Carleen Lorys grew up in a brand new ranch house, which was the fulfillment of her parents' American dream. But even as a child she was dreaming of bungalows. 

Part of a multimedia story produced for WBEZ.

Bungalow owner: Carleen Lorys

Firefighter and two-time bungalow owner Carlos Perez is obsessed with his house.

Part of a multimedia story produced for WBEZ.

Bungalow owner: Carlos Perez

Ingrid Sanders is the fourth generation to live in her family's South Side bungalow. (And her son makes five!)

Part of a multimedia piece produced for WBEZ. 

Bungalow owner: Ingrid Sanders

"Boss," Mike Royko's classic biography of former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, begins with a description of the Daley family's bungalow in Bridgeport. 

Read by Andrew Gill. Part of a multimedia piece for WBEZ.

'The kind of house a fireman or a printer would buy'

Tape excerpts for live appearance on WBEZ's Afternoon Shift.

Bungalows AS Excerpt Carlos

Bungalows AS Excerpt Ingrid

Bungalows AS Excerpt Carleen

Seventy-First Street is a busy commercial thoroughfare that cuts through the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago. But the recession and the foreclosure crisis have hit the area hard. Dominick's shut down its grocery store here in December. Then in March, Urban Partnership Bank closed its neighborhood branch at the corner of 71st Street and Jeffery Avenue. The concern here now is what comes next. Medill's Robin Amer went to 71st Street and has this report. 

Shuttered bank worries South Shore

More than 51,000 houses in Cook County have been vacant for more than two years. Many are severely distressed. As part of a look at the county's new land bank, we pay a visit to one distressed house with 23rd Ward Ald. Mike Zalewski. 

Read the full story here: http://newsarchive.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news-231255.html

Photo: Ald. Zalewski gazes at an abandoned house on West 61st Place. Neighbors have complained of animals and squatters coming in and out of the house. (Robin Amer/MEDILL)

Derelict house distresses neighbors

Robin Amer is a reporter based in Chicago. She's the news editor of the Chicago Reader and a finalist in the WNYC Podcast Accelerator competition. Her work has been aired and published by Marketplace, WBEZ, WTTW, Detour, DNAinfo and other publications, and has been recognized by the Society for Professional Journalists and the Chicago Headline Club.

Robin spent six years as a host and producer at WBEZ 91.5FM and Vocalo 90.7FM, and received her master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University on a full-tuition scholarship from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. She worked as an investigative reporting fellow for Medill Watchdog, during which time the outlet published a year-long collaboration with The Chicago Tribune that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.