Chicago Housing Authority 2009 to 2010

[SpireGuy]

Below are pictures from the Chicago Housing Authority, the 3rd largest Public Housing Authority in the country. Ten years ago, CHA embarked on the Plan for Transformation to revitalize the state of public housing in Chicago by rehabbing existing units and building mixed-income communities where high-rises were knocked down. Mixed-Income Communities are made up of 1/3 affordable housing, 1/3 public housing, and 1/3 market rate housing. All of the units shown in this post are public housing units. Almost all these units are ADA Accessible for people with mobility disabilities and are located in the CHA’s family, senior, mixed-income, and scattered site portfolios. Enjoy!


Oakwood Shores





Lake Park Cresent, Mixed Income

View From Lake Parc Place, Family Housing

Skyline view from Lake Parc Place



Lake Parc Place (One of Two Towers)

Court Yard & Play Ground



ADA Ramp Construction @ Lake Parc Place


Lathrop Homes, built in 1937 (Has not gone through renovations at this time)



ADA Kitchen Sink at Mahalia Jackson (Senior Property)



Accessible Workstation in Kitchen

Grab Bar Instalation in ADA Accessible Bathroom

Gut Rehab for Accessibility in a Scattered Site property on the North Side

Scattered Site property (back entrance)


Scattered Sites on West Side



Pilsen flats where some CHA Scattered Sites are located (Non-CHA Housing)







Pershing Court, Mixed Income Community






Westhaven Park, Mixed Income Community, near the United Center






Living room at Westhaven Park

Bedroom





Parkside of Oldtown on the Near North Side


Lobby



One of Two Cabrini Green Towers Remaining


Daniel Burnham Apartments, Rogers Park (Senior Building)


Altgeld Gardens Rehab (Family Townhomes)





I loved getting muddy!

ADA Bathroom Survey at the 50% Stage of Construction

Park Boulevard, Mixed Income Community near US Cellular



Oakwood Shores, Mixed Income Community






Public Housing Kitchen at Oakwood

[J. Will]

Interesting photos.

Toronto is taking quite a different approach to the Regent Park "projects" on the east side of downtown. There, all the "buildings in a park" (I don't call them towers because they're mostly only about 5 stories high are being torn down, the street grid is being restored, and higher density (the area is to have about twice the population as it currently does), mixed-income housing (mix of highrises, midrises, and townhomes) with ground-floor retail is being built. Some of the housing and retail is already open. Chicago seems to be replacing towers with lower density housing.

I made a thread on Regent Park, but nobody responded:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ht=regent+park

[VivaLFuego]

Thanks for sharing the photos, definitely a different view from the usual SSP photo thread, and a very important part of the local urban fabric.

Originally Posted by J. Will

There, all the "buildings in a park" (I don't call them towers because they're mostly only about 5 stories high are being torn down, the street grid is being restored, and higher density (the area is to have about twice the population as it currently does), mixed-income housing (mix of highrises, midrises, and townhomes) with ground-floor retail is being built. Some of the housing and retail is already open. Chicago seems to be replacing towers with lower density housing.

The federal program from the 1990s to fund the demolition/reconstruction/rehabilitation of housing projects basically mandates a reduction in unit density.... so it's not so much a Chicago thing, as a U.S. thing. That said, the full redevelopments (as opposed to the low-rises and rowhomes which are generally just being rehabilitated) almost all include full restoration of the street grid as a key component.

A few of the redevelopments follow the New Urbanist mixed-use model of ground floor retail and 2-3 floors of apartments above --- the "Parc Boulevard" development near 35th & State being perhaps the prime example. Otherwise, the guiding principle seems to be generally sticking to 2-3 units per city lot (standard size 25 x125) in various formats such as townhouses, 3-flats, and 6-flats, to maintain general continuity in form/density with "standard" surround Chicago neighborhoods.

We'll see how it plays out. Early results are decidedly mixed.

[LSyd]

interesting tour, thanks

-

[jcchii]

great thread

[MOTOR]

Very interesting and great effort. Thanks for sharing.

[poconoboy61]

Very interesting thead. It's really interesting to see that in one of your photos, public housing residents will live in a building with a Starbucks.

What is CHA doing to make sure the same problem elements that made Cabrini Green and Robert Taylor unlivable don't move into these units?

I understand that the new direction is to not isolate the poor and to ensure folks are near job opportunities. However, there are certain people who just live prefer to live off of welfare no matter what job opportunities you give to them. Has CHA created more stringent policies so that people with no income are just sitting around all day, selling drugs, and threatening other residents?

I really hope so.

I am also interested in how New York has managed to have a public housing system that never reached the low points that Chicago's projects did. There are actually projects in New York that are pretty pleasant places.

[Rizzo]

Really great post! Thank You!!

So what is up with Lathrop Homes? It seems so oddly silent every time I pass by.