A New Leaf

WHEN THE IDA B. WELLS housing project opened on Chicago’s South Side in 1941, its up-to-date kitchens and grassy lawns drew more than 1,500 black families looking for somewhere decent to settle. But over the decades, the project fell into disrepair: The grass turned to mud, and in an effort to reduce dust and maintenance costs, the city paved over many of the development’s green spaces, killing its trees. By the 1980s, the project was rife with gang warfare and drugs.

The loss of greenery may have had