More than its facade or its floor plan, what defines a home is one’s relation to it—a home can be something lived in, but it can also be something desired or something imagined, something remembered or something mourned. At the Weekly, we use our annual Housing Issue as an occasion to explore not only the built landscape of the neighborhoods around us, but also our sense of what it is to be grounded, to be “from” a place, to “find” one. Year after year, these questions lead us to stories as diverse as the row houses and two-flats that line a Chicago block. In this issue, as we investigate the Chicago Housing Authority’s redevelopment of public housing in Bronzeville and chart two eras of gentrification in Pilsen, we also zoom in on individual homes with extraordinary histories, unique buildings on the brink of demolition, and explore what it means to find a home in history. Just as the cityscape around us always changes over time, the questions we ask are certain to change as well, but the stories in the Housing Issue always touch in some way on those things that—whether we have lost them or found them, whether they are new or old—help us understand who we are.
All in the Family → A battle over a Pilsen real estate empire highlights the neighborhood’s uncertain future
Defend at All Costs → Pilsen Alliance takes up the fight against another round of gentrification in Pilsen
Redeveloping the State Street Corridor → After the high-rises came down, the CHA pledged to rebuild thousands of units of public housing in Bronzeville. But more than a decade later, construction is behind schedule and below expectations.
Redeveloping the State Street Corridor: A Comic → How will the history of the State Street Corridor inform its future?
Home Histories → The secret lives of four extraordinary and historic South Side buildings: Elam Home, Lorraine Hansberry’s Home, the Strand, and Mahalia Jackson’s Home
Eco House in Englewood → A house becomes a school, a farm, and a lab for sustainability
The South Side’s Most Endangered Buildings → Close-up looks at standout structures that face demolition
Isolated Building Studies → On thoughtfully engaging the landscape
Home at the Hotel → Excerpts from the Tribune’s writing on hotels during and after the 1893 World’s Fair
Chiasmus → “A Narrative of Ascent” and a reflection on the meaning of home