Reasons for Failure
The many factors that forced Pruitt-Igoe into its downward spiral of decay were intertwined, making the problems difficult, if not impossible, to solve.
Site Selection"The sites were literally carved out of the slums, located in areas where most of the buildings dated of the mid or late nineteenth century. Even when they were new, the projects were surrounded by decaying and even abandoned residential and commercial property.”
-Eugene Meehan, Public Housing Policy: Convention Versus Reality Pruitt-Igoe was surrounded by slums with a high crime rate and limited resources.
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Economic Decline
"Between 1954 and 1963, the city lost one-sixth of its manufacturing activity as 260 establishments left with 26,100 jobs." -Joseph Heathcott
"All the categories of unemployment experienced absolute decline in the city..." -Mary C. Comerio
"...when the factories were still in the city, public transportation worked fairly well. But it was very difficult for people living in Pruitt-Igoe or near Pruitt-Igoe to get out to the suburbs, where so many of the new factories, the new jobs, were located."
-E-mail interview with Robert Fishman
-E-mail interview with Robert Fishman
Pruitt-Igoe tenants had few employment opportunities.
Population Loss
"...By the time Pruitt-Igoe opened for occupancy, the need for public housing had abated. Low-income blacks by the late 1950s began to find space in formally white neighborhoods that were becoming increasingly vacant. Private market rents sank to public housing levels or below."
-Roger Montgomery
-Roger Montgomery
St. Louis' declining population left fewer tenants for public housing than had been projected.
Policy Flaws"...Many perspective tenants, particularly those most highly desired by local housing authorities, were also targets for competing housing subsidy programs. Those leading to homeownership in decent residential areas were.....more likely to attract the relatively well-off and stable elements of the working poor."
-Eugene Meehan
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The Housing Act of 1949 provided funds for construction, but not for the operation of the project. Money had to come from rental income, leaving the St. Louis Housing Authority without sufficient funds for maintenance or security.
Maintenance
"The failures of the maintenance programs were both numerous and serious, though costs remained very high- higher than in any other city in the region and three times the level in the private sector."
-Eugene Meehan "The elevators required repairs almost contuniously from the first week of occupancy, and one elevator managed to fail on opening day." -Eugene Meehan
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Without sufficient funds for maintenance, Pruitt-Igoe quickly deteriorated. Shabby construction, inefficient maintenance workers, and expensive union wages sped up Pruitt-Igoe's demise.
Crime
"St. Louis housing authority policy also prohibited able-bodied adult males from inhabiting the apartments of women receiving welfare assistance."
-Dean Saitta
-Dean Saitta
Many fathers had to leave their families. Soon, the vast majority of male role models were the criminals who came into the project. With no security, anyone could enter the project. The many floors, vacant apartments, and entrances made Pruitt-Igoe an ideal place for criminals to hide from the police.
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Design
"The location and design of the site opened the buildings to uncontrolled transient traffic that in time contributed signifigantly to both crime and vandalism." -Eugene Meehan
"Unlike most housing projects, everything is enclosed- there are no through streets. Police can't see anything from the outside." -St. Louis Police Chief Eugene Camp
Although design was not Pruitt-Igoe’s fatal flaw, it did contribute to the project's problems. The skip-stop elevators and corridors were havens for criminals, and the many floors, entrances, and exits made it easy to hide from the police.
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"The skip-stop elevators and galleries, far from providing community association, had proved to be opportune environments for violent crime. Forced to walk through the galleries to reach their apartments, residents were threatened and attacked by gangs, who used these spaces as hangouts. Residents were also frequently attacked in the elevators.”
-Katharine Bristol
-Katharine Bristol