Why Chicago's Worst Public Housing Project became a National Disgrace

Cabrini-Green the public housing complex  once Infamous Nationwide as a symbol of   crime and urban blight has been slowly  demolished over the past two decades   African-American residents were scattered  around the city replaced by new retail and   Sleek Condos for wealthier taxpayers at one  time the crime-ridden complex was home to 15   000 people the neighborhood was near the North  Community area formerly Swede town or Little   Sicily and then little hell the site of caprini  green public housing complex was Notorious in   the early 20th century for its inhabitants  poverty and dilapidated buildings but thing   were not always this way and they certainly  weren't intended to become this way you see   during World War II the Chicago Housing Authority  raised little hell and built a low-rise Apartment   project for war workers naming it the Francis  Cabrini homes after the first American canonized   by the Catholic church this will be a stirring  tale of Urban Decay today we discover the rise   and fall of Cabrini Green I'm your host Ryan  silkash and you're watching it's history video sponsored by policy genius we pay hundreds  of dollars per year to protect our homes our cars   and even our phones but too many of us aren't  taking steps to protect our family's finances we   need to act now you see typically life insurance  gets more expensive as you get older so it's smart   to get a policy sooner rather than later policy  genius is an insurance Marketplace that makes   it easy to compare quotes from top companies like  AIG and Prudential all in one place so you'll find   the lowest price on life insurance you could  save 50 percent or more on life insurance by   comparing quotes with policy genius options start  at just 17 per month for 500 000 in coverage just   click the link in the description or head over to  policygenius.com it's history to get personalized   quotes in minutes and find the right policy  for you the licensed agents at policy genius   work for you not the insurance company is  there with you the entire process to help you   understand your options and make decisions with  confidence so again head to policygenius.com it's   history to get your free life insurance  quotes and see how much you can save   before there was Cabrini Green in the early 1900s  there was a group of immigrants many of them   Italian but also Irish and Swedish who settled  around Goose Island they came to work in dirty   challenging and often low-paying jobs in the steel  mills and the Gas Works on Goose Island where tall   Stacks belch flames and smoke that could be seen  Miles Away well some called the area a little   Sicily for its large number of Italians it was  also called Little Hell for the smokestacks and   the crime that plagued its residents one Chicago  Tribune article called the area around little hell   quote the most dangerous neighborhood in the city  the name arose after a series of murders related   to a mafia blackmail scheme called the Blackhand  victims would receive a letter imprinted with a   drawing of a deadly hand it was their signal to  pay or die a Stern warning not to go to the police   was also typically a part of the message the  isolated Italian victims who often didn't speak   English complied many of these murders occurred in  a tiny area named death Corner Physical conditions   such as overcrowded ramshackled buildings dirty  streets and dark alleys also contributed to crime   in the area so with that in mind local officials  decided to bulldoze little hell during World War   II Paving the way for a development called the  Cabrini Green public housing project Chicago   officials couldn't clear all 36 square miles but  in the early 1940s they raised the core of little   hell to build the Francis Cabrini Green homes  and made plans to take control of the surrounding   area including death Corner meanwhile in the  late 1930s the Chicago Housing Authority also   known as cha established the elaborate screening  process that would be integral to its activities   ensuring that only those judged to be most worthy  among low-income applicants would be selected for   occupancy its 1940 Manual of operations laid out  the requirements making clear that the authority   wanted tenants who were U.S citizens living  in a quote natural family unit with children   under the age of 17. the cha would reject those  who showed credit irresponsibility or evident   criminal or anti-social Tendencies application  screening entailed a home visit and verification   of information from employers creditors social  agencies and the police department the coding of   applications also permitted outright rejection for  what authorities termed insufficient or unstable   income on August the 29th 1942 mayor Edward J  Kelly dedicated the Francis Cabrini row houses   this City's first wartime housing project at the  intersection of Chestnut and Cambridge Avenue the   development is named after Mother Francis Cabrini  an Italian-American nun founder of the missionary   Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the  first American citizen to be named a saint   anyhow construction of the 56 two and three-story  buildings designed to house up to 600 families   was begun three days after the attack on Pearl  Harbor and completed in less than 10 months at   more than 3.7 million dollars and almost 8 million  dollar contract was awarded for the first stages   of construction of eight high-rise buildings for  the Cabrini public housing project the project   adds 859 Apartments built over 15 blocks bounded  by division larabee Sedgwick Chicago and Hudson   Avenue to the 584 Row House dwellings already in  the area only only families of War workers who   earned less than two thousand one hundred dollars  a year roughly thirty three thousand dollars in   today's money were eligible for tenancy the homes  targeted veterans of World War II and included 55   structures the American Housing Act of 1949 aided  with slum clearance and Redevelopment and funding   of construction of additional housing units  leading the Chicago Housing Authority to add   to the Cabrini properties this included William  green homes also known as whites which consisted   of eight white concrete buildings 15 or 16 stories  tall they also added to the Cabrini extension   also known as the Reds partly because of the  building's red brick exteriors the Reds consisted   of 15 buildings of 7 10 or 19 Stories the newly  constructed Cabrini Green complex consisted of   23 high-rise Towers in row houses all of which  targeted low-income residents needing public   housing during this time Cabrini Green and other  public housing projects in Chicago were subject to   racial segregation the cha had been assigning  tenants to the housing based upon the race   resulting in the concentration of African-American  residents in isolated segregated areas those   apartment houses were considered well-built  attractive alternatives to the slums that   traditionally housed low-income families like the  city's other public housing during that era and I   feel it's very important to note here to emphasize  that even though Cabrini Green was once a model of   successful public housing poor planning physical  deterioration and managerial neglect coupled with   gang violence drugs and chronic unemployment  turned the project into a national symbol of   urban blight and failed housing policy this would  go down in history as being one of Chicago's most   dangerous neighborhoods in 1966 Dorothy gatro  and altgeld garden resident filed a lawsuit   against the Chicago Housing Authority the gatro  vs Chicago Housing Authority Sue claimed that the   actions of CHA violated the U.S Constitution  the Supreme Court ruled in gatro's favor this   case prompted significant change within Chicago's  public housing program including the elimination   of high-rise public housing construction and  implementing programs that ensured new public   housing development is scattered across the city  all the same overwhelmed by the abundance of   properties and lack of resources the Chicago  Housing Authority failed to make repairs and   upkeep the public housing projects in fact for  years the neglect continued causing the buildings   to deteriorate and subjecting the tenants to poor  living conditions increased crime and poverty the   superblocks left many areas of Chicago with  row after row of Monolithic concrete Towers   artificially constructed communities cut off from  Neighbors around them forming dense Geographic   concentrations of poverty and as I'm sure anyone  who grew up in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs   would agree the results would generally prove  disastrous the massive size of apartment complexes   and a large number of residents made a sense of  community and social order much harder to sustain   and with that the project which ultimately became  known as Cabrini Green became a national symbol   of the deteriorating state of public housing in  Chicago in the following decades despite various   efforts to increase security Cabrini-Green became  notorious for gangs drugs and Sensational crimes   accordingly Chicago mayor Jane Byrne moved into  Cabrini Green for a few weeks in 1981 to show her   demonstration to reduce crime but it had little  effect other than to draw further attention to   the pro problem residents organized over the  years to pressure the city for assistance but   also to protect and support each other community  leader Marion stamps was the most visible tenant   to organize strikes and protests against the  Chicago Housing Authority the mayor of Chicago   and many others on behalf of the residents from  the 1960s until she died in 1996. some Cabrini   Green tenant activists organized to prevent  themselves from becoming homeless and to protect   what they and their supporters saw as the right  to public housing for the city's poorest residence   ultimately these activists obtained a consent  degree guaranteeing that some buildings would   remain standing at the same time new structures  would be built so tenants can stay in their homes   until new ones become available the document also  guaranteed displaced Cabrini residents a home   in the new neighborhood in 2001 a tennis group  sued the cha over relocation plans for displaced   residents of Cabrini Green under the city's plan  for transformation a 1.4 billion dollar blueprint   for public housing renewal Richard Wheelock  an attorney representing the tenants said   the Authority's demolition program had outpaced  its reconstruction program thus leaving families   with their responsibilities to find options Beyond  equally dangerous and segregated areas elsewhere   in the city or to become homeless Cabrini  Green's name and problems were highly publicized   significantly Beyond Chicago the project often  gained press coverage for its chaotic New Year's   Eve celebrations where gang members fired guns  into the air causing police to block off nearby   streets yearly now this is something I can  personally attest to as my first apartment   in the year 2000 was on LaSalle Street on the  13th story directly overlooking Cabrini Green   and indeed gunshots rang out through the night  I also watched the physical demolition of the   project from that same apartment which we'll get  to in a moment anyhow several Infamous incidents   contributed to Cabrini Green's reputation for  example one unanticipated result of the steel   fencing installed to secure the previously  open gangways at Cabrini Green was that it   became difficult for Chicago police officers  to see through the steel mesh from the outside   on July the 17th 1970 Chicago Police patrolman  Anthony n Rosato and Sergeant James Severin were   shot and killed by gang members while patrolling  community housing for an all-volunteer walk and   talk project as the police officers proceeded  across the Cabrini-Green baseball field the   assailants opened fire from an apartment Window it  was no accident the shooting aimed to seal a pact   between two rival gangs both officers were killed  in the attack three adults and one juvenile were   later charged with murder the two shooters were  sentenced to between 100 and 199 years in prison   for two counts of murder and the list of these  types of situations goes on and on for example   in 1981 the gang killing of 11 made national  headlines and hence something needed to change   the U.S Department of Housing and Urban  Development is an administrative division of the   U.S federal government responsible for carrying  out government Housing and Community Development   programs established in 1965 under President  Johnson it ensures equal access to housing and   community-based employment opportunities they  finance new housing public housing and housing   Rehabilitation projects they also ensure mortgages  and carryout programs that serve the housing needs   of low-income and minority families plus the  elderly were disabled mentally ill and so on   furthermore the agency protects consumers against  fraudulent practices by land developers ensures   the safety of manufactured homes and defends home  buyers against abusive mortgage loan practices   so as things escalated by 1996 the U.S Department  of Housing and Urban Development retained control   over the cha to recover the program however  mayor Richard M Daly regained control of the   cha in 1999. this constant changing of hands only  created further in efficiency but in the end the   Chicago Housing Authority revealed its plan for  transformation that proposed that the demolition   of high-rise public housing the first Tower in the  Cabrini Green complex was demolished in 2000 and   the last in 2011. today new mixed income housing  sits in its place all the remains of the original   complex are row houses consisting of 137 units  however these structures have been boarded up and   uninhabited for years in 2019 the cha announced  plans to demolish the buildings and redevelop   the area though the details of this plan are still  somewhat unclear the legacy of Cabrini Green lives   on in pop culture the 1970s sitcom Good Times  depicted a family living in the caprini green   complex the 1999 film white boys centers around  the main character's trip from the middle of Iowa   to Cabrini Green to experience the Gang Lifestyle  and the 2001 movie Hardball was filmed there but   most famously the 1990s horror Candyman was set  and filmed at Cabrini Green in 2019 producers   announced a sequel to the film which will  be filmed in The Abandoned and soon to be   demolished Cabrini Green row houses when filmmaker  Nia DeCosta was given a chance to create a sequel   to Candyman she strove to show a different side of  the mangled projects to preserve the scariness of   the original film well importantly separating  the monster from the community itself you see   the original Candyman was inspired by Cabrini  Green's rotting buildings and broken elevators   shoddy construction even meant that some of  Apartments connected through their bathroom   mirrors the primary detail that would show grisly  effect in the original Candyman Cabrini Green was   home to 15 000 people at its peak mostly living  in mid and high-rise apartment buildings crime   and neglect created hostile living conditions  for many and Cabrini Green became momentum for   problems associated with public housing in the  United States the attention to this community   was Monumental and the changes or lack thereof  remain demolition of the project was completed   in 2002 part of the site was added to Seward Park  whereas construction of new mixed income housing   on the remainder of the site began in 2006. New  Market rate housing now almost wholly surrounds   the remaining public housing and luckily crime  has dramatically decreased as the population has   shifted though I must admit even all these years  later if someone told me to exit that division   I'd probably still think twice now I'm curious to  hear what other chicagolands feel about this story   perhaps some of you out there have had Direct  experiences with Cabrini Green let me know in the   comment comment section below and if you'd like  to hear about the time that I actually visited the   project personally with my camera as a photography  student then click that join button and perhaps   I'll put up a video about the account until  next time guys this is Ryan silkash signing off

Channel: IT'S HISTORY

Views: 508,672

Keywords: Cabrini-Green, North Community Area, Swede Town, Little Sicily, Little Hell, Chicago Housing Authority, Frances Cabrini Homes, Goose Island, Death Corner, Edward J. Kelly, Mother Frances Carbrini, Sacred Heart of Jesus, American Housing Act, William Green Homes, Cabrini Extension, Dorothy Gautreaux, Chicago, Jane Byrne, Plan for Transformation, Walk and Talk project, Lyndon B Johnson, Department of Housing, Whiteboyz, HardBall, Candyman, Nia DaCosta, Crime, Neglect

Id: HAA6mgJeDWI

Length: 18min 2sec (1082 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 20 2022