Chicago Housing Authority

The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) is a municipal corporation that oversees public housing within the city of Chicago. The agency's Board of Commissioners is appointed by the city's mayor, and has a budget independent from that of the city of Chicago. CHA is the largest rental landlord in Chicago, with more than 50,000 households. CHA owns over 21,000 apartments (9,200 units reserved for seniors and over 11,400 units in family and other housing types). It also oversees the administration of 37,000 Section 8 vouchers. The current acting CEO of the Chicago Housing Authority is Tracey Scott.

Chicago Housing Authority (CHA)
Agency overview
Formed1937 (1937)
JurisdictionCity of Chicago
Headquarters60 E. Van Buren Street
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Annual budget$976 million (2015)[1][2]
Agency executive
  • Tracey Scott,
    Chief Executive Officer
Websitethecha.org
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History

The CHA was created in 1937 to own and operate housing built by the federal government's Public Works Administration. In addition to providing affordable housing for low-income families and combating blight, it also provided housing for industry workers during World War II and returning veterans after the war. By 1960, it was the largest landlord in Chicago. In 1965, a group of residents sued the CHA for racial discrimination. After the landmark court decision Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority (see below), the CHA was placed in receivership, which would last for more than 20 years. Things continued to deteriorate for the agency and its residents, and by the 1980s, the high concentrations of poverty and neglected infrastructure were severe.

The Chicago Housing Authority Police Department was created in 1989 to provide dedicated policing for what had become one of the most impoverished and crime-ridden housing developments in the country, and was dissolved only ten years later. The situation was so dire that the entire CHA board of commissioners resigned in 1995, effectively handing over control of the agency to Housing and Urban Development. After an extensive overhaul, management of the CHA was returned to a new board of commissioners, including three residents appointed by resident groups, in 1999. The previously ordered receivership ended in 2010.[3][4][5][6]

Chief Executive Officers (1937–present)

Redevelopment

Plan for Transformation (2000)

In 2000, the CHA began its Plan For Transformation, which called for the demolition of all of its gallery high-rise buildings and proposed a renovated housing portfolio totaling 25,000 units. The Plan for Transformation has also been plagued with problems. While demolition began almost immediately, CHA was slow to develop mixed-income units or provide Section 8 vouchers as planned.

Plan Forward (2013)

In April 2013, CHA created Plan Forward, the next phase of redeveloping public housing in Chicago. The plan includes the rehabilitation of other scattered-site, senior, and lower-density properties; construction of mixed-income housing; increasing economic sales around CHA developments; and providing educational and job training to residents with Section 8 vouchers.[3][29]

In 2015, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development criticized the Chicago Housing Authority for accumulating a cash reserve of $440 million at a time when more than a quarter million people were on the agency's waiting list for affordable housing,[30] and a large number of units (16%) remained vacant.[31][32][33] By March 2017, only 8% of the 17,000 demolished households had been replaced with mixed-income units.[34] Many lots remain vacant decades after demolition, and the CHA has been selling, leasing, or trading land in gentrifying neighborhoods to other government agencies and the private sector for less than market value. Land owned by the CHA has been used to build two Target stores, a private tennis complex, and government facilities at a time when over 30,000 people are awaiting housing assistance from the CHA.[35] One notable resident, Chicago alderwoman Jeanette Taylor, revealed that she applied for housing assistance as a single mother in 1993 and received an approval letter almost thirty years later in May 2022.[36] More than 20 years after the initial plan was announced, then-Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot announced in June 2021 that finishing the redevelopment of Cabrini-Green alone will take at least another 12 years and could total upwards of $1 billion.[37]

Demographics

From its beginning until the late-1950s, most families that lived in Chicago housing projects were Italian immigrants. By the mid-1970s, 65% of the agency's housing projects were made up of African Americans. In 1975, a study showed that traditional mother and father families in CHA housing projects were almost non-existent and 93% of the households were headed by single females. In 2010, the head of households demographics were 88% African American and 12% White.[38] The population of children in CHA decreased from 50% in 2000 to 35% by 2010. Today on average, a Chicago public housing development is made up of: 69% African-American, 27% Latino, and 4% White and Other.[39]

Lawsuits

Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority

In 1966, Dorothy Gautreaux and other CHA residents brought a suit against the CHA in Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority. The suit charged racial discrimination by the housing authority for concentrating 10,000 public housing units in isolated Black neighborhoods. It claimed that the CHA and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had violated the U.S. Constitution and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It was a long-running case that in 1987 resulted in HUD taking over the CHA for over 20 years and the formation of the Gautreaux Project in which public housing families were relocated to the suburbs. The lawsuit was noted as the nation's first major public housing desegregation lawsuit.[40]

Other lawsuits

In May 2013, The Cabrini–Green Local Advisory Council and former residents of the Cabrini–Green Homes sued the housing authority for reneging on promises for the residents to return the neighborhood after redevelopment. The suit claimed that the housing authority at the time had only renovated a quarter of the remaining row-houses, making only a small percentage of them public housing.[41]

In September 2015, four residents sued the housing authority over utility allowances. Residents claimed the CHA overcharged them for rent and didn't credit them for utility costs.[42]

In June 2023, Several groups including the Chicago Housing Initiative and the Lugenia Burns Hope Center sued CHA of illegally planning to lease public housing land at the former ABLA Homes to Joe Mansueto, one of then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's campaign donors to build a training complex for his professional soccer team Chicago Fire.[43][44]

Harsh Apartments in the North Kenwood-Oakland neighborhood.
Lake Parc Place apartments high-rise buildings undergoing renovation.
Judge Slater Apartments in the Bronzeville neighborhood.
Altgeld Gardens Homes housing project in Riverdale, Illinois.
Stateway Gardens housing project in Bronzeville neighborhood.
Lathrop Homes in the North Center neighborhood.
A Cabrini–Green housing project building in the Near-North neighborhood.
Harold Ickes Homes in the Near South Side neighborhood.
Ida B. Wells Homes extension building in the Bronzeville neighborhood.

Developments

Housing projects
NameLocationConstructedNotes/status
Altgeld Gardens HomesChicago/Riverdale, Illinois borderline
(Far–south side)		1944–46; 1954Named for Illinois politician John Peter Altgeld and Labor movement leader Philip Murray. 1,971 units of 2-story row-houses; renovated.
Bridgeport HomesBridgeport neighborhood
(South–west side)		1943–44Named after its neighborhood location, consist of 115 units of 2-story row-houses, renovated.
Cabrini–Green HomesNear–North neighborhood1942–45; 1957–62Named for Italian nun Frances Cabrini and William Green. Consisted of 3,607 units, William Homes and Cabrini Extensions (Demolished; 1995–2011), Francis Cabrini Row-houses (150 of 586 Renovated; 2009–11).
Clarence Darrow HomesBronzeville neighborhood
(South side)		1961–62Named for American lawyer Clarence Darrow, consisted of 4 18-story buildings, demolished in late 1998. Replaced with mixed-income housing development Oakwood Shores.[45]
Dearborn HomesBronzeville neighborhood
(South side)		1949–50Named for its street location Dearborn Street; consist of 12 buildings made up of mid-rise, 6 and 9-stories, totaling 668 units, renovated.
Grace Abbott HomesUniversity Village
(Near–west side)		1952–55Named for social worker Grace Abbott, consisted of 7 15-story buildings and 33 2-story rowhouses, totaling 1,198 units. Demolished.
Harold Ickes HomesBronzeville
(South side)		1953–55Named for Illinois politician Harold LeClair Ickes, 11 9-story high-rise buildings, totaling 738 units, demolished.
Harrison CourtsEast Garfield Park neighborhood
(West side)		1958Named after its street location; consist of 4 7-story buildings; renovated.
Ogden CourtsNorth Lawndale neighborhood
(West side)		1953Named after William B. Ogden location; consist of 2 7-story buildings; demolished.
Henry Horner HomesNear–West Side neighborhood1955–57; 1959–61Named for Illinois governor Henry Horner, consisted of 16 high-rise buildings, 2 15-story buildings, 8 7-story buildings, 4 14-story and 2 8-story buildings, totaling 1,655 units; demolished. Replaced with mixed-income housing development West Haven.
Ida B. Wells HomesBronzeville neighborhood
(South side)		1939–41Named for African-American journalist Ida Barnett Wells, Consisted of 1,662 units (800 row-houses and 862 mid-rise apartments); demolished. Replaced with a Mixed-income housing development named Oakwood Shores.[45]
Jane Addams HomesUniversity Village
(Near–west side)		1938–39Named for social worker Jane Addams, consisted of 32 buildings of 2, 3, and 4 stories, totaling 987 units; demolished. Replaced with townhouses and condominiums under the name Roosevelt Square.
Julia C. Lathrop HomesNorth Center neighborhood
(North side)		1937–38Named for social reformer Julia Clifford Lathrop, Consist of 925 units made up of 2-story row-houses, mid-rise buildings; renovated.
Lake Parc Place/Lake Michigan Homes High-Rises[46]Oakland neighborhood
(South side)		1962–63Named after its location, consisted of 6 buildings; Lake Michigan high-rises (also known as Lakefront Homes) (4 16-story buildings; vacated in 1985 and demolished by implosion on 12/12/1998[47][48]) and Lake Parc Place (2 15-story buildings; renovated)
Lawndale GardensLittle Village neighborhood
(South–west side)		April–December 1942Named for its street location, consist of 123 units of 2-story row-houses, Renovated.
LeClaire CourtsArcher Heights neighborhood
(South–west side)		1949–50; 1953–54[49]Consisted 314 units of 2-story row-houses;[50] demolished.
Loomis CourtsUniversity Village neighborhood
(Near–west side)		1951Named for its street location, consist of 2 7-story building, totaling 126 units.
Lowden HomesPrinceton Park neighborhood
(South side)		1951–52Named for Illinois governor Frank Lowden, consist of 127 units of 2-story row-houses; Renovated.
Madden Park HomesBronzeville neighborhood
(South side)		1968–69; 1970Consisted of 6 buildings (9 and 3-stories), totaling 279 units; demolished. Replaced with a mixed-income housing development named Oakwood Shores.[45]
Prairie CourtsSouth Commons neighborhood
(South side)		1950–52Consisted of 5 7- and 14-story buildings, 230 units made up of row-houses, totaling 877 units; demolished. Replaced with new development which was constructed between 2000–2002.
Racine CourtsWashington Heights neighborhood
(Far–south side)		1953Named for its street location, Consisted of 122 units made up of 2-story row-houses,[51] Demolished.
Raymond Hilliard HomesNear–South Side neighborhood1964–66Consists of 3 buildings, 22-story building; 16-story building and 11-story building, totaling 1,077 units. Renovated in phases, Phase I: 2003–04; Phase II: 2006–07.
Robert Brooks Homes/ExtensionsUniversity Village neighborhood
(Near–west side)		1942–43; 1960–61Consist of 835 row-houses (Reconstructed in phases: Phase I: 1997–99, Phase II: 2000), 3 16-story buildings (450 units; demolished between 1998–2001) .
Robert Taylor HomesBronzeville neighborhood
(South side)		1960–62Named for the first African American chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority Robert Rochon Taylor, Consisted of 28 16–story high rises, totaling 4, 415 units; Demolished between 1998–2007. Replaced with a mixed-income housing development named Legends South.[52]
Rockwell GardensEast Garfield Park neighborhood
(West side)		1958–60Named for its street location; Consisted of 1,126 units made up of 11 buildings (16, 14-stories); demolished between 2003–2007. Replaced with a mixed-income housing development named West End.
Stateway GardensBronzeville neighborhood
(South side)		1955–58Named for its location along State Street, consisted of 8 buildings (13–17 stories); Demolished between 1996–2007, replaced with a mixed-income housing development named Park Boulevard.
Trumbull Park HomesSouth Deering neighborhood
(Far–south side)		1938–39Consist of 434 units made up of 2-story row-houses and 3-story buildings; Renovated.
Wentworth GardensArmour Square[53] neighborhood
(South side)		1944–45Named for its street location and the major league baseball team that used to play in its baseball field. Stretching from 39th & Wentworth to 37th and Wells this housing Project is one of Cha'S Finest., Consist of 4 block area of 2-story row-houses, 3 mid-rise buildings; Renovated.
Washington Park HomesBronzeville neighborhood
(South side)		1962–64Named for nearby Chicago Park District park and neighborhood, consisted of 5 17-story buildings located between 45th and 44th Streets, Cottage Grove Avenue and Evans Street; demolished between 1999 and mid-2002.

Other housing

In addition to the traditional housing projects, CHA has 51 senior housing developments,[54] 61 scattered site housing[55] and 15 mixed-income housing developments.[56]

Notable residents

See also

References
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  2. Chicago Housing Authority passes 2012 budget
  3. "About | The Chicago Housing Authority". www.thecha.org. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  4. "Judge ends CHA receivership". Crain's Chicago Business. 2010-05-20. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  5. Terry, Don (1995-05-28). "Chicago Housing Agency To Be Taken Over by U.S." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
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  8. "Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority, 296 F. Supp. 907 – CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
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  10. Tribune, Chicago. "HARRY J. SCHNEIDER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF CHA". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
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  38. Demographics Of Public Housing Families Evolve
  39. Schwabbauer, M. L. (December 1975). "Use of the latent image technique to develop and evaluate problem-solving skills". The American Journal of Medical Technology. 41 (12): 457–462. ISSN 0002-9335. PMID 2010.
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  53. Gardens
  54. Senior Properties: Chicago Housing Authority Archived September 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  55. Scattered Sites Properties: Chicago Housing Authority Archived 2012-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
  56. Mixed-Income Properties: Chicago Housing Authority Archived August 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine

Further reading
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