Robert Taylor Homes, for example, is within blocks of older, stately homes that had fallen on hard times but are now being remodeled. New townhouses also are being built in the area. Robert Taylor is among the high-rise projects in Chicago that is slated for demolition and revitalization. And several of the city's federally subsidized Section 8 housing facilities, which are predominantly white or racially mixed and are not in lower-income neighborhoods, are close to metal processing facilities along the Chicago River. The river winds through the city and historically has been home to a variety of industries.
Many residents say that's the wrong use of the money.
The project should be demolished, they argue, and they should be provided housing in less-toxic neighborhoods. There are dozens of manufacturing and chemical processing plants, smokestacks, a massive landfill that looms nearby and a sewage treatment plant across the street. Altgeld is only a short distance from a major interstate and the heavily polluted Little Calumet River. A wooded area near the river is a popular site for illegal dumping and is littered with construction debris and trash. Residents believe other contaminants are still lurking in the ground.