Those stories were largely revisionist history. At the time the large Chicago high rise public housing were built (Cabrini and the Robert Taylor Homes) it was pretty common knowledge that it was a bad idea to build large segregated high rises for this purpose. There was lots of opposition to the plans by urban planners and housing experts.
These large homes, the Chicago interstate system, and the placement of UIC were all outgrowths of the segregationist and the cynical political climate of the time, much more so than any optimistic belief in the future.
[edit] Blueprint for Disaster was a pretty good book that covered this topic.
The interstate system in many cities had those harmful effects. Certainly, down the road in St. Louis, the placement of I-44 and I-70 destroyed neighborhoods and business districts in a fashion that was both completely avoidable and motivated by racism.
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Those stories were largely revisionist history. At the time the large Chicago high rise public housing were built (Cabrini and the Robert Taylor Homes) it was pretty common knowledge that it was a bad idea to build large segregated high rises for this purpose. There was lots of opposition to the plans by urban planners and housing experts.
These large homes, the Chicago interstate system, and the placement of UIC were all outgrowths of the segregationist and the cynical political climate of the time, much more so than any optimistic belief in the future.
[edit] Blueprint for Disaster was a pretty good book that covered this topic.
The interstate system in many cities had those harmful effects. Certainly, down the road in St. Louis, the placement of I-44 and I-70 destroyed neighborhoods and business districts in a fashion that was both completely avoidable and motivated by racism.