Each time I look at the opening credits of “Good Times”, the TV comedy, I am reminded that none of the housing projects in the show are still there. Cabrini Green was demolished by the government in 2011. The Evans family lived within one of the buildings. However, they were never given the name of their home. Chicagoans grew up knowing exactly where they lived. Visit Altura EC Price before reading this.
My parents lived in the same projects as me when I was young. Cabrini Green could be found on the northeast side. Rockwell Gardens, on the other side of town. The buildings were demolished in early 20th century. While our front room wasn’t quite as big as the Evans home, the apartment we lived in was very similar. Two bedrooms, small bathrooms, and little storage space were all found in our apartment. There wasn’t enough room to accommodate a single mother of three with three kids, but it was possible.
My family had left the buildings long before CBS’s 1974 premiere of “Good Times.” It was still a part of our everyday lives. There were many issues such as broken elevators, vandalized dryers and washers in the laundry rooms, and even gang wars which forced residents to flee their homes. Others that took place on this series were not necessarily true.
A curious thing about the show was that everybody, family and next-door neighbour Wilona Whites could easily walk into Evans’ house without even having to ask. That’s not a new TV trope. It is done as it’s too tedious and boring to show people opening their doors, particularly when it is someone they already know. Most of those who have lived in the buildings would agree that apartments with front doors had to be kept locked. If the front door was left unlocked, it would have looked like a sign saying “Please come in to take anything you want.” That was simply not the way it went.