Last week while seeing Cabrini Greens one major thing came into my mind yet again. The city really needs to get their stuff together and finish what they start. While rebuilding the housing instead of finishing one building and then moving to the next they build multiple at the same time kicking everyone out to rebuild it when they could have made it so much easier to just remove some tenants and relocate a much smaller number. But what really gets on my nerves is the fact that they displaced everyone and never finished what they were doing and ended up with less people than the first time! This makes me feel like the “upgrades” and I say that loosely was through a contractor that someone knew and they were making a friend money. Or the building with the wind tunnel on top that is non-functioning.
The Chicago government also seems to enjoy building structures to seem more ornate or to connect different parts of the city. A prime example is the new buildings in Cabrini Greens or the river walk that they are building along the disgusting river. But is all this worth it for the mixed income housing that the city wants in its place? The city has huge plans for everything but they always think of the moment. They don’t think of repercussions that could happen when they start to implement these things.
While doing our interviews for the SOA 494 class one of our first interviewees had a good point. I asked him what he thought of the mixed housing in the area and he said it was a horrible idea and it would never work. His reasoning is that you have someone paying thousands a month to live there and the others paying close to nothing. He said that these are two cultures that would not get along with each other and that they would not want their kids to see hang with each other. So on an ending note, is he right? Will these two cultures conflict leaving the city out millions and possibly another gang ridden area down the road?
I think your point on the city, instead of conecentrating on one housing development at a time, 'biting off more than they can chew' is an excellent comment, and it reminds me somewhat of Daniel Burhnam's Plan for Chicago. The planners of the city, both old and contemporary, are too concerned with image and the future of Chicago but neglect the citezins and needs of today in implementing their plans. It was also very revealing in our group interveiws in SOA 494 the people who disagreed with the plans being carried out in Cabrini Green - I think it was good for you, me, Justein and Jenny to hear the points of veiw of residents and not just a Chicago government representative.
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