CHICAGO HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
1800s
Hull House The housing development of Chicago began to develop since 1880s. People living in Chicago were 80 percent of the immigrants and their children. Most of the immigrants came from central, southern, and eastern European. While the city of Chicago has not been developed, different ethnics groups were forced to settle in slums. On September 18, 1889, Jane Addams and Charles Hull opened Hull House which is the nation’s most influential settlement house in the middle of Chicago’s worst immigrant slum. The purpose of Hull House was to improve the distressed immigrants’ living condition and bring them in contact with Native Americans. Hull House provided meals, child care services, tutoring in English to people living in the neighborhood. It attracted thousands of people to live in. Jane Addams was an important character who contributed a lot on women’s rights and welfare. She also advocated the idea of a neighborhood spirit by encouraging the residents to work together to improve the living condition of their neighborhood. [1] |
1900s
In 1909, Daniel Burnham, Edward Bennett and the Commercial Club of Chicago established the Plan of Chicago. Although there was no specific goal on housing development, housing still sprang up on farmland near interchange corridors of industrial and office complexes in the next few decades due to the expansion of urban development to the suburbs.
Between 1910s and 1920s, Hull House was recognized as the best-known settlement house in the United States. It became the flagship of movement, including nearly five hundred settlements. Hull House offered a unique place for reformers to discuss about the different social issue on the local, state and national level. Several women right unions have been organized at Hull House. These reformers proposed changes in their neighborhood and lobbied for state and federal legislation on social and economic problems. They helped to establish new policies on housing, working, education and public health issues which improve people’s living condition and protect the basic human’s rights.[2]
1930s
The foundation of the Chicago Housing Authority and The Early Development of Housing
Chicago was mired in a housing crisis that demolished 18,221 units, and only built 7,619 new homes. Due to the Great Depression, there were 60, 517 families moving to Chicago to look for job opportunities. In 1937, Chicago Housing Authority was founded to operate the public housing development with the federal government. It assisted the first affordable housing projects for low-income families with Public Works Administration (PWA) under Roosevelt’s New Deal programs included Jane Addams Houses, Huila C. Lathrop Homes, Trumbull Park Homes and Ida B. Wells Homes. These public housings were constructed for low-income households unable to afford the usual rents. The New Deal was a series of economic programs in response to the Great Depression in 1930s. Home owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) were two programs to assist homeowners and create a national standard for housing construction. Low-income Chicagoans received subsidies, grants, and federally-guaranteed loans to build housing. [3]
The foundation of the Chicago Housing Authority and The Early Development of Housing
Chicago was mired in a housing crisis that demolished 18,221 units, and only built 7,619 new homes. Due to the Great Depression, there were 60, 517 families moving to Chicago to look for job opportunities. In 1937, Chicago Housing Authority was founded to operate the public housing development with the federal government. It assisted the first affordable housing projects for low-income families with Public Works Administration (PWA) under Roosevelt’s New Deal programs included Jane Addams Houses, Huila C. Lathrop Homes, Trumbull Park Homes and Ida B. Wells Homes. These public housings were constructed for low-income households unable to afford the usual rents. The New Deal was a series of economic programs in response to the Great Depression in 1930s. Home owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) were two programs to assist homeowners and create a national standard for housing construction. Low-income Chicagoans received subsidies, grants, and federally-guaranteed loans to build housing. [3]
The Second Ghetto
Unfortunately, public housing did not solve Chicago's housing problems. During the 1940s to 1960s, the second ghetto is driven with tensions over housing and the dynamics of neighborhood change due to the rapid growth of black community.[4] While Chicago Housing Authority was right on target for claiming the programs of urban redevelopment, urban renewal and public housing which actually meant Negro removal maintaining the prevailing pattern of segregation. While public housing has become a mechanism for more extreme and serious segregation, Black Chicagoans were only allowed to choose affordable housing from high-rise apartment buildings in African-American neighborhoods where government had created a second ghetto.[5] The second ghetto was the temporary housing lasting from 1933 to 1968. The residents were mainly black Chicagoans. They were isolated from white residential community and commercial areas. Racial segregation continuously triggered more serious conflicts and riots between whites and blacks. |
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When Congress passed the Housing Act of 1949, substantial funding was provided for public housing. Chicago Housing Authorities was ready to propose sites for projects to be built on open land throughout the city. The white council members rejected plans for public housing in their wards. CHA planned to build housing only in black residential areas or adjacent to existing projects. They tore down the black slums and rebuilt new public housing on the sites. As a result, the south and west sides of Chicago became the concentration of public housing in the city. These public housings were operated similarly as private housing. CHA planned to use income from rent to cover the costs of maintenance and operations. The goal of the Housing Act was to provide 810,000 new public housing units within six years. Public housing advocates the difference between the old slums and new public housing, but the comparison was problematic for the successive forces of displacement and replacement. [6][7]
Cabrini-Green
The construction of public housing began after the Housing Act of 1949 was passed. Cabrini- Green was one of the public housing projects in Chicago in respond to the Housing Act to solve the housing storage for lower income residents. This housing project was a group of high-rise apartment buildings which were located on the north side of Chicago. The majority of residents in these complexes were black. However, the Cabrini-Green project was supposed to serve as clean and modern housing, but it turned out to terrible conditions of the neighborhood which remained the situation of the slums. Public housing did not reform delinquents to replace the slums. Cabrini-Green was lately called as the systemic failures of postwar public housing. It triggered the plan of redevelopment and rehabilitation by demolition in the 1990s. [8] |
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1960s
Robert Taylor Homes
Robert Taylor Homes was another significant public housing project of CHA locating at the south of the city’s central business district which was the boundary of “black belt” ghetto in 1962. It was the largest public housing building with over 4,400 apartment units in the twenty-eight 16-story high rises building, at 2 miles on South State Street. It was named after the first African American chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority. Over 90 percent of residents were African American. Similar with Cabrini-Green, Robert Taylor Homes was the largest concentration of poverty with the issues of gang violence, drugs and crime. Most residents were unemployed and needed public financial assistance. Due to the chronic federal budget crisis, problems on maintenance and social services appeared. The living condition was getting even worse. In 1960s, the condition of racial segregation in public housing reached to a crisis point when the Civil Rights movement was practiced in Chicago. The Chicago Freedom Movement successfully made agreement on housing development with the CHA. They agreed to build open housing in the scattered site in order to diverse the neighborhood. [9]
Robert Taylor Homes
Robert Taylor Homes was another significant public housing project of CHA locating at the south of the city’s central business district which was the boundary of “black belt” ghetto in 1962. It was the largest public housing building with over 4,400 apartment units in the twenty-eight 16-story high rises building, at 2 miles on South State Street. It was named after the first African American chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority. Over 90 percent of residents were African American. Similar with Cabrini-Green, Robert Taylor Homes was the largest concentration of poverty with the issues of gang violence, drugs and crime. Most residents were unemployed and needed public financial assistance. Due to the chronic federal budget crisis, problems on maintenance and social services appeared. The living condition was getting even worse. In 1960s, the condition of racial segregation in public housing reached to a crisis point when the Civil Rights movement was practiced in Chicago. The Chicago Freedom Movement successfully made agreement on housing development with the CHA. They agreed to build open housing in the scattered site in order to diverse the neighborhood. [9]
Incidents about Racial Segregation and Low-income Households
By 1970s, CHA was still facing many problems and conflicts caused by racial segregation. Hills v. Gautreaux was the Supreme Court case in 1976 about the uneven distribution of public housing between the black and white neighborhood. The Court finally decided that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had to offer housing subsidies under Section 8 to low-income residents in order to allow them to seek for private housing. Furthermore, the Brooke Amendment was passed which regulated the supply of public housing to lowest-income families. Only 25 percent of residents’ income was charged as rent which caused the failure of support operations and maintenance of public housing. During 1980s, a rental subsidy program was passed due to the severely high concentrations of poverty and neglected infrastructure. Owing to the failure of the previous public housing plan, CHA was called as the worst managed housing authority in the states in 1980s. Budget from HUD was reduced due to the failure of funding investment in public housing. The Chicago public housing market again fell into tension of shortage. There were 24,000 people waiting for available apartments and 56,000 households waiting for subsidies from CHA Section 8 vouchers. [10]
By 1970s, CHA was still facing many problems and conflicts caused by racial segregation. Hills v. Gautreaux was the Supreme Court case in 1976 about the uneven distribution of public housing between the black and white neighborhood. The Court finally decided that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had to offer housing subsidies under Section 8 to low-income residents in order to allow them to seek for private housing. Furthermore, the Brooke Amendment was passed which regulated the supply of public housing to lowest-income families. Only 25 percent of residents’ income was charged as rent which caused the failure of support operations and maintenance of public housing. During 1980s, a rental subsidy program was passed due to the severely high concentrations of poverty and neglected infrastructure. Owing to the failure of the previous public housing plan, CHA was called as the worst managed housing authority in the states in 1980s. Budget from HUD was reduced due to the failure of funding investment in public housing. The Chicago public housing market again fell into tension of shortage. There were 24,000 people waiting for available apartments and 56,000 households waiting for subsidies from CHA Section 8 vouchers. [10]
1990s
Redevelopment on the failing public housing Chicago Housing Authorities initiated plans to move people out from the rotten high-rise public housings into mixed income developments and private. They demolished the entire public housing complex and replaced them with a mixed income community in low-rise building. The redevelopment consisted of 50 percent of private housing, 20 percent of affordable housing and 30 percent of housing for low-income households. The redevelopment was supported by HOPE VI, which was a federal program by the United States Development of Housing and Urban Development for revitalizing the worst public housing projects into mixed-income developments. [11] |
2000s
The Plan of Transformation
In 2000, Mayor Richard Daley led The Chicago Housing Authority to implement The Plan of Transformation with the approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development aiming to demolish the high-rise development and implement the comprehensive rehabilitation with the construction of new mixed-income developments. The plan aimed to provide 25,000 units of housing. Over 56,000 of resident would be relocated. The redevelopment of Cabrini Green began since 1990s. There were thousands acres of former industrial lands converted for office, retail and housing use. Demolition of Cabrini-Green was completed in 2002. By the end of 2002, forty-two out of fifty-one high-rise public housing were demolished. The subsidized development of mixed-income housing is the ongoing project on the site. Robert Taylor public housing was closed and demolished in 2005 with HOPE VI federal funds. There were 2,300 new low-rise residential housings, community facilities and a number of retail and commercial space replacing old high-rise public housing. [12]
The Plan of Transformation
In 2000, Mayor Richard Daley led The Chicago Housing Authority to implement The Plan of Transformation with the approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development aiming to demolish the high-rise development and implement the comprehensive rehabilitation with the construction of new mixed-income developments. The plan aimed to provide 25,000 units of housing. Over 56,000 of resident would be relocated. The redevelopment of Cabrini Green began since 1990s. There were thousands acres of former industrial lands converted for office, retail and housing use. Demolition of Cabrini-Green was completed in 2002. By the end of 2002, forty-two out of fifty-one high-rise public housing were demolished. The subsidized development of mixed-income housing is the ongoing project on the site. Robert Taylor public housing was closed and demolished in 2005 with HOPE VI federal funds. There were 2,300 new low-rise residential housings, community facilities and a number of retail and commercial space replacing old high-rise public housing. [12]
Figure 11. USA. Chicago. The architecture of racial segregation. 2003. USA. Chicago. The architecture of racial segregation. 2003. USA. Chicago. The Robert Taylor Homes project, on the south side, containing 4,321 apartments represented the apogee of American apartheid. In 1962 the Robert Taylor Homes, with 28 sixteen floor tower blocks at the time the largest public housing project in the world - represented just about everything that has gone wrong with public housing in Chicago. Living in one of those buildings today means facing the constant threat of gangs, shoot-outs, and drug-related violence. In the 1980s 11% of the murders in the city were committed there. So wrote the Italian sociologist Marco d'Eramo in 1999. Today, in 2003, they are being demolished. I watched a huge iron ball attached to a crane demolish one of the last 3 remaining Taylor homes. (2003). Retrieved from: http://www.magnumphotos.com/
2010s
Today, Chicago Housing Authority is the largest owner of rental housing in Chicago. It operates the Plan for Transformation which is the largest scale redevelopment and rehabilitation plan of public housing in the history of the United States. Mixed-income communities broke down the social barrier of the previous segregated public housing residents. The plan helped to recreate and integrate the surrounding neighborhoods by building new developments. However, many residents of the previous public housing were forced to move to temporary housing in other slums without receiving social services and assistance during or after the move. Therefore, CHA modified the current relocation program by providing for case-managed social services and encouraging relocating the residents to economically and racially integrated communities to increase the housing equity. Housing Choice Vouchers subsidize displaced residents’ rent in privately owned dwellings or replace them with other non-redeveloped public housing. These programs also helped organizations or developers in constructing new or rehabilitated single-room occupancy housing for homeless people and assist middle-income first-time home buyers by providing low-rate mortgages. These public subsidies have helped expand home ownership and increase housing values. [13]
Today, Chicago Housing Authority is the largest owner of rental housing in Chicago. It operates the Plan for Transformation which is the largest scale redevelopment and rehabilitation plan of public housing in the history of the United States. Mixed-income communities broke down the social barrier of the previous segregated public housing residents. The plan helped to recreate and integrate the surrounding neighborhoods by building new developments. However, many residents of the previous public housing were forced to move to temporary housing in other slums without receiving social services and assistance during or after the move. Therefore, CHA modified the current relocation program by providing for case-managed social services and encouraging relocating the residents to economically and racially integrated communities to increase the housing equity. Housing Choice Vouchers subsidize displaced residents’ rent in privately owned dwellings or replace them with other non-redeveloped public housing. These programs also helped organizations or developers in constructing new or rehabilitated single-room occupancy housing for homeless people and assist middle-income first-time home buyers by providing low-rate mortgages. These public subsidies have helped expand home ownership and increase housing values. [13]
The Department of Housing and Economic Development (HED) in the City of Chicago has paid a lot of attention on promoting the Affordable Housing Plan since 2009. In order to support homeownership and rental housing, HED has committed $276 million to provide 443 units of homeownership and more than 6,000 units of affordable rental housing and during the full year of 2012. HED also implemented several financial assistance programs, such as home loans to help more households to find decent housing. The City of Chicago also concerned about the problem of homelessness. They have made a ten-year plan to solve the problem by providing supportive service to prevent the deterioration of homelessness. [14]
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FOOTNOTES
[1] Abbott, Edith. (1952). The Hull House of Jane Addams. Social Service Review, Vol. 26, No. 3: 334-338
[2] Trolander, Judith Ann. (1991). Hull-House and the Settlement House Movement: A Centennial Reassessment. Journal of Urban History, Vol. 17 No. 4:410-420
[3] Mumford, Kevin. (2006). City of American Dreams: A History of Home Ownership and Housing Reform in Chicago, 1871-1919 by Margaret Grab; Block by Block: Neighborhoods and Public Policy on Chicago’s West Side by Amanda Seligman. Reviews in American History, Vol. 34, No.2:194-200
[4] Hirsch, Arnold R.. (1983). Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago 1940-1960. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
[5] Seligman, Amanda Irene. (2003). What is The Second Ghetto?. Journal of Urban History, Vol. 29, No.3:272-280
[6] Chicago Housing Authority. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.thecha.org/
[7] McMillen, Wayne. (1946). Public Housing in Chicago, 1946. Social Service Review, Vol. 20,
[8] Miller, Brian J. (2008). The Struggle over Redevelopment at Cabrini-Green, 1989-2004. Journal
of Urban History, Vol.34 No. 6:944-966.
[9] Hunt, D. Bradford. (2001). What Went Wrong with Public Housing in Chicago? A History of the Robert Taylor Homes. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1998-), Vol. 94, No.1
[10] Miller, Brian J. (2008). The Struggle over Redevelopment at Cabrini-Green, 1989-2004. Journal of Urban History, Vol.34 No. 6:944-966.
[11] Chicago Housing Authority. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.thecha.org/
[12] Graves, Erin M. & Vale, Lawrence J. (2012). Planning Note: The Chicago Housing Authority’s Plan for Transformation: Assessing the First Ten Years. Journal of the American Planning Association, 78:4, 464-465.
[13] Chicago Housing Authority. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.thecha.org/
[14] City of Chicago. Affordable Housing Plan Quarterly Reports. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/dcd/general/quarterly%20housing%20reports/FullReport20124.pdf