Public Housing

With the Plan for Transformation 85% complete and entering its golden years, the city has unveiled a second generation of its massive public housing restructuring. The utopian promise of mixed-income environments for CHA residents has only partly been met, as many families were lost in the shuffle or ended up back in already-impoverished areas. A decade of housing project demolition alleviated dead end scenarios for the warehoused poor, but market conditions foiled the scope of replacement housing. The next gen plan, dubbed "Plan Forward", focuses on acquisition and rehab of vacant homes in a variety of neighborhoods and the boosting of economic activity around CHA sites. There will also be job training offered to voucher recipients. [WBEZ, rendering: Oakwood Shores]