While I don’t have a background in city planning or social work, I recall that the experiment in high-density housing of those with limited means or special needs was deemed a failure (Cabrini-Green, Robert Taylor Homes, etc.). The current recommended approach is scattered site housing where a sense of community and belonging are fostered in hopes of a greater chance of success. I do not need to know the many reasons why high-density supportive housing have failed in the past to see that only with careful consideration can the problems currently under discussion have any hope of being solved. Forcing a hasty, simple, and politically expedient solution will just perpetuate the failures and likely even generate new problems. To those who boldly label us NIMBYs because we are opposed to the inadequately conceived solution at hand, let’s focus not on who’s right, but rather on what is right.
James Wolfe
Oak Park
