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UploadCabrini-Green, from the eyes of a newcomer
Ryan Flynn bought a market-rate condo in Cabrini-Green a few years ago: good location, good price, and not as scary as he'd once thought.
And, it turned out, a new subject for his work as an artist:
Long considered one of the nation's most notoriously dangerous public housing projects, Cabrini-Green has been changing dramatically in recent years: The old buildings are getting demolished, replaced by homes for a mix of public-housing residents and market-rate buyers like Ryan
He likes the idea of turning around a neighborhood with such a troubled history, but he recognizes that the transformation creates its own troubles for many residents. He keeps a web site, cabrini-green.com, documenting the neighborhood's change.
While Ryan talked with Tom in our studio about his experiences in the neighborhood and his hopes for it, blogger Megan Cottrell-- who had written about Ryan and introduced us to him-- was phoning in reports from the home of Lanise Forest, one of Ryan's neighbors who was going through some troubles.
Sheriff's deputies were scheduled to evict Lanise that day, and protestors were getting ready to form a human chain to keep that from happening. Tom talked by phone with Lanise and Megan, then with two protest leaders, while Ryan was in the studio.
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