Cabrini-Green is/was a public housing development on Chicago's North Side, bordered by Evergreen Avenue, Sedgwick Street, Chicago Avenue, and Larrabee Street. At its height, Cabrini-Green was home to 15,000 people, living in mid- and high-rise apartment buildings.
Over the years, gang violence and the city's neglect created terrible conditions for the residents, and the name "Cabrini-Green" became symbolic of the problems associated with public housing in the United States. In 2005, only about 5000 residents remain. Several of the buildings have been razed and the whole 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. The plan, and the way it is being implemented, has proven to be controversial.
Over the years, gang violence and the city's neglect created terrible conditions for the residents, and the name "Cabrini-Green" became symbolic of the problems associated with public housing in the United States. In 2005, only about 5000 residents remain. Several of the buildings have been razed and the whole 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. The plan, and the way it is being implemented, has proven to be controversial.
In the late 1980s, Rockwell Gardens was a part of Chicago's "Operation Clean Sweep." This was a comprehensive government and police operation to clear city housing projects of the rampant gang activity, drug dealers, and other violent criminals who were a constant problem. The ultimate failure of this (and previous) cleanup programs eventually led to the Chicago Housing Authority's plan in the 1990s to demolish and redevelop city projects. Existing units only number 212 and 750 residents currently live at the project.The original structures were designed by Nicol and Nicol and cover 17 acres. 1,126 units were built, located three miles west of Downtown Chicago.
The Ida B. Wells Homes Housing Project was built in 1941 as a PWA (Public Works Administration) project. It included a city park and was a segregated development for African Americans. In 1961 the Clarence Darrow Home Project was built adjacent to the site, and it was demolished in 2000. In 1970 the Madden Park Homes Project, the last of the large CHA public housing projects, was built on another side of the Ida B. Wells Homes. Today, Ida B. Wells is mostly vacant and awaiting demolition.
Ida B. Wells Homes consists of 2 and 3-story brick apartment buildings which are not necessarily bad in and of themselves. However, they were arranged in a configuration that created numerous hidden spaces and pockets between buildings where drug dealing and violence could occur. The site features vast internal spaces which are hidden from view and isolated from the city streets.
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