Public housing in Chicago, as in many cities across the nation, is currently undergoing a dramatic transformation. In 1998, nearly 19,000 of the CHAs units failed viability inspection, meaning that, under federal law the CHA was required to demolish the units within a five-year period. As a result, the city put forth a plan to "transform" the CHAs enormous high-rise buildings into smaller mixed-ncome communities of townhomes and low-rise buildings. The CHA Transformation Plan calls for the demolition of 51 gallery high-rise buildings, as well as several thousand mid-rise and low-rise units.