Lathrop Homes
The Lathrop Homes were initially built in 1938. It was built to “provide housing to those in need,” (chicagopatterns.com). It was also convenient housing for WWII soldiers. Building Lathrop was also a good opportunity to employ architects in the city. The plan for Lathrop was to make it housing for whites. Then later, Lathrop Homes received its first African American resident in 1956. After this, Lathrop was diverse. The CHA has said that Lathrop must be redeveloped because it is not diverse. Miguel Suarez, resident of Lathrop, tells my research group that Lathrop is in fact diverse, and in the past has been very diverse. He tells us that it has consistently been a third white, a third black, and a third hispanic. Coming from a resident himself, this information seems credible.
In our opinion, CHA is going about this project in the wrong way. Their plan was to tear down the buildings and start fresh, along with relocating residents of public housing do to reconstructing. Suarez and other sources tell us that the people who were forced to move out, were given vouchers. With these vouchers, people paid a third of the rent and the rest would be paid for. However, people with vouchers reported having more problems in the neighborhoods they ended up in than people living in public housing communities (urban.org). The CHA failed to provide definite housing to residents, which caused them to lose their homes. The CHA also announced that all residents had to be moved out before construction started because of possible injuries. These realities relate to the issue of gentrification. The CHA wants to make 45-80% of the units market rate housing, according to multiple sources. This means that a lot of the people that lived there before will not be able to come back and new, wealthier residents will move in. Because of this reality, the people of Lathrop are currently fighting against this plan. The Lathrop Leadership Team have protested and have had meetings to figure out alternatives. Suarez tells us that the CHA is not willing to listen to alternative plans. After the CHA gave their plan for transformation, they did not accept any feedback. In our opinion, a lot of things would be lost by changing the Lathrop Homes. As Suarez explained, public housing is greatly needed on the north side of Chicago, and we agree. Where will the people who have been forced to leave Lathrop go? In our opinion, people who need help are being forgotten. We also feel like the plan is all about money. They want to give housing to people with money and kick the poor out. The CHA should renovate what is already there, and let the old residents return. They should use the money they’re using on reconstruction to invest in the community’s resources and keep the people there, then the community as a whole would greatly improve rather than change. |
AuthorsSaul, Angelika, Derrick, Allen
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