Impressions of Chicago, 1932, Chicago. Gordon Coster

Impressions of Chicago, 1932, Chicago. Gordon Coster

LaSalle St. Canyon, 1951, Chicago

LaSalle St. Canyon, 1951, Chicago

St. Adalbert’s, 1650 W 17th, 1948, Chicago

St. Adalbert’s, 1650 W 17th, 1948, Chicago

Chicago, 1951, Art Shay

Chicago, 1951, Art Shay

Chicago, 1960, Yasuhiro Ishimoto

Chicago, 1960, Yasuhiro Ishimoto

State Street, 1956, Chicago

State Street, 1956, Chicago

Uptown Boys, 1965, Chicago. Danny Lyon

A soldier on leave builds sand castles with a volunteer at the servicemen’s center, Fullerton Ave Beach, 1943, Chicago.

A soldier on leave builds sand castles with a volunteer at the servicemen’s center, Fullerton Ave Beach, 1943, Chicago.

The fun police arrives to turn off a hydrant, 1959, Chicago.

The fun police arrives to turn off a hydrant, 1959, Chicago.

Bobby Hull celebrates post game, 1966, Chicago. Art Shay Let’s go Hawks! Not just a gratuitous beefcake photo: Hull was famously proud of his physique and when not in a Blackhawks uniform, he would take his shirt off (or more) at the drop of a hat…

Bobby Hull celebrates post game, 1966, Chicago. Art Shay

Let’s go Hawks!

Not just a gratuitous beefcake photo: Hull was famously proud of his physique and when not in a Blackhawks uniform, he would take his shirt off (or more) at the drop of a hat…

Age of Adolescence, 1959-64, Chicago. Joseph Sterling

Age of Adolescence, 1959-64, Chicago. Joseph Sterling

Clarendon Beach, 1919, Chicago

Clarendon Beach, 1919, Chicago

650 N Dearborn, at Erie, 1945, Chicago. Built in 1882, the once notorious Raleigh Hotel still stands, converted to condos in the mid 1980s.

650 N Dearborn, at Erie, 1945, Chicago.

Built in 1882, the once notorious Raleigh Hotel still stands, converted to condos in the mid 1980s.

Chicago Lifeguards, 1933 Chicago Tribune Archives

Chicago Lifeguards, 1933

Chicago Tribune Archives

In 1934, the Metropolitan Housing Council was created to find a solution for the city’s slums and run down tenements.

At the onset, the idea was to rehab all of the run down homes in the city. The council placed two homes, one run down and the other modernized on the island at Wacker and Wabash. The claim was that the dilapidated home could be modernized in one day to look like the shining, gleaming cottage displayed.

When money did not materialize for this project, the council helped pass the Illinois Housing Act, which, along with the federal Housing Act of 1937, led to the first public housing projects built in the city.