At its height, 25,000 families lived in CHA housing. Since the Plan for Transformation began in 2000, the CHA has torn down most of its high rises. This project developed by an AREA Chicago working group will provide former CHA residents with an opportunity to share their memories, stories, and experiences. The phrase “Drive By” is sometimes connected to gang violence, but we mean it instead as a way of evoking memory through a quick passage by a location. What do you think of when you drive by the place you used to live? What comes to mind when you think back to what it was like?
The goal of the project is to express the diversity of experiences of people living in public housing over the years of the CHA's existence. We are keenly interested in stories of people who lived in public housing during the Plan For Transformation and were affected by it, as well as people who lived in CHA buildings in earlier years. We are happy to have conversations with groups as well as talking with individuals.
These stories will be recorded and archived and made available in the public domain on a website. We ask for your full name and contact information in order to be able to contact you with questions and to send you information, but for purposes of the public website you can choose to be listed by full name, first name only, no name at all, or even a made-up name if you prefer.
These stories will be recorded and archived and made available in the public domain on a website. We ask for your full name and contact information in order to be able to contact you with questions and to send you information, but for purposes of the public website you can choose to be listed by full name, first name only, no name at all, or even a made-up name if you prefer.
Questions we ask:
When and where did you live in CHA housing?
What is one of your earliest memories at that place?
Who was important to you there? Were there people who were especially essential members of the community?
Can you describe any important events that happened there?
Did the community change over the years you lived there? How so?
What else do you want people to know about your experience?
For more information, email cha.driveby.project@gmail.com or call (312) 324-4310.
