Caged Men: Tales From Chicago's Last Remaining SRO Hotels 

And I am living in an old style hotel Money I S NOT everything

Good on ya, cheers.s

Blissings to you dear🩷🩷

Send you a big hug. These kind of stories need to be heard. You’re a good person with a good heart. God bless you. I hope you don’t have to work for the rest of your life.

I delivered pizza for 5 years in the late 1980s to early 90s. I found the guy with Sam or Mike in his blue collar shirt gave you a fair tip. Rich dude if town i had a few stiffs I knew were not going to tip. After 3 times their pizza was last of the 3 or 4 orders i left the store with.

Its interesting these places, SRO's or rooming houses disappeared in all western countries around the same time. Same thing happened in countries like Canada, Australia, UK, etc. Its like there was a deliberate plan to get rid of them all. Now the cheapest apartments are out of reach of the poor.

In Australia almost any city rent for 1br is $400/wk. Min wage is 700/wk.

@@Heopful, Yikes!!

“Murica” isn’t a country or a nation, genius lol

@@marcbasil What comment are you responding too Imbecile?

And a door to close and lock.

Amen, exactly. Here in Boston there aren’t many, but we still have some.

It's a profound part of the human experience. If we can't have a place to feel safe, secure, and clean... we end up losing ourselves. In a world that knows these obvious facts, it's utterly heart breaking we're still treating people like third rate animals.

What is an SRO?

@@mariaa.5829 single resident occupancy

@@mariaa.5829it’s actually single *room* occupancy

What about people who are loners but have only blood relatives to fall back on?

​@@keyurpatel1982so, what about them!

I agree..... I have a lot of relatives & siblings. However I do not consider any of them family!

Create one yourself !

@@suzanneblaylock9598 sure if you want to help me pay for it

Danielle... thank you very much!

Look at old police reports from that place lol

My old apartment building called Times Square in Buena Park on the North Side used to be the Buena Park Beach Hotel i found out that Groucho Marx and The Marx Brothers used to perform in the ballroom there

@@dominicvega9267 where ?

@@BillBondsHasAPosse the library. Archives. They use to pull out a dead body every night. Home to pimps bums killers dealers and normal people trying to get thru something or people down on their luck. Ex cons with no place to go etc. Overdose. Suicide. Stabbings it was something else for a living standard. Rooms where they'd sell and use a women. Rooms where people just go to shoot up. Drunken brawls. Places like that only had like a bathroom everyone would use but because of the drunks peeing in the sinks its unusable. The calls they get now for things on a police scanner hasn't really changed for spots. This building yes but Chicago no. Still the same. Chcigaos public library has newspapers archives from this place. I recommend checking out other places too projects etc. Urbanization.

I came here hoping to find out what happened to his cat

​@@KITTYKITTYBOme too!

​@@KITTYKITTYBOI just did the same 😢

There should be more affordable housing for the average Joe's that go and work their ass off every day.

Five years after this was posted this statement still holds true sadly 😢

@@LuisaD93 yep

@@empire0 a lot of people who are in need have paid taxes and worked their but off for years and end up physically disabled and un able to work. When your disabled unless one managed to invest in disability insurance , etc one ends up without and living on concrete never ever anticipating that this was ever a possibility.

I lived in SROs in Los Angeles. I also remember living in a one bedroom place out there. I could afford the one bedroom WITHOUT SECTION 8. Rents were low in the 1970s. Now rent is superhigh.. LA has over 68,000 homeless. There used to be far less. Sooner-or-later something has to be done!!

"There but for the Grace of God go I." ~ John Bradford

There are still a few SRO hotels in San Diego. I have lived in one for 15 years.

@@handsomeman-pm9vy I stayed in the YMCA on Broadway(?) a number of times in 1981. It was a nice place.

Same here in Oregon. My first 1 bedroom here in 83 was 180.00 utilities included. Times have changed. I'm 63 now and in gratitude for subdidized housing i have or i'd be homeless

Move to the uk mate , we pay 500.00 uk a month for a 4 storey 3 bedroom ,2 living room house with a garden at the back , we live about 20 minutes away from Sherwood Forest

​@@valley_robotNottingham must be 😊 North of England still has some village energy and friendliness.

Glad I’m not the only one who immediately thought of that movie 😉

Having freedom and the chance to be prosperous while hating the country that makes it possible out of a sense of false justice manufactured for the purposes of undermining the freedom, opportunity, and any existing prosperity that may exist for anybody of any race is a far more mind-blowing paradox. Love it or leave it.

@@pablosmoglivesno I don’t think I will 😏

He is just poor. Many vets are poor and for most of them, rich or poor... their military service was the best times of their life

“My conditions aren’t good but I’d rather be there than on the street” isnt the deranged, hypocritical position you think it is

@evan12697 I was referring to the guy in the meeting in the white tank top.. he said their living conditions was like a dog and horrible then the next sentence was complaining cuz they were shutting the place down.. don't think we're thinking of the same guy

I’m proud of you stranger for never giving up and fighting for you life and mental health, best wishes to you! 💕

thank you, i needed to hear that. even though im not homeless, i easily could be. i struggle with addiction and other issues from the way ive been treated my whole life--abuse. sober now and trying to stay close to God.

You sound exactly like my twin! I was a nurse's assistant until I had a breakdown. I ended up homeless and then found a place at the former YMCA in Chicago. I was there and received help from a social worker and applied for my benefits. Now I have S8 and a studio apt. I only have one cat though. So proud of how well you did!

Are you a saved Christian?

Wishing you the very best

Seconded

No. They also show dignity…and the rapacious nature of amerikka

It seems that if you fall through the cracks, you're just left on the ground.

@@Fireneedsair i have never seen someone spell it "aamerikka" while also not being a very low iq individual

they didnt tell you about the horrible bed bug infestation there.

You are so right, all the while saying the same people have a right to fail and providing NOTHING

This is why we have such bad homelessness because they have shut down mental institutions and these one room places for people to go. It’s just really a bad situation. It’s all about gentrification and development.

​@@SeeCSeesCChey can I ask what does SRO hotel mean? I've never heard that term

@@gregheard9425 I’ve never seen that initial description before and I’m assuming that means standing room only but I’ve seen that kind of a hotel in big cities in the west where I’m from

​@@gregheard9425it means Single Room Occupancy. Your the only person that lives in that room. Most SRO's are no bigger than a jail cell. They are some left in my city, but slowly they are getting bought out or forced out. NYC here. Rents here are impossible to keep with, even in low rent areas.

Me too… I arrived in Chicago in November 1985 with 60 bucks in my pocket. Lived at the Tokyo for 6 months trying to get on my feet. Most tenants had problems and were down and out. But, a few were younger people with nothing trying to improve themselves. Learned a lot about people back then at a young age. Mostly good some bad. Remember drinking beer with some tenants at the fire escape. I’m retired now and collecting pensions… this place will forever be in my memories…. It was the beginning for me… while the end for many. Oh, I remember the elevator guy was kind of an asshole.

Bingo! They've commoditized a basic human right - shelter. Shouldn't be allowed.

I live in LA too and more SLO's would help a lot of homeless get off the street, even a cheap studio is 1300 and you have to show proof of income at 3x rent amount and pay first/last/deposit

I was homeless at 16, 1967. I paid $20/week for a room at the Oak Park YMCA. It saved my life. I stayed over a year and finished school. There's no basic, cheap housing anywhere anymore

@@brucekrause2801 I'm so glad you had the YMCA, and that you were able to take care of yourself and finish school. I hope life has been kinder to you since then. It's rough to be on your own at 16.

There were also better jobs back then that didn't require education.

Wow, a businessman/landlord who isn't a total dick. I'm frankly gobsmacked. If there really is a god, may he bless you.

If what you say is really true, and I hope it is, you're a good soul. Stay golden

Sounded like a great man...to bad his "ACTUAL REAL FAMILY" MISSED OUT KNOWING AND LOVING A GREAT HUMAN BEING...TO LATE NOW!!! SO SAD...R.I.P. SIR ❤️🙏❤️

So you're lurking on RU-vid about these places? Guarantee you would fold and kick them out on the street for a price, your not in the feeling business or you wouldn't charge them that much, you're in it to make money. Stop with your BS bleeding heart nonsense. I'm not going to justify with what I do, but I'm retired and have been since 40 years old, I know ppl like you who pretend to care about humanity on the outside, but I don't see you devoting your life to help ppl. So just stop

Where are your businesses. I will spend my $ with you sir.

THAT, my friend, is so very true. My best to you and yours.

@@carabiner7999 ❤

I second this.

I was just thinking that. This would be a godsend for so many people and so many more sooner than later with the way things are going in this economy. I know there have been some times in my life that it would have been for me too. And after some emergency health issues and the loss of my husband I may very well be again soon.

Amen

Perhaps these hotels will be Rehabbed..They serve a purpose to the community..

What was it like living there as a woman? Was the place you stayed at predominantly male, like the place in this video, or was it more mixed? Was it generally a safe place for women to stay? It’s good that background checks were done to protect the safety of residents and their property. Do you know if that’s standard for this type of facility? The man in this video said they don’t do any background checks. That sounds frightening.

Actually, you wouldn't know if they were an addict or not. Not all addicts have a criminal record, not all addicts lie or steal. I think it's hilarious how people still to this day seem to think that you can just look at someone and you would know if they were an addict or not. I'm 31 years old without a criminal record, I'm blonde, tan, and fit, and nobody would ever suspect that I have been addicted to oxycodone for almost a decade, mostly prescribed, but I have always dressed well, maintained a condo and a car and I have given thousands upon thousands of dollars to my family even in the worst parts of my addiction. I don't lie, I always show up when I say I'm going to, and nobody would ever guess I was addicted to anything. So please just don't assume by looking at someone that you know if they are an addict or not, because that's just not true, the most well put together, well-dressed person in the room can be the most miserable, dependent on a substance , and hopeless person in the entire building and you would have no idea.

Wow. Not “trash” huh? Like human beings are? Mental issues and/or addiction don’t make people garbage.

@@Mischa21xo you are absolutely right. I’ve been to detox centers and rehab facilities countless times, and over and over again, I hear people say, “you don’t look like you do heroin”. Whatever the heck that means. I’ve been on methadone for 4 years now, and been clean from all illicit substances for 3.5 years. It’s so important to break the stigma and the stereotypes that come with addiction. We truly do come from all walks of life. You seem like a kind, genuine person with a good head on your shoulders. Please be safe. I know that probably comes across as something that people are supposed to say, but I sincerely mean it. The most heartbreaking feeling in the world is having a loved one who doesn’t get the chance to start over. The people who love you would never get over that pain. I have faith that you can make it out on the other side. You have the rest of your life to look forward to, and after years and years of chasing that drug, a quiet, low-key, simple life can be so peaceful, rewarding and fulfilling. Wishing you all the best, and all the joy and peace that you deserve. ♥️

Me too. Left 1999.

I'm sorry you lost the gentleman you met. Hearing others true stories puts our selfish trivial problems in perspective.

Its crazy the things systematic discrimination can do to a person. Alcoholism is a real thing that affects every types of people. People assume its equates to one thing, but it can really be equal to so many other issues and struggles within a persons life. People can be much more than the problems they face.

You know, the fact he got to talk to you and tell his story, is a really important step in "end of life care". You performed as essential task and you didn't even know it. Bless you for your kindness. ❤

Please write Danny’s story down everyone deserve to be remembered 🧐

😢so sorry, i just find this video and didn't know this even existed.

I'll 2nd that!

Create one yourself !

​@@suzanneblaylock9598what's that ACTUALLY mean?

The thanks go to the business owners who still treat their customers as human beings.

​@@suzanneblaylock9598create one what?

Also known as flop houses

i was caretaker in a rooming house for one year on sherbrook street in The Peg. 1993-4? It was everyone and everything. it was mostly sad. the one year employment - free rent, utilities and use of the leaking garage - was all i could stand.

@@Scriptorsilentum Ah yes. Sherbrook...Maryland...Langside and on and on. I am aware of the area. I feel sorry for the kids growing up around there.

@@randywatts6969 Your point, Randy??? Just a smart ass derogatory comment on your part, right?🙄

There was no worse housing. This was the last parachute for most of those guys

@@robertbruner7429 you missed the part where America took the 1 form of housing keeping them off the streets. Call it ‘worst,’ but now it’s tents under freeways 🤷‍♂️

@@Sprite_525 I didn't miss that. That's why I referred to them as the "last parachute." I'm well aware of all the desperation going on as a result of their unfortunate closure. I live in Chicago, and two blocks away is a city park filled with tents. Go onto Lake Shore Drive and half the lakefront is filled with tents. It's absolute bullshit that these places were destroyed and nothing was done to replace them. The transient hotels were great, they offered shelter while someone searched for better work, an alternative to nursing homes for old people striving to maintain independence etc. These issues are increasing and ignoring the problem solves nothing.

Now that Chicago has a more holistic mayor, perhaps this should be brought up to him

Has this happened because of low interest rates that fueled speculation in real estate?

Class genocide. Absolutely

I know that building it's now a luxury apartments now

I have been there

I don't like your dad!

@@KASABERHAGEN Dad is great. Family is about loving one another even when a family member is wrong in a moment. Part of growing up and becoming a man is accepting that your total well being is always your responsibility. Help and favors from others is something to be appreciated, not expected.

@chi773guy And I totally get that. I understand. However, I guess that my empathy for you is vastly more superior.

It's usually the people that have the least who are willing to help others the most.❤

Move to a cheaper state

What's the name of the SRO?

@@frankihatch yeah cause moving is free and it's no problem to come up with two months' rent in a new place where you don't have your social safety net

@@benjamina2711 just get a job

Move to Cleveland it's not so bad cost of living much cheaper and lots of things to do and enjoy just not in the winter so much

Good advice, sir

Yeah, one of them cage hotels was on Wilson, on the North side of the street, by the Wilson el stop. The day labor place was right next door and so was the bar!

All this was on purpose up the rich and down with the poor that's how come we have America today it's been going on for at least fifty years

😃

​@ivanvanogre-nd1sw I never stayed there bit had friends in there, a lot of drugs, I stayed at the Darlington for a year 2012, I miss Chicago, I done plastering there for 20 years. I now live in thailand.

He seems like a nice enough fellow, but his math skills are definitely lacking. 100-9 isn’t 80. What about when the veterans that are murderers or rapists? That first vet admitted he was a murderer, almost like it was nothing. That is what the military teaches people, to kill others without emotion or remorse.

yes indeed, as well as his hones poetry. so sad to read he did not make it, when he was contributing so much to society and was so deserving of happiness himself.

@@yourbestfriendliz5832 I have to admit, it brought me to tears when it came to that part of the documentary. Crying for a man I never knew or met, but recognized the loss to society by his early passing.

Hope you are at peace mr! ❤

and why is it after your whole life you still can't get your shit together? Serious question.

Thank you for sharing your tales of trial and tribulations, Mr. MensAsses33.

The big guy at the front desk!?

@@jorgebarranco4200 Yes.

Said he was gonna live another 50 years. He seemed like a great guy

@@jorgebarranco4200 yes

I live near Chicago & am so happy to see in your post that SRO's still offer affordable housing to those who need it, and that there are still mental health organizations such as yours, that offer housing resources by suppying rooms to the homeless, who would otherwise be sleeping rough. Thank you. ♡

They closed the one in uptown/ argyle Street " little vietnam".

Omgosh I haven't seen the whole thing yet😢

Hope you find a place. Stay strong and God bless you.

Good Luck!

Iowa has some reasonable prices if you can make it out here.

Whenever you make it to another place I hope you will be at ease there. Along the way you to that place you have to never give up on the chance to get that stability that you can reach by finding a home. I don’t know if you have been homeless before but you have to be strong and never give up. No matter what challenges you encounter. It is too bad there is no comfort to offer but I hope you get someplace safe soon.

If you can just make it thru the winter, stay in the tent and save up during the summer months and get a car. So next winter you won’t be in your tent. Hoping you are safe and at peace! ❤

What’s sad is that our country- the wealthiest- can’t offer the necessary assistance for these people.

​@@swestttttit's not their damned job to. You want communism, move.

@@TimeMariner Wait…who said anything about the state taking over production?? Communism vs *communities.* Do you pay an HOA fee? Ya know, where all contribute so that everyone can have nicer things? Well the world can do that too. We share a planet. This country definitely can. And it is actually exactly their job. The government holds their power by consent of the governed, and the function is to make life better and easier for us ALL. It’s why we were founded. Human beings aren’t recycling. You don’t get to sort and decide who’s human and “deserving” of basic services and needs. Everyone on the planet is worthy of a decent place to grow up. There are enough resources on the planet to give everyone a modicum of dignity… which would make your OWN life nicer just due to the reduction in crime ffs. Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face, my brother. We are all family.

It causes more issues. Your good intent can be a death sentence for others. Learn a little more because rooming houses also contribute rather than assist the issue.

​@@swestttttyou're not the wealthiest nation nor have you ever been. Stop believing and get a grip.

Key word is, "likeminded". As mentioned several times, the issue isnt the building or the maintenance, the people seem to be the biggest hurdle. These places are so very much needed. How can it be done? (Edit) There has to be a way.

Same. I want to buy a book of his poems. I'm afraid if he has written them down, somebody threw them away when going through his stuff, but I hope someone has them

I cried when I read he didn’t survive his surgery - he had the aura of a kind and good man. I especially hope his brother maybe took in Roarke’s cat and belongings as well. I agree with all of your comment too.

I think the fact that place closed down broke his heart. He was doing what he loved.

Thanks for watching...

Unfortunately, the real estate is worth considerable with no hotel on it. Just bulldoze it and put up a high rise new and more expensive apartments. That is what has happened everywhere.

💯

​@@johngreen3543unfortunately you have no idea how life truly work's. You want to create more homeless so a rich man can make more $$$ maybe Biden could send MORE money to the Ukraine while American's suffer in the street's. Our tax dollars should be used to help our own not to help murder stranger's on foreign soil.

​@@johngreen3543ppl still want to be there? I heard service industry and offices are movin out bc of crime? They called it white flight bk in da day.....hell it's so bad now in some areas....it's get the F out b4 u die.

That is proof when the government is only using you for there on convenience.

Now they don’t have even that

Even more of them out on the streets /:

Just horrible, Ou4 Gov is to blame

I lived on a Navy ship. A five by seven room is what officers got.

64 (born 1950, died 2014)

These cells may not be great but they would be far preferable than being completely homeless. The new one you describe sounds good, I wish they would be everywhere so no one would be homeless.

I've been waiting seven months for one of these cells. I can't wait to be locked up on August first,sure beat living on the streets and here in Canada homeless shelters cost the government over one hundred bucks a night per bed. In the end housing of this nature could quickly help North America Wich is in it's worst crisis since the arrival of the European settlers.

* Parkview Arms

Way more people than 30-40 years ago….

Its like the Trailer parks disappearing to Property is big business sadly

I used to work at the Men's Only hotel next to the post office on Clark, I was a desk clerk there from 2017 to 2019. It was called the Covent and I worked the graveyard shift. I used to look out the window at all the shenanigans going on across the street at the Weiner Circle 😂. They had a very interesting clientele, a lot of guys with mental health issues, some on drugs, and a lot of elderly guys. The place was swarming with bed bugs. Interesting note the rear of the building going back towards Drummond used to be a vaudeville theater, the Saint Valentines day massacre happened down the street and I was told they brought the bodies and placed them on the stage which would later become the day room for the tenants. I never saw any paranormal activity.

​@@derricklangford4725ah the memories of the Covent, I stayed there off the plane from ireland, small rooms but clean as a whistle, 6oilets/ showers in the hallway, the lady owner was a lunatic but the staff were cool, Mcdonald next door. 1994

I lived on Sedgwick near Clark and Armitage right near the hotel you mentioned. For the most part it was a fairly decent place there were a few others up in Andersonville on Broadway and up near Bryn Mawr Ave that were definitely not safe and unfortunately they became essentially havens for drug dealers, prostitutes and criminals....Im sure there were some decent residents as well but I personally saw so much crime happening around those places it was hard to see on the day to day. I knew 2 people who got killed at the Chateau Hotel on Broadway (which has since been closed). I respect the people who lived and worked in these places who really were/are trying to make the best of their situations because it sucks that there are others who exploit these places and give them an even worse stigma than they already have. Watching this makes me realize how grateful I am for my middle class existence. Strength and peace to you all.

I looked him up and he passed in 2012. Damn.

Amen

Thanks, Ben for watching...

i noticed they put the chicken wire ceilings to darned good use.

Holy cow, it IS expensive. My local library does not have a copy. I'll keep looking.

What's the purpose behind the chicken wire ceilings?

My apartment flooded and I didn’t have renters insurance so when I was forced to leave I had to pay out of pocket for a hotel . I was so stressed I couldn’t hardly sleep and my anxiety was through the roof !!

@@oli19827💔 My husband and I fled our last apartment complex when they didn’t properly handle a raw sewage leak. It was scary. I’m grateful we were able to find and pay first and last month’s rent on a new place quickly. We’ve been here now for 13 years.

@@calisongbird good, I lost all my savings and live paycheck to paycheck again but was let back in to another apartment at my complex when my neighbor passed away . Many of the others who were forced out are still living in hotels or staying with family. I almost sought a lawyer.

I had no stable shelter for 10 years starting when I was only 14 years old. Wouldn't believe the amount of people who stuck their heads in the sand and said it had to be my fault I was homeless. As a child. I couldn't even get employment for the first 4 years. Couldn't get government aid. I was forced to panhandle and shoplift to put food in my stomach and clothes on my back. Shoes were the hardest thing to get. Too expensive to panhandle for and too bulky to lift so all I could ever get were sandals. Constantly wore holes in them and had blisters all on the bottoms of my feet. Life was impossible almost. Still couldn't get work or shelter when I turned 18 because of the state of the town I lived in, no employment and no human resources. I had to board a greyhound alone when I was 20 to seek opportunity in the nearest city, Los Angeles. After moving a lot of people still believed I did something to make myself homeless, when it was simply all I knew by that point. 14 to 20 is a long way, I hardly remember life before. Thankfully I got into the programs here for homeless young people and I stuck with them until I got subsidized housing. I still do after care with my exit program now at 26 and likely will for many years to come. But all the people I meet on the street would never guess I was ever homeless. They expect you to inherently be a bad person or have serious drug or mental issues to experience homelessness, people are so disconnected from the reality of our nation. Thousands of homeless children sleep on the streets of USA every single night! CHILDREN!

Sandra, thanks for watching and glad you liked it.

Wonderful documentary! Thanks for making it.