Friday, August 29, 2008

The Old Chicago Congress Expressway-- Now the Eisenhower

A while back, the Flashback page in the Chicago Tribune's Magazine went back to 1950 and showed a house being moved to make way for the construction of the Congress Expressway.

The construction of the expressways through Chicago disrupted a lot of neighborhoods. Some say, they were also targetting black ones and helped isolate them.

About 200 houses around Maywood had to be moved, a process that took 3-4 days for each.

11- Years it took to complete the Eisenhower.

3,000-- number of homes removed for a three-mile stretch of the Dan Ryan.

Up to $8000-- cost of moving a home in 1950.

$25,000 to $40,000-- cost of moving a home in urban area today.

I Don't Know How How Nancy Watkins Comes Up With All This Stuff, But It Sure is Interesting. --Old Coot

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