A recent Chicago Housing Authority report concluded that since October 1999 when it began its Plan for Transformation project, life for residents living in public housing has greatly improved.
A recent Chicago Housing Authority report concluded that since October 1999 when it began its Plan for Transformation project, life for residents living in public housing has greatly improved. “With 67 percent of the promised housing either rehabbed or newly built, with nearly all the gallery high-rises gone, and with counseling and job programs in place, CHA leaseholders are making significant changes in their lives,” said Lewis Jordan, CEO of the Chicago Housing Authority. The CHA’s $1.6 billion Plan for Transformation calls for approximately 25,000 units of housing to be built or rehabilitated. These 25,000 units represent the number of leaseholders that were living in CHA units at the time the plan was put in place, back in 2000. According to the report, which was derived from the CHA’s tracking system, 8,000 former leaseholders have moved to housing of their own choice, temporary or permanent, over the past several years. The report highlights:
- Nearly 2,700 individuals and families have moved to mixed-income communities, where they live side-by-side with market-rate families.
- Over 4,277 residents have chosen to live on a permanent or temporary basis in the broader rental market using a Housing Choice Voucher, which allows them to rent anywhere in the nation.
- Those residents who have relocated have chosen to live predominately in Chicago. Only 116 have chosen to live outside of Chicago.
- Of all those who have moved into HCV or mixed-income housing, less than 10 percent have moved to areas where poverty is greater than 40 percent (the standard definition of high concentrations of poverty).
- Nearly 2,000 leaseholders have moved to other CHA-owned family housing developments.
- Nearly 2,000 remain in traditional housing developments awaiting relocation.
The report also showed how residents’ income have improved:
- Income among heads of households, across all housing choice types, rose from $10,000 in 1999 to an average of $19,961 now.
- Income among those who reside in mixed-income communities were the highest, averaging over $24,000 per year.
Approximately 6,100 family units are scheduled to be redeveloped as new mixed-income housing; approximately 9,500 units reserved for senior citizens will be rehabilitated. The remaining 9,400 apartments will be either reconstructed or rehabbed.
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