#162 Summer 2010 — Public Housing Privatization

CHA Back in Charge

After 23 years, the Chicago housing authority is no longer in receivership. The court-ordered receivership had placed administrative duties in the hands of a private company, Habitat Co. Now U.S. […]

After 23 years, the Chicago housing authority is no longer in receivership. The court-ordered receivership had placed administrative duties in the hands of a private company, Habitat Co. Now U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Aspen has determined that CHA has sufficiently addressed desegregation issues and is no longer out of compliance with the landmark Gautreaux case, which required all new public housing construction in Chicago to be outside of predominantly African-American low-income neighborhoods. The ACLU, which filed the original 1987 lawsuit that landed the CHA in receivership, has indicated that it is satisfied with the progress made since Habitat took over. In 1999, Mayor Richard Daley, as part of a complex and controversial proposal for transforming Chicago’s public housing, outlined a plan to rehabilitate 25,000 units. That plan, according to CHA, is roughly 70 percent complete, with hundreds of blighted buildings demolished and nearly 18,000 units rehabilitated or redeveloped.

OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE

  • An orange tinted bridge over water in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

    A Battle for Wards in New Jersey’s Hub City

    October 17, 2010

    How an organization of residents crossing age, race, and socioeconomic lines took on an unyielding City Hall known for quelling grass-roots efforts and (almost) overtook the political party machinery.

  • A worker at Evergreen Cooperative Laundry, which recently secured new contracts for 3 million pounds of health care linens.

    Green Jobs with Roots

    October 17, 2010

    For the founders of Cleveland's Evergreen Coops, putting a handful of people to work at minimum wage isn't worth it. They are aiming at nothing less than a ground-up economic transformation -- one owned by the very people it's intended to help.

  • Taking Foreclosures to Task

    October 17, 2010

    All across the country, local governments, CDCs, community groups, and housing counselors are coming together to address the foreclosure crisis.