Andrew Greenlee wants to dispel the myth that Chicago natives cause the majority of violence in Iowa City.

During a lecture Wednesday night in the University Capitol Centre on the issue of Chicago’s so-called “third ghetto,” the 2006 UI graduate touched on the misconception that the nearly 1,200 Iowa City residents using the Housing Choice Voucher Program are all from Chicago.

The program is a national rental-assistance initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The main goal of the program is to provide low-income families quality housing in the private market.

Greenlee’s research is based on Chicago’s public-housing communities but results have a “resonance in our particular community,” said James Throgmorton, a UI urban and regional planning professor, who introduced Greenlee to the crowd of roughly 80.

Greenlee said communities all over the nation, including Iowa City, are becoming more diverse and will continue to do so. A common misconception is that voucher holders from Chicago often move to smaller communities and increase crime levels, Greenlee said.

“People who live [in Chicago] continue to live there and face a systematic lack of resources, services, and improvements to their community,” said Greenlee, a doctoral candidate in urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

The myth of Chicago natives bringing crime to Iowa City has been “easy to accept and believe” by many, said Jerry Anthony, a UI urban and regional planning assistant professor.

And contrary to popular belief, more people are moving from Iowa City to Chicago than vice versa, Anthony said.

“People need to look at the facts and then present the facts,” he said.

Greenlee echoed the thought.

“Places are becoming more diverse,” he said.

Greenlee focused most of his presentation on Chicago’s limitations stemming from the voucher program.

In 2008, the Chicago Housing Authority placed 40,000 people on the list to receive vouchers out of the roughly 250,000 who applied. The list will take 10 to 12 years to exhaust, Greenlee said.

“There’s a huge demand for the subsidy, and a lot of people are eligible for it,” Greenlee said. “But there are very limited resources to provide the assistance.”