The Boss and the Bulldozer - A Chicago Stories Documentary

They called him The Boss. Richard J. Daley, Chicago’s mayor from 1955 to 1976, came into office at a time when American cities like Chicago were losing population and industry to the suburbs in a phenomenon known as white flight. Daley’s answer was to build. He pulled together a team of city planners to create his 1958 Plan for the Central City of Chicago and he used it as the blueprint to build a modern downtown. But Daley's vision for a modern Chicago came with a cost. Between 1948 and 1963, nearly 168,000 people were displaced in the city of Chicago. Old neighborhoods disappeared and newly constructed areas faced increasing racial pressures.
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[@dmitryr1223]

thank you WTTW for the quality content

[@MikeMusicandMotivation]

I love Chicago stories I learn so much

[@ih8you2002]

49 and still Loving WTTW I've watched this channel since I was a child

[@hoss-lk4bg]

god lord you're a puppy son, ask your parents about Daley, we just explained him to our littles

[@ih8you2002]

I'm no puppy I study historical things know all about Pullman JC Whitney HH homes the Mafia and my dad's had trucking company since the 60s in the 50s and 40s he worked for reamer Bros the tanzillo boys tell me their trucks back then

[@johnm2617]

Cant stop watching this channel < And I'm not even from Chicago! Love the older history < Thanks for this gold !

[@stevensica5918]

Yeah, I'm a sleazy New Yorker and I am amazed how similar, in the broadest trams, is the history of the two cities. For both good and ill.

[@hhunstad2011]

So many of our cities ​@@stevensica5918

[@innerwoven_]

Learn something from each of your videos!

[@jimbarnes8706]

Very well done, however with some glaring omissions. The police riot during the 68 democrat convention, his order to shoot and kill looters during the MLK riots, and his power on a national level. The expressways were discussed, but kind of glossed over. This affected many neighborhoods, and was a huge undertaking.

[@KingSpaceySprockets]

Well said brother.

[@Heyu7her3]

Lots of similarities to what happened with *urban renewal* in Boston, except the housing development projects weren't high-rises. Neighborhoods were gutted for universities, esp. medical hospitals. And Black residents were eventually corralled into those buildings.

[@Irving-gp9oc]

Great program!! Would've been great to see more on his interactions with the Chicago business and banking community.

[@mathewm7136]

per "American Pharoah" - RJD dropped UIC(C) in Little Italy primarily to completely kick the Italian Mob out of Chicago and into Cicero.

[@mic1240]

Little Italy was already in decline, and suburbs were already (by far) the larger population for Italian Americans in Melrose Park, Elmwood Park and many other near West suburbs. The official Little Italy in Chicago is not Taylor Street area, rather far west/NW side.

[@cedricliggins7528]

​@@mic1240exactly

[@raycontreras422]

And get rid of the Mexicans coming closer to the loop.

[@gintasindreika933]

The greatest loss in the Loop was the demolition of the landmark Stock Exchange building on LaSalle Street in 1971. Greedy Daley single-handedly could have saved this Adler & Sullivan masterpiece.

[@percywillis]

West dallas is perfect example. Used to be very violent and high crime. THEY STARTED BUILDING HOUSES instead of housing projects. Pride went up, peace went up, communities strengthened, and INVESTORS BEGAN POURING IN. Imagine that. Businesses wanted to sell products to the NEW HOMEOWNERS!

[@stephenmoerlein8470]

Interesting history. Richard J Daley really modernized Chicago.

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

Yup, by destroying it

[@westernairephoenix1282]

I used to own low income apartments. 80% moved up from there with hard work. About 10% stayed because they were content to have something decent over their head. And then there is a percentage that were responsible for trouble. Often, no respect for the owner or neighbors. Most of this percentage left behind a trashed apartment and just disappeared. I lived and worked near Cabrini Green. I don't blame Chicago for what happened there.

[@garyflythe1362]

If you look at this documentary you can see this is the the beginning of the problems in 2023 Chicago. A black man or woman didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making it in Chicago

[@deidradahl2802]

@@garyflythe1362-- True. But it is never too late to get together as a black community, attend PTA, have after school lessons, know where our kids are at all times. Among our kids, there are doctors, lawyers, our own police, teachers and judges. It is in their DNAs just like anyone else. There will always be racial prejudice, we just have to make the effort for our own.

[@acidkriminalakaramiro3114]

Best documentary ever , thank you very much for a large piece of Chicago History :)

[@percywillis]

They said the Railroads wouldn't sell. SEIZE IT. Thats what they did to the Italian families didn't they? Or surely there was more land available. SO MANY EXCUSES.

[@Heyu7her3]

If not properly exorcised, the ghosts of the past will define our present reality.

[@hoss-lk4bg]

exorcised....

[@kandi895]

Lived 44th Lakepark..Remember this day

[@44blacksilver]

34:29 stream line what he say's is a fact jack , i know cause it happen in a neighborhood i lived in when i was 13 yr old .

[@chewie1644]

Helping middle class afford homes…wish that still was the case!!!!

[@stevensica5918]

Post-Reagan America. A Hobbesian nightmare.

[@cbsctom7428]

I don't care about your nationality, your color, your religion, your race, your sex, your whatever...If you are looking to the government to give you prosperity, you are setting yourself up for a big disappointment and a hard life!

[@hoss-lk4bg]

I do

[@stevensica5918]

Urban America - nothing works, and it is a total Zero-Sum game. What a ;lousy world.

[@brandonjacobs5452]

So the Robert Moses of Chicago

[@sarahshouse1890]

I just love these documentaries about Chicago and Mayor Daley. There's so many things I've learned from this video! I'm from the South suburbs...Dolton. IL, born in 1958, and was aware of some of these things, but the details here are so fascinating! I do remember the 1967 blizzard of Chicago as well as the 1968 riots, as my Dad's Volkswagen Beetle was close to being tipped over during that time of civil unrest by two young men (fortunately the Police interveined), but I'm so intrigued by things I've learned here. Mayor Daley was a strong Leader with a great passion and vision for Chicago, and I truly admire him for that. Some of the things he did were unconventional, but I suppose he felt the end justified the means. I loved going to Chicago with my family as a child. there was a lot to see and do there. Our grade school class took a field trip to the Brookfield Zoo, and Ill never forget that day. Daley made it a beautiful place in so many ways. His vision truly came to life. Today Chicago is being destroyed by incompetent and negligent so-called Leaders and the residents are paying the price. Violence and crime are out of control at a rate nobody has ever seen before with no consequences. I have not lived in Illinois since the early 80's, but it would be great to get a Republican Mayor and Governor for Chicago that would be able to restore it's long lost dignity.🇺🇲 46:56

[@saintdonni3661]

They were a gang!

[@panchog2552]

Daley was a Gangster.

[@user-fs8tl7ni1w]

I wonder if the people that they chose to interview in this show are real experts or simply chosen because they meet certain political (I’m being kind) criteria?

[@shirleylavernerosej.120]

That’s when OB got elected this exchange right here! Just like Eureka gold!

[@stevensica5918]

High rise public housing works just fine and dandy in Europe?

[@DD-ig2zy]

Sad history. So much unfairness.

[@brucestewart5939]

By the way, those who have been picked as interviewees all look and sound like the disgraced president of Harvard. Why not choose some real people from the streets to educate us all on the 'great' city of Chicago? That would be a treat😂😂

[@stevensica5918]

I didn't see anyone who looked like likudist Larry Summers.

[@tightcamper]

HAH! And the Americans had the nerve to criticize Rhodesia.

[@user-fs8tl7ni1w]

Media Memo: Don’t let 60 seconds go by without talking about race and racism. Got it?

[@currentgiant7498]

In what type of environment would a black neighborhood thrive?

[@percywillis]

Compare West Dallas to other areas in Dallas. You' notice the impact home ownership has on HUMAN BEHAVIOR. Developers ONLY put up more apartments and created MORE RENTERS in different pockets of the city. South Dallas, North Dallas (not the SMU area), Pleasant Grove. Some of these areas ARE STILL VERY DANGEROUS. People want to OWN PROPERTY. Its not complicated. Stop wasting government money, creating more renters! BUILD HOUSES and people's dependence on government will lessen. They wont need welfare once they own their house and land. AND SOMETHING ELSE magical happens. Homeowners want to spend more money on their homes (pride, happiness) and BUSINESSES want to sell products to homeowners! Homeowners ATTRACT INVESTORS and tax revenue.

[@desireajulissa3937]

Never in my lifetime would I've thought I would be uttering these words. Bring the Republican Mayors back. Born n raised here.

[@hoss-lk4bg]

for tha rest of us.....where's " here "

[@arbeegray3795]

W

[@paulazemeckis7835]

Where there are Lithuanians there is Jesus and boze. My parents moved out of Brighton Park to Morgan Park. Beautiful 1882 home. Family moved to Atlanta in 1971. Sadly they remained Roman Catholic.

[@stevensica5918]

Go move to Israel if you dislike RCs so bloody much.

[@user-fs8tl7ni1w]

This is a show on racism, not Daley. Everything is about race and gender with the Left.

[@jonathannightfire8768]

Mayor Daley was the greatest Mayor of Chicago. He should have been a republican because he was a pro-business. I wish I was a Mayor of Chicago right now.

[@brucestewart5939]

I'm wth the last guy, don't really care what or who you are but history has shown us time and time again what certain cultures do to a big city thru laziness, stupidity, corruption, crime and of course the innate feeling they are always owed something from someone.

[@jasonallen3678]

Not too many views or likes because the powers that be hate to hear about their ancestors evil doings and ain't noway around that fact..

[@user-fs8tl7ni1w]

Race, race, race… Talk about nothing else.

[@chanraedouglas7768]

It's ironic how the Italians think they're better than Blacks, but Urban Renewal in Chicago treated them worse.. White voters "loved" Richard J. Daley only when it was convenient, not realizing that the Black families who wanted to buy property in the suburbs could most times afford it better than them.. It's okay to clean your house, but not live next door, even though we were in this country longer??... In the 50's while Whites were given subsidies and were promised houses, my grandparents had their brick house built from scratch on land they bought.. My hometown Chicago would be a great city with less crime if there wasn't this racism going on..

[@sebastiancolyar]

Amen

[@KingSpaceySprockets]

Well said. My grandparents was the first black family to buy a house in a particular Roseland block. Soon after, the white neighbors moved. Mind you, my grandfather was a pastor.

[@cedricliggins7528]

​@@KingSpaceySprocketsWhat happened to the home your grandparents built?

[@KingSpaceySprockets]

@@cedricliggins7528 it’s in the family

[@user-fs8tl7ni1w]

Hey Leftists…downtowns = jobs

[@mathewm7136]

..."A lot of promises were made and a lot of promises were broken.:....welcome to the Democratic Party.

[@nathancoleman7235]

YO!

[@christinafidance340]

BOTH parties suck. Badly.

[@teejay6063]

Like disarming N. Korea, erasing the national debt, and building a wall.

[@mrwaterschoot5617]

​@@christinafidance340 that's politics it is finding the less of the two evils. write ins and other political independent parties follow the money frail . it flows from the taxpayer and and voters. then it flows up to lpcal state and government coffers and the politican spend that and more . print mor money or incur more government debt.

[@mjatlee6306]

LOL. Meanwhile, the Republicans were making sure blacks did not move to the suburbs.