[Robert Taylor Homes interviews]

Students from Garfield Alternative High School interview residents of the Robert Taylor Homes about the dangers and difficulties of living there.

00:06Copy video clip URL Footage of the outside of the Robert Taylor Homes. 

00:52Copy video clip URL An interview with two residents of Robert Taylor Homes, Dexter Heard and Randall Perry. About Robert Taylor Homes, Hurt says “It really is what you make out of it. We’ve got people here that work, students, and then you’ve got those that just hang out.”

01:16Copy video clip URL Perry says of the lifestyle there that “It’s rough… You’ve got to deal with people on top of people, you’ve got to deal with them. They’re going around, pistols out. So what else can you do but stay in the house. Come out in the morning  because there ain’t nothing happening but at night, with a lot of suiting up and robbing and gang banging.” 

01:43Copy video clip URL The dangers of so many people living so close together. Discussion of “The Hole,” an area with a reputation for gang activity. Insufficient security and lack of safety for residents. 

03:07Copy video clip URL The Robert Taylor Homes not being a nice place to grow up for children. Heard, a student at Chicago State University, asserts that he grew up properly because of his parents. The complex getting better and worse over time. Heard notes that some months there will be families having picnics on the grass and other months where there are shootings. 

04:11Copy video clip URL The complex’s management blaming infestations on the residents. Exterminators coming but not dealing with the pest problem. 

05:28Copy video clip URL End of interview. Children running in the courtyard outside the Robert Taylor Homes. Other exterior footage.

07:08Copy video clip URL Interview with Mr. Sykes, who lives in Robert Taylor Homes. He discusses the infestation of rats and cockroaches and the poor condition of the buildings, including garbage in public spaces and the ease with which someone can break through apartment walls and doors. People breaking into homes by coming through a vacant apartment. 

08:27Copy video clip URL People being scared to ride the elevator. Sykes isn’t scared for himself but is scared for his children’s safety. 

08:52Copy video clip URL Dangers for women after dark. Sykes is skeptical that the security will improve for the building because “the security won’t go up there unless the police go with them.” Difficulties getting management to respond to complaints and make repairs. 

10:30Copy video clip URL Heating systems are fine, but the water service can be unreliable. 

10:50Copy video clip URL Exterminators not coming frequently enough to deal with the roach problem. 

11:15Copy video clip URL A question about children ditching school. Sykes doesn’t think they cause many problems in the complex itself. Discussion of unemployment. 

11:56Copy video clip URL The police don’t enforce laws in the Robert Taylor Homes, in part because anyone who doesn’t want the police to come prevents the elevators from being called down to the ground floor. Discussion of the elevators being in frequent disrepair. 

13:15Copy video clip URL The barricades around the buildings. 

13:43Copy video clip URL Sykes doesn’t like living in the Robert Taylor Homes because his children are unsafe. 

14:15Copy video clip URL End of video.