'There are too many people hanging out, too much drugs'

She was nearly tossed from one "raggedly, mice-infested" place after a landlord promised to pay the gas bill and then sold the building, leaving her with a $4,200 gas bill.

A Legal Assistance Foundation lawyer got her out of that jam and she rented another run-down place last year near Washington Park. That landlord hasn't paid the gas bill since the spring, forcing her to cook on a hot plate.

She's looking to move again: "There are too many people hanging out, too much drugs," Nawls said. "I have three boys and I don't want them involved with that."

Nawls' family is one of the unlucky ones. As CHA buildings have closed, about 4,300 families have used vouchers to rent private-market apartments, mostly in poor neighborhoods.

Some are satisfied. In a 2004 survey, 63 percent of families said their new neighborhoods were better than their old ones. They reported drug use and teens hanging out, but less often than families in CHA developments.

But others struggle to find decent apartments, pay utilities and avoid eviction. Since 2000, the number of voucher terminations has increased each year. So far, 200 have lost their vouchers.

CHA has tried to help Nawls. That's how she found her lawyer. She also signed up for a program to help families find places in better-off areas.

One day, she hopes to move to new mixed-income housing, but redevelopment at Robert Taylor has only just begun.

For now, she's mourning the day her Taylor building came down.