Every time I thought or even heard of, for that matter, about Cabrini Green it was always negative things; how dangerous or ghetto it was. I heard about the type of people that resided in that area and how much crime took place. In fact a lot of students from that area used to be sent to my high school because of problems or issues they were having. So when I first heard that they were tearing down the old Cabrini to make it nicer, my VERY first thought was, where are the people/families going to go while this building is taking place? And secondly, are they going to build the same amount of places to fit the amount of people that lived there originally? While I agree that Cabrini Green needed some help, I believe this did no good for the actual residents of that area except practically force them out of their homes to start the same kind of life in some other part of the city. Did this actually help our city out? Do the people that actually reside in close proximity to Cabrini Green actually feel safer with the news homes built? It would be interesting to actually be able to talk to people to get a feel of what their attitudes are about it.
After some of the readings, I began to see that a lot of leaders/planners of the city, including back to Burnham, are more worried about the appearance and the actual land itself, whether its making profit or at least looking semi decent, than the actually residents of Chicago themselves. We have been learning about the production of space in our Chicago Term class, and the rebuilding of Cabrini Green and the things around it made me think of what I have learned about the city as a whole. It is all about commerce and profit. They didn’t do this for the people, so they could live better lives but instead of the appearance and money.
As much as I enjoyed the opportunity of being able to have a tour led by the city/urban planner himself, some of the impersonal comments he made frustrated me. I did take into account that he is not PERSONALLY responsible for the displacement and homelessness of all the people from the old Cabrini Green but his lack of sympathy or compassion made it hard to accept the facts of it. The idea to rip down the old Cabrini Green to build and renovate a new Cabrini Green sounded like the city actually cared that, that part of the city was run down and not looked as comfortable place to be, so I thought they were actually going to do something about it!
As Burnham was planning out the future of Chicago, I believe that he ignored some pressing social needs or couldn't have imagined the depths of these needs while visually mapping out his plans before action. There are few key factors we would have to consider in order to be efficient in our planning. One of the most important factors in re-creating or re-buiding an urban setting is taking into consideration population growth and how rapid that could potentially take place. This problem flows into the problem of housing, it is very overcrowded and the set up for lower class people is not sufficient. I think since the city grew at such a rapid pace, Burnham couldn't have known to consider this problem as in depth as it needed to be. This also creates problems of traffic in and out of the city and places to park.
Another problem that he didn't elaborate on enough was actually in his 6 recommendations for transforming Chicago, and that was altering the park systems for more outdoor activity. I think this would have been an awesome transformation if it was more spread out among the city in all different types of areas. I think this is not only awesome for people in general to have a place of recreation and leisure time to have a place to go, but i am thinking more toward kids and young people. This would give them a place that is open and free to hang out at where it can be controlled enough where they feel safe, but not hovered. I think that this could give the city a more communal feel, where interactions could possibly take place rather than a city of loneliness.
Even though Burnham's plan for Chicago was promoted not just to coworkers of the plan or leaders of the city, but it was also taught through school institutions and shown through film at local theaters. They were even somehow formed to fit into sermons at the local churches on urban planning, which I just found shocking, but showed Burnhams seriousness, passion, and determination to get this up and running. I think Burnhams plan didnt think far enough into the future. If we were to start a plan on renovating Chicago we would have to look further into the future than several years because as our world keeps proving to us, things are continously evolving and changing to fit the needs of the up and coming generations.
The tour to the North side around the Gold Coast area was very interesting considering I have never walked up that way before. I really liked how we did the tour right after we read the first half of the the Zorbaugh book. From being able to imagine what the Gold Coast looked like through the readings than being able to physically see it through the tour proved that the Gold Coast was a very wealthy area. As I was on the tour it was easier for me to imagine what it was like to live in the Gold Coast back in that time period. First reading how much work it entails to become an elite seemed unreal and almost not worth it, but viewing some of those houses I can see how one would feel the weight on their shoulders to have more etiquette than the average joe. It was also cool to me how in the readings the Gold Coast was compared to many different types of neighborhoods within close proximity(So crazy how the slums are a mile down) and it compared and contrasted the surrounding and the people that resided in those areas.
As you walk into the area the stores begin to change from normal chain stores to high end brand name stores. When you walk from the loop you do not see much housing but as you walk into the Gold Coast you see beautiful historic mansions or large homes for single families. I definitely observed more of an older generation than young people around this part, although altogether there were not many people outside. It almost felt to me like we were not even in Chicago anymore, but something that was consistent with city life was the lack of communal interactions. My favorite part of the tour was being able to walk in and view the drake hotel, instead of just walking past it on the way to North Side beach. It became more of a reality of what type of people live in that area and how out of place I felt!!
I am very interested in working in the inner city and so as interesting as this was to learn about, I am more excited to tour and learn about the slums of Chicago; that is where my passion lies.
