Revisiting the code of ‘The Brickyard’

Revisiting the code of ‘The Brickyard’
Greg Scott visited a community of drug addicts in a the grounds of a brick salvage company. WBEZ/file
Revisiting the code of ‘The Brickyard’
Greg Scott visited a community of drug addicts in a the grounds of a brick salvage company. WBEZ/file

Revisiting the code of ‘The Brickyard’

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

The local drug scene in Chicago was not just king pins and cartels. Drugs can erode day-to-day life; and for some, drugs consume most of life. Back in 2008, sociologist Greg Scott introduced listeners to a place where addicts got their fix; a place many called home. Known as “The Brickyard,” a community of addicts formed a community in the grounds of a legitimate brick salvage company on Cicero Avenue in Chicago. Scott was there to learn more about the code by which those in the community lived. Learning to abide by that code was, for many, a matter of life and death.

Greg Scott is a sociologist at DePaul University in Chicago. He also runs Sawbuck Productions, a multi-media production company. This story first aired in 2008 as part of Eight Forty-Eight’s series The Brickyard.

Music Button: Sinister Luck Ensemble, “Small of the Back”, from the album Anniversary, (Perishable)