America Today
Left: "6329 S. Paulina St (Chicago)"; Right: "6300 N. Paulina Street (Chicago)"
2017, Folded Map
Today, the legacy of public housing echoes in not just Chicago, but America as a whole. American cities are still segregated, with glaring disparities and concentrated poverty.
"This is Chicago. This is America."
~ Mayor Richard J. Daley, 1968
Income (Left) has correlated with crime (Right) in New York City
Left: 2010, CUNY; Right: 2013, New York City Police Department
As black neighborhoods are disproportionately affected by crime, the cycle of poverty has been exacerbated.
"It's the circumstances that they're still in, they're still around the same place with the bad negativity, so it drags them back into [crime]. They don't have many opportunities, they have felonies on their background. They try to do something productive but end up going back...down the wrong road."
~ Edwin Dorsey, Chicago West Side Resident
Public housing was a testament to failed social policy that was neglected and ultimately disastrous to the impoverished residents. Today, many communities are disadvantaged in terms of education, healthcare, and opportunities.
"Access to Full Range of Math/Science Courses", 2015, US Department of Education
"Neighborhood Racial Segregation in the Baltimore Region, 2009-13", 2015, Brookings Institution
Cabrini-Green symbolized a failure of government action and the strong influence of race and segregation in America. The debate over how the government should protect the poor continues to be crucial in American politics and society today.