Chicago Completes Demolition of Cabrini-Green; Former Residents Displaced

The last building of the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago was demolished in 2011. At its peak, Cabrini-Green housed 15,000 predominantly Black residents. Chicago's HOPE VI redevelopment plan promised one-for-one replacement of public housing units with mixed-income development. In practice, the 3,607 units demolished at Cabrini-Green were replaced by a fraction of affordable units; most original residents were displaced and many became homeless or moved to other poor neighborhoods. Research documented that public housing demolitions under HOPE VI displaced over 100,000 predominantly Black households nationwide without adequate replacement housing. 'Mixed-income' developments often excluded original residents who failed income and background screening.