The resident Beatrice Harris, one of the key figures in local organizing efforts at Wentworth Gardens, is speaking with great dismay about the abysmal living conditions of her “homeplace,” a 422-unit low-rise Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) family development on the South-Side. The time is the late 1980s, when Wentworth, as in other CHA developments, is beleaguered by two decades of underfunding and inept management. Daily life in CHA family developments is beset by inefficient and inadequate buildings and grounds maintenance, and insufficient social, recreational, and educational services to meet the residents' needs (see also Kotlowitz, 1991; Slayton, 1988; Venkatesh, 2000).

When we began our fieldwork in 1989, we too were struck by the deterioration of Wentworth Gardens' buildings and grounds. Signs of dilapidated and unsafe physical conditions were visible throughout the development. The brick building exteriors were cracked. The concrete overhangs were scaling, and large pieces had broken off. Lead paint was peeling, and lights in the public entries and stairwells were in disrepair. The concrete sidewalks, exterior stairs, and retaining walls had huge cracks and large missing sections or were missing altogether. Excavated holes exposing rusted, broken heating pipes with steam bursting out were common.