Yesterday, the Chicago City Council Zoning Committee unanimously approved the rezoning of Lathrop Homes on Chicago’s north side over the objections and opposition of the community–including Alderman Scott Waguespack. The approval paves the way for the redevelopment of Lathrop Homes into a mixed-income community and the elimination of 525 units of public housing.
Mary Pattillo, a sociology professor at Northwestern University, testified against the plan, stating, “this [plan] is as contrary to the Gautreaux ruling as you can get. Lathrop is already a racially integrated development in a neighborhood that is trending more white. And so, to not give opportunities to black and Latino and white residents of Lathrop to stay in a majority white neighborhood is totally contrary to Gautreaux.” The Gautreaux ruling by the Supreme Court in 1976 led to the dismantling of concentrated high-rise public housing at Cabrini-Green and other high-density projects in predominantly African American Chicago communities.
Read the Chicago Sun Times article on the Zoning Committee HERE.
Tongue on Fire 