're not trying to make you feel bad that the projects were shut down. We are trying to convey:
* The scale of the process (the equivalent of relocating my entire hometown over the course of a decade).
* Some of what was gained and what was lost for residents
* The housing authority's demonstrated inability to meet their projections or deliver what they told residents they would.
* The story of the photographer, who responded to an act of violence by trying to understand where that violence might come from, and in the process documented a historic moment in American urban life.
Like I said, I worked there and I'm not nostalgic about it. I saw some truly awful stuff. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a huge social and personal cost to residents in dismantling that system. If that cost had been honestly reckoned with during the Plan For Transformation, some of the more egregious problems could have been avoided.
The impression I got from the article was simply a sense of wistful remembrance, not that the buildings should not have been torn down. "This was here once. Now, it is gone. This is what I remember."
Comments
Cabrini Green will not be missed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabrini%E2%80%93Green
I remember a different history, and I don't miss those awful towers a bit.
I remember being in military uniform in the early 90's and still being harassed by the locals as I walked down Division St the 3 miles to the train I had to get to. I remember everyone I knew, black, white, well off, poor.. all of them hating being around those things.
I remember the other set further up north (that still exist, and I'm not sure if they were "renovated") just two years ago when I lived nearby, and the crime that centered around it.
I also can't provide any sort of evidence to this, but I strongly remember an idea that these were only ever intended to be stopping points - temporary housing, and the problem being them becoming "homes" at all. No "Home" in this country should resemble a prison cell as much as those did. Complete with block wardens, cages to prevent violence or suicide on porches, etc.
To that end, is it really a bad statistic when you see that 44% that weren't in the system 10 years later? The single biggest bucket if you lumped "no longer qualified", "lost contact", and "private market" would be almost 30% ten years later don't need to be in there anymore. Add in the other 35% that are in mixed rentals (a la the questionably effective Wilson Yard development), or just accepting a subsidized rental, I'd say that the bulk of the community - those who lived there as well as those who lived around there, are doing better without those terrible towers.
I was not here when it still existed. However, I have heard stories of:
1. Cops getting shot for being in the area
2. It being run by gangs
3. Airline shuttle being shot at. (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-07-31/news/010731019... Crap, I've been to that hospital they were transported to)
If this article is trying to make me feel bad that Cabrini Green was shut down, I consider the author and the individuals who put it on the site completely lacking in any credibility.
I was there when it still existed. I'm also the author of the piece.
We're not trying to make you feel bad that the projects were shut down. We are trying to convey:
* The scale of the process (the equivalent of relocating my entire hometown over the course of a decade). * Some of what was gained and what was lost for residents * The housing authority's demonstrated inability to meet their projections or deliver what they told residents they would. * The story of the photographer, who responded to an act of violence by trying to understand where that violence might come from, and in the process documented a historic moment in American urban life.
Like I said, I worked there and I'm not nostalgic about it. I saw some truly awful stuff. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a huge social and personal cost to residents in dismantling that system. If that cost had been honestly reckoned with during the Plan For Transformation, some of the more egregious problems could have been avoided.
The impression I got from the article was simply a sense of wistful remembrance, not that the buildings should not have been torn down. "This was here once. Now, it is gone. This is what I remember."