A few decades ago, Chicago was the laboratory for a new experiment in housing. On the southwest and northwest side, Illinois lawmakers created new taxing districts. These so-called home equity districts were designed to comfort whites worried that property values would drop if blacks moved into their neighborhoods. The money collected was used as a kind of insurance program- homeowners could file a cash claim if the value dropped upon selling. Today, the the little-known home equity districts are still around with millions of dollars in the bank. WBEZ’s Natalie Moore and urban planning professor Philip Ashton talk about the history of the program, and how it works today. Photo: Flickr/reallyboring