Robert Taylor Homes | The Rise, Violence, and Fall of America’s Largest Project (Chicago, IL)

[00:00:08]Robert Taylor Homes, Chicago, Illinois.

[00:00:12]Robert Taylor Homes opened in 1962 with 16 high-rises and 27,000 residents, of whom over 70% were children.

[00:00:23]A few years after the Homes opened, the situation [music] quickly deteriorated.

[00:00:29]According to the Chicago Housing Authority, CHA, portions of the project was the worst slums in the country.

[00:00:38]A particularly awful section of the complex, known as the hole, was controlled by the Mickey Cobras, which frequently engaged in turf wars with rivals, the Gangster Disciples.

[00:00:51]It has been reported that Mickey Cobras recruit children as young as 12 years old.

[00:00:58]As a public housing development on the South Side of Chicago, the Robert Taylor Homes were once the largest in the nation.

[00:01:07]A total of 4,415 units were built in these 24 [music] 16-story high-rises, named after Robert Taylor, the first black student to enroll at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1888.

[00:01:29]>> Ronald Robinson, a young South Side cop.

[00:01:33]He knows Robert Taylor Homes like nobody's business.

[00:01:37]But he has a vision.

[00:01:39]He knows what Robert Taylor Homes are and what they can be for those who live in them.

[00:01:45]>> Okay, I have a feeling that we can reform this housing to the extent that we can make people whole again.

[00:01:56]And give them a lease on life that they don't have now, which is something that's very important. If we give these people health care, perfect schools, all of the city services that they're supposed to receive, decent housing, good elevators, you know, the whole bit.

[00:02:17]What you end up with is less people who are plagued with problems and less problems on the ground.

[00:02:26]>> We hear a lot about crime in the area.

[00:02:29]>> There's absolutely an incredible amount of crime in this area. And and the reason that the crime is so great is because there is the the on the part of the authorities, the police and other city agencies, there's no real focus on prevention. None.

[00:02:52]You know, if in the Loop, downtown, in other areas, there's a focus on prevention, right? There are there are police officers on the corner, there are policemen walking the street, there are policemen stationed in places.

[00:03:06]Have you seen one policeman over here?

[00:03:11]>> It was also plagued by poor infrastructure and inadequate maintenance.

[00:03:17]Elevators kept failing, forcing people to exit between floors.

[00:03:22]Accidents were common.

[00:03:25]Firemen were unable to reach the 14th floor in time to save three children because of a broken elevator in one incident.

[00:03:34]>> [music] >> During the 1990s, Chicago's crime rate was at a high, but the Robert Taylor Homes were like a hellish world of criminal activity all to themselves.

[00:03:45]More than 10% of people living in the Taylor projects in 1993 were victims of violent crimes like sexual assault, murder, shooting, or robbery.

[00:03:58]The Robert Taylor Homes were among the poorest houses in the country during their time.

[00:04:04]It was reported in 1999 that 95% of the 20,000 residents of the housing development were unemployed and relied solely on public assistance.

[00:04:17]In Chicago, there is a high rate of violent crime and gang activity in the Robert Taylor Homes because of its poverty.

[00:04:26]More than half of the former residents of the Robert Taylor Homes were still waiting for replacement housing promised by the CHA despite demolition of the homes beginning in 2002.

[00:04:46]>> I had a van or a station wagon. You know what I'm saying?

[00:04:50]This is my little soldier right here.

[00:04:51]His name Randy. He's my first officer.

[00:04:53]Come here, Randy. Front center, soldier.

[00:04:57]This is my soldier. We starting a little organization over here called Boy. B O I. It's called Boys of Islam. You know, just for an example, you know, I'm teaching them knowledge of self, knowledge of others, and and knowledge of Get your little game banging ass on.

[00:05:10]And knowledge of other people. All right. Now, who's the original man?

[00:05:15]>> The original man is the Asian of the black man, the maker, the owner, the cream of the planet earth, the god of the universe.

[00:05:19]>> So, he he know what That's just a little example of what I'm doing over here in the Robert Taylor. You know what I'm saying? All right, come on this way.

[00:06:07]>> Mhm.