Cabrini–Green Homes, Public housing complex in Near North Side, Chicago, United States.
Cabrini-Green was a public housing complex in Chicago's Near North Side that consisted of 23 high-rise towers and several rows of low-rise buildings spread across roughly 70 acres. Most structures were demolished between 2000 and 2011 and replaced by mixed-income developments, with only a small portion of the original row house units remaining today.
The development opened in 1942 as Frances Cabrini Homes and expanded during the 1950s and 1960s to house up to 15,000 residents. Demolition began in 2000 and continued for over a decade until most of the towers were gone.
The former housing development served as a filming location and inspiration for movies and television shows that portray life in American public housing. Visitors today can still recognize locations featured in the 1992 film Candyman, though most of the original buildings are gone.
The Chicago Housing Authority replaced the original buildings with mixed-income developments, preserving only 137 row house units from the first construction phase. Visitors today will find modern residential neighborhoods that look quite different from what once stood here.
A sniper incident in 1970 that killed two police officers changed how the public viewed the development. This event shaped debates about safety in American public housing for decades and influenced housing policy decisions in many cities afterward.
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