• The Pruitt-Igoe Public Housing Development, once a popular destination for low-cost housing,

has been vacant since 2005.

• The development, run by the St. Louis Housing Authority, was touted as a solution to the city's
housing crisis, offering residents bright, new buildings with amenities like indoor plumbing,
electric lights, and fresh plastered walls.
• The project was touted as a cure for the disease, aiming to lift residents out of poverty and
improve the city's overall quality of life.
• However, the project's success was short-lived, as the city's low-cost housing needs quickly
declined, and only 2,500 people remained in the remaining 33 buildings.
• The project became poor, segregated, heavily vandalized, and resembled the slums it replaced.
• Vandalism and neglect left fear among the remaining occupants, leading to increased crime rates
and a resemblance to the slums it replaced.
• The government, desperate for change, reopened the project two decades later, tearing down
what was built before.
• The Pruitt-Igoe myth began with the construction of the project, which was a battleground for
crime and neglect.
• The Pruitt-Igoe Project in St. Louis, a massive housing project, was a significant failure in the
American city.
• Critics blamed the architect for creating a breeding ground for isolation, vandalism, and crime,
while others argued that the welfare state was responsible for the project's failure.
• The Pruitt-Igoe was a social and economic failure, with residents being blamed for their own
problems.
• The project was a result of devastating forces, such as slum lords who exploited the poor's
situation in the city.
• Housing reformers pressed lawmakers to replace the slums with clean, modern housing, re-
energize the depression-era housing program that had been stalled by the war.
• Civic leaders and politicians saw the ring of slums as an eyesore that blighted the aging
downtown area.
• The 1949 housing act allowed the federal government to buy slum property, condemning and
rebuilding on a modern and humane scale.
• Public housing aimed to provide better opportunities for the most disadvantaged people in
cities, liberating them from the slums.
• The project enabled the most disadvantaged people to be liberated from the slums, allowing
them to have more magnificent views than the richest people in St. Louis.
• St. Louis' post-war downtown renewal project was ambitious, with some plans never
materializing.
• However, others were breathtaking in conception and execution.
• The Wendell Pruitt and William Igoe homes, located north and west of downtown, became a
symbol of St. Louis' rebirth, a modern break from the crumbling past.
• The family moved from a small house to a new building in Pruitt, which was an oasis in the
desert.
• The 11th floor with elevators was an exciting experience, as it was like another world.
• The building was close to Christmas, with lights and cars revolving around the place.
• The residents had a warm sense of family and community, with eclectic dishes cooked by
residents on the 11th floors.
• Pruitt-Igoe was a safe place for the family, as they knew people and were never alone.
• The community had a engaging, electric life, with friendships and bonds formed that lasted a
lifetime.
• Although some bad things came out of Pruitt-Igoe, the good aspects of the neighborhood
outweigh the negatives, as it was a wonderful place at first.
• Public housing in St. Louis has faced criticism for poor housekeeping practices and lack of
adequate funding for maintenance.
• The Housing Authority has faced criticism for not operating as well as it should, leading to under-
maintenance and a lack of skilled maintenance personnel.
• The public sector failed the people living in these buildings, as they were under-maintained and
had no adequate provision for maintenance.
• Public housing faced opposition from banks, realtors, and chambers of commerce, fearing its
impact on their bottom line.
• However, clearing slums and constructing large buildings was popular with downtown business
interests and building trades, allowing for profitable redevelopment, and building contracts and
jobs.
• The law was written, and the projects became dependent on tenants' income.
• In the beginning, low- and middle-income applicants flooded into Pruitt-Igoe's new apartment,
with rental incomes strong, grounds maintained, elevators worked, and security staff patrolled
the area.
• However, the city was changing, and the future of St. Louis' population was a major concern.
• Between 1930 and 1940, St. Louis experienced a slight decline, putting fear in city planners and
politicians.
• The housing project in St. Louis, Missouri, was designed to accommodate a million people, but
planners mistook the dominant trend of upward growth and large numbers of people leaving the
city.
• The new American Dream was built on cheap lots on the margins of cities, with one-story
ranches dominating the landscape of the suburbs.
• This led to the sudden rise of the suburb, which reshaped the American city.
• In 1949, cities were emptying out, losing their middle class and industrial base, leading to a
deterioration of basic services.
• In contrast, suburbs experienced growth in house value, services, jobs, and better schools.
• The federal government committed to making suburbs affordable for the American middle class
and white working class.
• The 1949 housing act made urban flight draining American cities possible, as buying a new
suburban home became less expensive than renting in the city for most families.
• By 1980, St. Louis would lose half its mid-century population, and planners expected an
overcrowded city of a million people.
• However, the plans were collapsing, and St. Louis was in free fall.
• Tiny Blackjack, located in the affluent suburbs of St. Louis County, incorporated itself as a city last
August and passed a zoning law prohibiting the construction of new apartment buildings,
including a proposed low- to middle-income housing project.
• The citizens of Blackjack fear that the project might become a suburban Pruitt-Igoe, damaging
their property values and safety.
• The author's relationship with Pruitt-Igoe was a research assistant during her graduate studies at
Washington University in 1964.
• She studied women and girls in the housing project, which was designed to move the poorest
families to the city.
• The welfare department had a rule that no able-bodied man could be in the house if a woman
received aid for dependent child.
• If a man lost his job, he had to leave the home.
• The author's mother and father participated in a charade where they told white people that
their father had never been there.
• This made her question the power of the welfare department and the control it had over her
family.
• The housing project was strategically planned to create an environment that made people feel
isolated, restricted, and inhuman.
• Public housing in St. Louis was always used as a segregation tool, with every project imagined as
white or black project solely.
• These projects deepened pockets of segregation and radically separated whites from blacks.
• Pruitt-Igoe was settled in 1954 after the Brown v. Board decision, and the projects had to be
desegregated quickly.
• Whites left in droves, making the city and region hyper-segregated.
• In conclusion, the author's experience with Pruitt-Igoe highlights the harsh realities faced by
those living in public housing projects in St. Louis.
• The housing projects were designed to create a prison environment, separating whites from
blacks, and perpetuating segregation.
• The color line in cities perpetuated racial prejudice, leading to a fractured society.
• The 1949 housing act, slum clearance, and public housing programs were used to reshape cities,
redistributing land and populations to suit those in power.
• Poor districts on desirable urban land were cleared for redevelopment, but rarely replaced with
affordable housing, disproportionately black.
• Residents were scattered to segregated pockets, leading to new ghettos and urban renewal,
known as Negro removal.
• In segregated cities, blacks paid more for worse housing with fewer amenities, older hospitals,
higher food prices, and less police protection.
• The urban economy in 1949 appeared strong, with a peak population and industrial production.
• However, after 1945, the urban industrial economy began to decline, creating a mismatch
between job opportunities and the people who needed them.
• The black ghetto was far from where jobs were moving, and they moved to the city, facing a
dying economy.
• The author describes their experiences growing up in a poor, unequal environment.
• Their mother painted a black wall for their homework and practice, fearing it would be a
hindrance to their school performance.
• The mother was shocked by the black wall and told her children to leave it as they were trying to
raise them.
• The author's brother and sister got into a fight with a group of kids, and the mother insisted that
the boys fight.
• The author's brother fought the fight, and after the fight, they gained respect.
• However, this was the only time the mother told the boys to fight.
• To escape the projects, the author went to fields and vacant lots with weeds.
• He had a fascination with insects and felt empowered to outthink them.
• This gave him a sense of control and power, which he used as an escape.
• However, the environment around him seemed to be created by people who didn't like the other
people living there.
• Pruitt-Igoe, a public housing facility in St. Louis, has been plagued by vandalism, crime, and
overcrowding issues.
• The management's decision to protect the building from destruction led to residents attempting
to destroy it, including using light fixtures and elevators.
• This led to a culture of violence and disrespect towards the residents, who were not welcome in
the building.
• By the mid-'60s, Pruitt-Igoe was struggling with maintenance costs, rising vandalism, and crime.
• The Housing Authority struggled to raise funds for maintenance and upkeep due to the growing
number of vacancies in the city.
• Grants were given to rehab buildings and studies were commission-based, but nothing seemed
to help.
• Rents increased three times in one year, and residents were stretched, paying up to three-
quarters of their income to live in the area.
• The housing authority faced challenges in maintaining its reputation, as many residents did not
belong there.
• The community was predominantly composed of young women, single mothers, men returning
from the Vietnam War, broken men, unemployed individuals, and men who stayed downstairs
and drank.
• The crime was real, but the people of Pruitt-Igoe were stigmatized by the fear of black poverty,
drug abuse, and crime.
• In conclusion, Pruitt-Igoe has been a challenging environment for residents, with high
maintenance costs, rising crime, and a lack of support from the housing authority.
• The residents have been forced to leave the area, and the housing authority must address these
issues to ensure the safety and well-being of its residents.
• The housing authority in St. Louis Public Housing faced numerous challenges, including poor
living conditions, inadequate heating, and inadequate maintenance.
• Tenants in Pruitt-Igoe, a housing project with a large population, began a rent strike in 1969,
demanding better conditions.
• Tenant organizations collected rent, which was withheld from the Housing Authority until
demands were met.
• After nine months of negotiations, the housing authority finally gave into the strikers' demands,
limiting rents to a quarter of any tenant's income and giving residents a greater voice in the
operation of St. Louis Public Housing.
• However, the victory was short-lived, as years of neglect placed beleaguered buildings on the
verge of physical collapse.
• Water lines in several Pruitt-Igoe apartment buildings broke, causing a flow of water to turn into
ice and raw sewage to bubble out of the ground.
• Residents and maintenance crews worked to clean up the mess, but the lack of heat and the lack
of heat contributed to the breakdown of services.
• As a result, clothing and other household items continued to flow into the community center.
• The housing authority's failure to address these issues led to a resentment and a lack of action
from the tenants.
• The speaker recommends declaring Pruitt-Igoe as a disaster area and emergency area, focusing
on evacuation of citizens, and working for a permanent solution to the ongoing problem.
• The building's closure led to a significant hazard, with drug addicts and dealers moving into
empty buildings.
• These unmonitored spaces allowed criminal activity to fester and eventually break down.
• The speaker's brother was shot and killed in Pruitt-Igoe, and his family was left to grapple with
the dangers associated with the area.
• The speaker's brother's friend, Beanie, was shot at close range, leaving his inners and liver
detached.
• His mother tried to hold it together, but Beanie refused to die.
• After his brother's murder, the idea of cohabiting and getting along with the family was thrown
out the window.
• The speaker's family was bitter and dreamed about how to murder someone.
• They wanted to let them know that the situation was out of control, and they would no longer
tolerate it.
• The speaker's family is determined to act and work towards a permanent solution to the
problem, which has been recurring.
• They believe that by declaring Pruitt-Igoe a disaster area and emergency area, citizens can be
evacuated, and their safety is ensured.
• In 1972, three buildings of Pruitt-Igoe were imploded with dynamite, leading to the St. Louis
Housing Authority receiving federal approval to close and demolish the Wendell Pruitt and
William Igoe Homes.
• By 1976, the site was cleared, leaving 57 acres of the North Side neighborhood vacant.
• The implosion footage was shocking, as it was placed within the broader national context of
what was happening to the urban poor.
• Pruitt-Igoe is not just a national and world symbol for the failure of American public housing but
also a symbol for the perceived failure well-intentioned government policies in general.
• It is important to look beyond the famous pictures of the towers being destroyed and try to
understand what failed and why.
• Public housing has a fine grain to the story, and it is not a total failure or a total success.
• The bigger story is the decline of the city overall, which was tragic due to the city losing half its
population, devastated tax base, and drained economy over 50 years from World War II to the
present.
• Some people loved Pruitt-Igoe, while others hated it.
• The author reflects on their life and how it would have been different if they had grown up in a
less challenging environment.
• They appreciate the civility and nonviolence of those who grow up in less trying environments.
• They empathize with the fearful children in projects like Baghdad and the memories they have of
their home, Pruitt and Igoe.
• The author dreams about these memories and sees themselves standing in the window.
• The North Side of St. Louis is changing, with developers purchasing land around the Pruitt-Igoe
site and plans for a renewal.
• The author believes that history is a pattern, but it doesn't repeat, and the city will change in
different ways than before.
• They hope to remember Pruitt-Igoe when the city changes.