Larger Apartments

A brief documentary about the movement for affordable housing in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood and nearby. A new edit of footage shot in Chicago in the 1970s.

00:04Copy video clip URL Images of empty lots and decaying buildings in Chicago, set to a rendition of the song “Las Casas de cartón.” 

00:40Copy video clip URL Tom McLaughlin and a group of local residents, presents on the need for affordable housing in Uptown for families to a Chicago administrator.

01:01Copy video clip URL A man speaks in Spanish, with another attendee of the meeting translating into English. He shares that he has lived in Uptown for about 12 years, but that starting a family means that he needs to leave. 

01:26Copy video clip URL McLaughlin  shares that he is always concerned when people with power are nice to him, and sees the need to make the Board of Housing and the governor acknowledge the need for larger housing units for families. 

02:00Copy video clip URL At a gathering at a kitchen table, a man shares his optimism about the movement for fair housing. He plays a song on his guitar, which he sings in Spanish. 

02:35Copy video clip URL A demonstration, with commentary about the need for the Illinois Department of Housing to provide adequate housing for families. 

03:00Copy video clip URL Onscreen text: “Ultimately the resident of Uptown and Edgewater persuaded the authorities at the Illinois Department of Housing to provide larger apartments for their families.” An image of a “For Rent” sign for “The Pines of Edgewater. 5220 Kenmore.” 

03:13Copy video clip URL Credits.