National Public Housing Museum

 

National Public Housing Museum, 919 S. Ada St., Chicago

Of all the wicked problems facing western countries these days, housing may be the wickedest. The latest report from the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies shows (1) rental and owner-occupied housing prices at record highs, (2) unprecedented levels of homelessness, and (3) record amounts of claims from natural disasters (McCue 2025). Even in places where housing prices are in retreat, writes Strong Towns' Charles Marohn (2025), the result has not been great joy, but widespread pulling back by builders and financial institutions. 

In other words, the new National Public Housing Museum could not have opened at a better time. Located in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood, near the University of Illinois Chicago campus, it exists on land once occupied by the Jane Addams Houses, the first public housing constructed in the United States (in 1938). Four residences from various decades of the Jane Addams Houses are recreated in part of the museum.

Admission to the museum is free.

Public housing brochures from around the country

Some possessions of public housing residents

There are a number of exhibits still under construction...

...but you can see the activism room, highlighting organized efforts of residents to improve conditions and/or prevent eviction...

Activism room

...and the music room, a library of recordings by former public housing residents. These include Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, Kenny Rogers, and Barbra Streisand.

Music room

The heart and soul of the museum, however, is found on the tours of recreated public housing residences. These cost $25 (lower for seniors and students), and require reservations on the museum's website. There seem to be three tours, and I can't remember whether mine was "A," "B," or "C;" anyhow, your tour may have different content. (That's also the case at the Tenement Museum in New York.)

1940s: entrance to the Turovitz apartment

Turovitz family living room

Turovitz family kitchen

Displays are enhanced with oral histories; members of two of the families were present for the museum's grand opening earlier this year.

In the 1950s recreations, we saw a shadow play that included a crisp explanation of how housing policy, both public and private. through much of this period worked for whites and against blacks.

1950s: anti-integration protests

1960s: record player and 45s

living room TV console showing test pattern
(both the Sears Tower and the station's call letters are from the 1970s)

The biggest message of the Public Housing Museum experience was to humanize public housing residents. We meet real people, who have to deal with school and work and love and child-rearing just like everyone else, except more precariously. This is something worth remembering as government programs are mauled by the Trump administration gang, and as we collectively struggle with housing policy.

As seen above, the museum doesn't ignore public policy, but as a policy guy, I could have used a lot more. Public housing has gone through historical phases, from the early mid-rises to the infamous high rises to Section 8 vouchers, but the museum says very little about this history. It begs rather than addresses the question: Could public housing be the answer to some of the housing problems we face today?

It is bad form to critique any work based on what you wish it did, rather than what it does. Yet here I am, doing just that. I hope I've communicated that what the museum does, it does exceptionally well. It may be that future exhibits address policy more; that's an important part of the story, too.

MUSEUM WEBSITE: Welcome to the National Public Housing Museum in Chicago

RELATED POSTS:

"Everything is Connected, Including Housing Issues," 14 November 2024

"Metro Housing Update," 7 February 2024

SEE ALSO:

Charles Marohn, "What Happens When Housing Prices Go Down? (Because They Are)," Strong Towns, 21 July 2025

Daniel McCue, "A Year for the Record Books: The State of the Nation's Housing in Perspective," Joint Center for Housing Studies, 9 July 2025

"Supportive Housing Offers High-Impact, Cost-Effective Response to Homelessness and Opioid Use," Stanford Report, 27 June 2025

10th anniversary post: CR churches

 

Apartments across from Greene Square,
part of a surge of building in the core of Cedar Rapids

Ten years ago this month, I hosted two events featuring Charles Marohn, founder and CEO of Strong Towns: an evening public event at the Iowa City Public Library, and a meeting of the Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization the next morning in Ely. Remarkably, I wrote nothing about those events and took no pictures; all I did was post a link to the video on Iowa City's website, which link has, alas, now expired. (A subsequent Iowa City appearance by Chuck, in 2019, can be found here:)

I did take pictures in July 2015, lots of them, of churches in the Oak Hill Jackson neighborhood. The idea was that there were a number of houses of worship remaining from the era when the core of Cedar Rapids was bustling and dense, and that when--as I anticipated--urbanism returned bustle and density to the city center, these religious institutions would be ready to support the new arrivals and be the basis for renewed community.

Since that post, three more churches have been started in Oak Hill Jackson, and I have acquired editions of Polk's Directory for 1953 and 1998 that show changes in the property uses as well as in the surrounding areas.

New Churches

Veritas is a non-denominational church that
hosts a coffeehouse on weekdays

Veritas Church, 509 3rd St SE

In 1953 this building was Nash Finch wholesale grocers (the folks who operated the Econo Foods and Sun Mart chains). There was a Sinclair station on the other side of 3rd. In 1998 there was no listing for the church's current address, while Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity occupied the building across the street that is now their ReStore. The oldest Google Earth photo, from 2012, shows the Intermec company occupying this building.

Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1103 3rd St SE

This congregation was started in 2020, and is affiliated with the conservative Presbyterian Church of America. They hold services in the theater at CSPS Hall, a historic Czech and Slovak community center dating from the 1890s. In 1953, this block of 3rd Street had, besides CSPS, six single-family households, one duplex, and 11 businesses, as well as the Salvation Army at 1119-1123 (now Parlor City). In 1998, there were two households and five businesses sharing the block with CSPS.

Revolution Community Church, 1202 10th St SE

This congregation, along with the ROC (Recovering Our City) Center, is using the building that ten years ago was occupied by Oak Hill Jackson Community Church. The sign above the door actually says "Refuge City Church," which testifies to the versatility of the abbreviation "RCC." In 1953 this was St. George Syrian Orthodox Church, which built the church in 1914; they moved to Cottage Grove Avenue SE in 1992. In the 1998 Polk's Directory there was no listing on 10th Street SE between 12th and 15th Avenues.

Older White Denominations

First Presbyterian Church, 310 5th St SE

This venerable church was built in 1869, and occupies the same block as the also-historic YWCA, opposite Greene Square Park. "First Pres" is the first of the oldline Third Avenue Churches; now, with the departure of First Christian Church and People's Church (Unitarian Universalist) in the 2010s, it is also the only mainline church on the southeast side below 10th Street.

St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, 1224 5th St SE

Built in 1904, this church long served the working class neighborhood around the Sinclair meatpacking plant. In 1953 just that block of 5th Street had 14 households containing 47 residents, as well as two vacant houses and the Sisters of Mercy at 1230 5th. In 1998, the block still had seven occupied residences, but all the older houses in the area were bought up and leveled after the 2008 flood. 

Historically Black Congregations

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 512 6th St SE 

Built in 1931, Bethel AME Church has, like St. Wenceslaus, has continued its ministry after losing many of its closest neighbors. In 1953, the 500 block of 6th Street had seven single-family homes and two duplexes with a total population of 45. By 1998 it was down to two single-family homes, two vacant apartments at 514 6th, and four residences "not verified." Today there is just a vacant lot between Bethel and 5th Avenue.

New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ, 631 9th Av SE 

This church was built by Hus Presbyterian Church in 1915; Hus moved to Schaeffer Drive SW in 1973, and then closed in 2021. The 9th Avenue block had seven single-family homes and four duplexes in 1953, with a total of 68 residents. By 1998, the New Jerusalem congregation was established in the building, and the block listed five single-family homes and two duplexes.

Historically Black Congregations (possibly shut)

Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, 1030 7th St SE 

This church was built in 1965, but it's not clear that it's still in operation. Their Facebook page last updated 2022, and they're no longer listed on American Baptist Churches website. The banner still appears on the building, and the lawn is cut, but a sign on the door says "Mask required to enter," which surely is a vestige of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-21.

In 1953, this address was the home of John D. Malbrue, a factory worker for Collins Radio, and his family of five. The block had 13 homes for 45 people, as well as a grocery store at 1000 7th. In 1998, the block had three homes, the church, and a social service organization called Options; 1000 7th was vacant. (Today 1000 7th is the site of the charming Sacred Cow tavern.)

Southeast Church of Christ, 930 9th St SE 

A handsome "Church of Christ" sign has been added to the exterior since 2015, but the charming garden I noticed is gone. Its web and Facebook links are to churches in Texas. In 1953, the building contained the grocery store of William W. Krejci; the block had 10 single-family homes and five duplexes, with a total population of 68. The 1998 Polk's Directory lists the Church of Christ, nine homes, and two "not verified." It's still a well-settled block.

Here in 1998, but no longer

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 824 8th St SE

Mt. Zion moved to the edge of town after the 2008 flood, after nearly a century in the neighborhood. Its location is now part of a parking lot for the MedQuarter. Before the move, that block of 8th Street, which once was home to 56 people besides the church and a funeral home, was down to the church and one vacant property. 

Church of Jesus Christ of the Apostolic, 916 10th St SE

In 1953 this address was the house owned by Mrs. Francis Leksa. It is now part of an apartment complex constructed post-flood.

Plenty of churches remain nearby: Harris Oak Hill Apartments

Holy Ghost Missionary Baptist Church, 1003 6th St SE

There is no listing for this address in the 1953 Polk's Directory, but 1001 6th was the home and store of grocer Milo Grubhoffer. What was probably the church building was for some time post-flood used for storage by the nonprofit Feed Iowa First. Something new is being constructed in its place even as we speak.

Construction at former Holy Ghost site

Ten years on, the church scene in Oak Hill Jackson is different, but similar. In the meantime, there's been a lot of building.

New Bo Lofts addition, across from St. Wenceslaus

Loftus Lofts, in the heart of New Bohemia

Will all this new construction be populated? Will the new residents find, or even look for, community in their neighborhood churches? Do the churches even want to play the role of community rebuilder, or are they focused on their present membership? To answer these questions, we would need data, which I famously don't have.

ORIGINAL POST (with more pictures): "CR Churches," 20 July 2015

Book review: The Nature of Our Cities

 

Nadina Galle (left) and Lieve Mertens,
with Dutch language editions of the book
(Source: nadinagalle.com)

Galle, Nadina. The Nature of Our Cities: Harnessing the Power of the Natural World to Survive a Changing Planet. Mariner, 2024, 304 pp.

Anyone who wants to make healthy choices in America today knows how difficult it is. So many of us live in neighborhoods without green spaces to play in, without public transit or cycling infrastructure, or where temptations lurk in vending machines in every corner of our offices and schools. And suppose we manage to find the time to exercise in our stressful lives. In that case, the limitations of our outdoor spaces push us onto stationary bikes, where we either stare at news headlines that spike our cortisol levels, or "travel" through virtual landscapes from within a windowless basement gym. (2024: 194)

I finished reading Nadina Galle's book this morning on my back deck, enjoying what was an inexpressively lovely day in Cedar Rapids: the air was clear, the previous week's humidity had gone, a bee was investigating Jane's lilacs, and a variety of birds were making their presences known from high above me. It was the sort of morning where a person can revel in pure existence, regardless of personal problems or America's problems or natural disasters.

Much of the rest of the world is not as easily able to relax with a good book and a pad of paper. After the hottest-ever June in England and Spain, London experienced its hottest day of the year today. Heat deaths are reported in France, Spain and Portugal, and wildfires in Turkey have caused mass evacuations (Robins 2025, "Heatwave Across Europe" 2025). Wildfires across Canada earlier this summer produced smoke and haze even here in Iowa.  Many cities are experiencing increased rat populations as their climate warms (Simon 2025).

The Nature of Our Cities references other recent catastrophes: a record European heatwave in 2019 that was surpassed in 2022, a 2021 heat dome over the U.S. Pacific Northwest, a worldwide heatwave that began in the U.S. in 2023, the Camp Fire in California in 2018, heat wildfires and then massive flooding in British Columbia in 2021, and numerous urban tree die-offs and air quality alerts. Along the way she introduces us to a number of people working on improving their region's resilience to a climate gone haywire.

Even in Cedar Rapids (my backyard, specifically):
Trees tossed by derecho winds, August 2020

About halfway through the book, the focus switches to improving the public's opportunities to experience nature. The most willful climate change deniers cannot be reached, but surely there are a lot of people who already recognize the problem but don't fully realize their personal stakes. Besides, exposure to nature has many physical and mental health benefits (cf. pp. 160-161).

It's in this part of the book where we meet Menno Schilthuizen in the Dutch city of Leiden, teaching people about the enormous diversity of species in a single patch of lawn near the central train station (ch. 6); Blake Ellis, a California-based ecotherapist (ch. 7); Jared Hanley, a former financier who's developed an app that shows the extent of an area's ecosystem (ch. 8); and Richard Louv, who does public talks on the subject of Nature-Deficit Disorder, which term he himself coined (ch. 9). On each of the outdoor adventures during which these conversations occur, Galle lets her interviewees speak for themselves, with descriptions of the environs and additional amusing asides. She does not insist on herself, though it's clear she has a lot of expertise and experience in nature. (She holds a Ph.D. in ecological engineering.)

Her final chapter brings it home, because as the book neared completion, she also found out she was pregnant for the first time (ch. 9). She worries to us about bringing a child into a world that encourages screen time more than nature time. But along the way, as she discusses nature-based apps like AllTrails (p. 164), EarthSnap (pp. 149-151), iNaturalist, Park Rx America (pp. 186-188), Vira (p. 201), World Safari (pp. 234-237), and Giants of the North, a geolocated audio tour of Amsterdam (pp. 170-175), she argues that technology can help us experience nature as well as providing high-tech climate resilience tools.

A mile from the Coe College campus, across the street
from Washington High School: Woodsy trail in Bever Park

Cedar Rapids has a rich array of parks, including two spacious parks (Bever and Ellis) with older-growth wooded areas. Going forward, ensuring access to parks and natural space is a key part of the "complete neighborhood" concept the city has announced, and is listed as an objective for 2050 in the 2023 revision of the city's climate action plan. Funding for any such initiatives is uncertain, or course, and thus far the city's biggest climate action has been (federally funded) construction of flood walls. Whatever we're doing, or say we're doing, is far from offsetting the impact of the two big data centers about which we're very excited.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has disparaged
military research into the impacts of climate change

Climate denial is in full control at the national and state levels (in this state, anyway). U.S. government websites have removed information on climate change impacts (Borenstein 2025). The Trump administration previously clawed back solar installation and climate research grants; withdrew from the Paris climate accord January 21, 2025; threatened Environmental Protection Agency employees studying climate change with firing at any time (Friedman 2025); announced plans to end Department of Transportation climate programs (Pierre-Louis 2025); and fired nearly 1000 employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including all staff at tsunami warning centers (Nilsen and Luhby 2025). This week they're showing off the new federal prison camp built with Federal Emergency Management Agency funds on environmentally sensitive land in Florida's Everglades. Far-sighted public policy is just not going to happen anytime soon; the most we can hope is that they would leave cities alone to do what they can.

The climate doesn't care about politics, of course, and will continue to evolve whether we are prepared or not. Galle's engaging book, and all the people in it, provide hope that the natural world will continue to be accessible, publicly valued, and conducive to human life.

SEE ALSO:

I first encountered Dr. Galle when she was a guest on Gil Penalosa's excellent "Cities for Everyone" webinar series in July 2024. Her talk (38:15) is here.

Nadina Galle blog page