Troubled Times in Riverdale

By: Paul F. CuadrosRiverdale seems like a typical Chicago suburb, with neat homes, well-groomed lawns and quiet streets. But in the middle of this south suburb, life is very different, residents said.

"The kids couldn't go outside and play," said Barbara Latiker, a mother of five who from 1986 to 1989 lived in Pacesetter, a section of Riverdale with a high concentration of subsidized housing. "There was always stealing, breaking in, begging and warring."

Riverdale had 42 families and 33 elderly people on Section 8 housing in 1983. Now there are 168 families and 39 elderly tenants, according to the Cook County Housing Authority, which runs the program of federal rent subsidies for low income people. Most of them live in Pacesetter.

"They came as a flood," said Dennis Malloy, the town's former fire chief. "Section 8 requires more services from the community, there are more calls and more demand for fire, emergency medical service, police and building code inspections."

Riverdale has also seen a dramatic increase in its black population—from 0.27 percent in 1980 to 40.7 percent in 1990. During the same period, the white population dropped from 12,460 to 7,846.

Latiker was living in Melrose Park when she first enrolled in the program. "The places I wanted to move to weren't accepting Section 8, so I ended up in no man's land." Latiker said she wanted to move to Bellwood, where she had friends and family. But she ran out of time and had to take an apartment in Riverdale instead.

"At the time I didn't know nothing about drugs or gangs or nothing," she said. "Once they put you in there, they forget about you, just like a dog," she said.

"That's not good for the families," said James Shannon, director of the Fair Housing Center of the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities. "You want Section 8 families to live where they can get off the program."

Gary Jump, program coordinator of Section 8 at the Cook County Housing Authority, said "a lot of people use the certificates right where they're living. We don't provide a list of landlords."

Gregory Lewandowski, owner of Target Management, a rental agency in Riverdale, said the housing authority "has failed in its job to spread Section 8 housing fairly."

Riverdale is typical of "what's been taking place in the south suburbs," said Frank Koeler, director of community and economic development. The village is considering fair housing laws and a human relations commission that would prohibit racial discrimination, steering and redlining, he said.

"Diverse communities are not seen as being economically viable," said Sharon Caddigan, president of the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance. Beth Ruyle, executive director of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, agrees: "If you cluster people down here, you cluster them away from jobs."

Riverdale is fighting back by creating three said tax increment finance districts to attract for investment, Koeler said. Property taxes get help pay for the districts' redevelopment. And since 1976, the village has spent $2 million in federal Community Development Block, Grants for housing rehab and street repairs, Koeler said.

"I'd like to see the community stay integrated, but it will become very segregated if they don't get Section 8 under control," Malloy said.

Barbara Latiker had seen enough. In 1989 she moved to Calumet City.