Chicago raises the bar for living in public housing

Even most critics of the guidelines agree that high expectations are a good thing. But employment is just one piece of getting a derailed life back on track, they note - and often the last one to come into place after things like housing, childcare, and domestic turmoil are stabilized. The firm employment rules may be beyond the reach of many residents, and they question if the support and training will be enough.

Welfare research in Illinois has shown that even in good economic times, only 30 percent of recipients find 30 hours of work a week, says Rose Karasti, a senior analyst with the Chicago Jobs Council. She worries that the new requirements don't take into account the realities of a temporary or often fluctuating job market. She also thinks the training programs in place aren't meant for people who already have a certain skill level.

Peter Holsten, the developer responsible for North Town Village in Cabrini, admits the requirements may pose a challenge at a new mixed-income community his company is creating. At Hilliard, he says, the literacy rate is around a third- or fourth-grade level - much lower than at Cabrini. "It's a huge educational process to undertake before we can even get them into jobs that are living-wage or meaningful," he says. "But we're not going to ban them. We're just going to do double duty" with job training and literacy.

It's that kind of flexibility that was central to success in Atlanta, says James Brooks, former deputy director of the housing authority there, who's been a consultant for several Chicago projects. "It's one thing when you look at this on a bureaucratic level, but another when you think about individual families," he says.

Chicago's new rules are stricter than in many similar communities around the country. But Mr. Brooks believes the families that are more self sufficient "will thrive" in the mixed-income communities. "The hope is that public housing goes back to being transitional housing, which it was originally intended to be," he says.

One challenge the CHA faces is simply trust among residents. Most have been skeptical of the transformation plan to begin with, seeing it as a "land grab" to benefit developers. The new rules just cement that perception. "It's just what we initially said: They're getting rid of public housing and not looking out for the people," says Carol Steele, president of a Cabrini Green advisory council. "They have the contract that says you have the right to return, but it didn't tell you about all the stipulations that go with that."

At Stateway Gardens, a South side development that has already seen many high rises torn down, Lloyd "Pete" Haywood is no longer sure he even wants to live in the soon-to-arrive mixed-income community. He's lived in Stateway his whole life, moving three times as buildings have come down. He doesn't want to leave.

The tenancy rules may preclude him anyway: He has bad credit, carries debt, and only works sporadically at construction jobs. But he's also convinced the new communities discriminate against the neediest people like him. "Every time it's a new twist they add," Mr. Haywood says.

Ultimately, many agree the CHA needs to improve its credibility. "Whatever the merits of the different criteria, the perception of people who have long had a vision of this mixed-income community is that they're not welcome," says Jamie Kalven, a writer and local public-housing activist. "It's so demoralizing for residents."

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