CHA Head: Most Former Residents Remain In City
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- The Chicago Housing Authority says it has the numbers to show what's happened to residents affected by the "Plan for Transformation" that eliminated many of the agency's high-rise buildings.
As WBBM Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, CHA chief executive officer Lewis Jordan first said he wanted to dispel the myth that the Plan for Transformation forced families out of Chicago.
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He said very few went to the suburbs.
An analysis shows that of 25,000 households who lived in CHA housing in 1999, 28 percent of the seniors still live in CHA units, and 60 percent of the families.
Jordan says the CHA families are all over the city, but he admits many decided to stay in neighborhoods near and very much like their old ones, which he said was a bit of a surprise.
"At the numbers that we thought that they would want to come back to the new mixed-income developments, we're not seeing numbers as high," Jordan said, "and again, this goes back to choice."
CHA officials have lost track of about 2,200 former residents. CHA officials said any eligible resident who wants to return should contact the agency.
