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When Chicago began tearing down public housing units, the city made a commitment to replace one third of the units with housing for former residents and another third for families in need of affordable housing and the last with market rate units. Jay Harris of the Hyde Park Herald reports that some of that land is going to projects other than housing.

This vanishing commitment from developments such as the Robert Taylor Homes, Stateway Gardens, and the Harold Ickes Homes is perhaps best demonstrated by the recent plans to build a 74,000-square-foot Mariano’s grocery store on the Oakwood Shores site (i.e. the former Ida B. Wells/Madden Park development) at 37th Street and King Drive.

According to Travis, there is no plan on the table for the promised housing that will be lost with the building of the grocery store. The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) had committed to replacing 402 units on the Harold Ickes site. Because of a land swap to build an athletic field for Jones College Prep, the CHA reduced that number to 200.

As the land continues to be used for other projects, there is no plan in place to replace that housing for the families that have been displaced as their homes were demolished.

3 Responses

  1. JAZZ

    This may be a silly question, but …. where did all the people go when the public housing units were torn down?

    Reply

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