Chicago Illinois Cabrini Green

20 August 2007

In the first episode of Main Street USA Dave Marash explores Cabrini Green, a notorious public housing development on the north side of Chicago, just a few blocks away from downtown's magnificent mile.

Cabrini Green became legendary in the United States first in the 1940s when it was mostly occupied by Italian immigrants and then later on in the 1970s and 80s when the housing project was almost completely occupied by African Americans.

JR is fighting for the survival of Cabrini Green and is opposed to the new development

The complex became home to 20,000 people. Organised crime, gang violence and the city's negligence were a way of life. After six decades, the city finally destroyed most of the complex acknowledging the failure of mega-sized publicly-funded housing.

The city is trying to develop something completely different; smaller apartment blocks that will be divided into apartments for subsidised rental by poor people (30 per cent), those for limited-price sale to middle-income buyers (20 per cent) and apartments for sale at whatever prices the market will bear (50 per cent).

Today, about 5,000 residents remain in the area, plus an unknown number of squatters occupying 'vacant' apartments that are slated for demolition. This has not necessarily improved former residents' lives. Many have joined a lawsuit alleging that they were hastily forced into other slums, and denied social services to get a leg up in society.

Kelvin hopes to be one of the few residents to own an apartment in the new Cabrini Green

Main Street USA follows Jonathan and LaFaye, two young African Americans who were born in Cabrini Green, meeting LaFaye's mother Veronica and others who have lived there for generations and have been subjected to the violence, death and destruction that this public housing complex has wrought. Veronica is a recovering addict who now lives in the west side of the city. Like many other former residents, she always goes back to Cabrini, the place she calls home.

D. Bradford Hunt, a professor of Social Sciences at Roosevelt University, explains the history of public housing in the US. While William Little, the director of development at the Chicago Housing Authority, tells us about the new plans the administration has to solve the housing issue and the future of the poor.

At the same time we will witness the end of a community, the dreadful living conditions of families evicted from the complex, and the imminent arrival of the big-chain stores and a new white upper class that will transform the area.

George Robbins used to have his barber shop in Cabrini Green

JR Fleming and Kelvin Cannon are two residents of Cabrini who have opposite views about the future. JR is fighting for the survival of Cabrini Green and opposes the new project, while Kelvin works for the new developers and hopes to be one of the few lucky residents that will own an apartment in the new Cabrini Green.

Other former residents tell us their story: Clara Brooms, who goes back to church at Cabrini, shares her memories of the Cabrini that used to be; George Robbins, who had his barber shop at Cleveland and Division Streets and would like it to be back there; and H20, a rapper who transformed the housing project into a brand called 'Cabrini Heat'.

Part 1

Part 2