Cabrini Green's Dying Breath

20 March 2007 - 8:00am

Though only a few towers remain from Chicago's notorious Cabrini Green housing project, new and old problems persist.

"More than a decade ago, when the Chicago Housing Authority began dismantling much of its notoriously dysfunctional stock, the worst of Cabrini Green was the first to meet the wrecking ball because it was considered to be among the most frightful addresses in the country.

For some families, it still is. Under the supervision of a federal judge, the demolitions have slowed while the residents of several deteriorating buildings and the Housing Authority negotiate redevelopment plans and where the displaced population will go.

In one 19-acre part of the project officially known as the William Green Homes, there were once more than 1,000 apartments in eight 15-story towers. Today, 176 families and an unknown number of squatters live there in three remaining buildings. At its peak, the entire Cabrini project was home to about 15,000 people in hundreds of row houses and towers. Many of those structures are long gone, or are awaiting rehabilitation or demolition."

Source: The New York Times, March 18, 2007
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In recent years, some public officials and civic leaders have begun to question the existing models for dealing with homelessness, arguing that the persistence of the problem shows that what has been done up until now isn't working.