The Red Zone

IF A NEIGHBORHOOD CAN BE CALLED A TRANSPORTATION DESERT, THE AREA AROUND Altgeld Gardens is the Sahara. A public housing project of two-story townhouses built I for World War II veterans, “the Gardens” lies between 130th Street and the Calumet River, at the city’s southern edge. The 34 South Michigan is the only Chicago Transit Authority bus serving its 4,000 residents. The nearest L stop is 95th/Dan Ryan, six miles north.

For two and a half years, Adella Bass commuted six days a week from Altgeld Gardens to a cosmetology course at Truman College in Uptown. The trip took an