A Failure in Public Housing: The Story of Pruitt-Igoe
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The Public Housing Acts
St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis Housing Authority
Urban Renewal
Pruitt-Igoe
Pruitt-Igoe
Construction
Opening Day
Deteriorating Conditions
Chain Reaction
Chain Reaction
The Rent Strike and the Brooke Amendment
Demolition
Blaming the Tenants
Blaming the Achitecture
Reasons for Failure
Significance in History
Timeline
Research
Pruitt-Igoe
When Pruitt-Igoe first opened on July 23, 1955, it was an "oasis in the desert." People who had once been living in slums now were living in clean, new apartments. By 1958, however, conditions were deteriorating.
By 1960, Pruitt-Igoe was falling apart.