Last Tenants Leave Chicago's Cabrini-Green

Fight for homes goes to court; families forced to leave

Cabrini-Green has long been known around the nation as one of the most dangerous housing projects anywhere.

It housed 15,000 people at its peak and owned a reputation as a bastion for gang activity and violence.

Now it sits empty.

The last residents at Chicago's Cabrini-Green moved out Thursday.

"I will miss it," said Annie Ricks as she left the home she's known for the last 21 years for the final time.

The Chicago Housing Authority handed out 90-day notices to tenants in October telling them of its plans to close and demolish the last standing 15-story high-rise located at 1230 N. Burling St.

Ricks, 54, fought the move, which was eventually decided by a federal judge.

"I don't feel good. They're forcing me to move somewhere I don’t know anything about," Ricks told the Chicago Sun-Times as she packed up her things.

Ricks and her family of five are being moved to Wentworth Gardens. Others are relocated into new condos near Cabrini-Green, others transplanted around the Chicagoland area.

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