ipl-logo

The Story Behind The Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project

516 Words3 Pages

The story behind the Pruitt-Igoe housing project is one of systematic neglect and and oppression. It represents the shortcomings of the United States government to help its most impoverished Americans. Today, the Pruitt-Igoe housing project serves as a bleak reminder of how the country turned its back on its own citizens. The “myth” surrounding Pruitt-Igoe represents the mystery as to why the project failed as badly as it did. After the destruction of the project, Pruitt-Igoe became a national symbol of the failure of the 1949 Housing Act. As discussed in the video, the housing project’s downfall has been attributed to many different factors. These range from neglect on behalf of the government to the way resident’s treated the complex. Socioeconomic …show more content…

From its conception, Pruit-Igoe, and many similar housing projects, were built to address the worsening slum conditions. While this might seem righteous, the real motive for these redevelopments were far more superficial and were actually aimed at fixing aesthetics. Instead of combating the poverty crisis that produced slums, the government was more interested in moving these impoverished people into what was considered less of an eyesore. In the case of Pruitt-Igoe, poverty only worsened as many of the businesses in St.Louis relocated to newly developed areas just outside of the city. These areas were inhabited by white, middle class, families that sought refuge from urban living. Contrary to government predictions, the city’s population decreased over time. This would prove to be a huge miscalculation as it left the poor without any means to make a living. When Pruitt-Igoe was completed, money was not properly allocated for its long term maintenance. This led to dilapidated buildings and ignored basic needs of residents. The neglect included uncollected trash, lessened grounds security, and an overall abandonment of any repairs the building required. As a result, Pruitt-Igoe fell into disarray and its residents became increasingly frustrated. The combination of systematic poverty and neglect lead to an increase in crime which would ultimately lead

Show More
Related

Yonkers Revitalization Case Study

615 Words | 3 Pages

On the overpass leading into Yonkers is a large sign which states "GENERATION Y" short for generation Yonkers. After some research I found out that this was a plan to revitalize Yonkers. Mayor Mike Spano has approved for one billion dollars to be used fix up downtown Yonkers, focusing on the riverfront, in order to attract young business men and women. The idea in itself is wonderful. Not only are they fixing up dilapidated buildings, they are also bringing in new businesses that will stimulate the economy.

Read More

Analysis Of Evicted By Matthew Desmond

927 Words | 4 Pages

Matthew Desmond’s Evicted takes a sociological approach to understanding the low-income housing system by following eight families as they struggle for residential stability. The novel also features two landlords of the families, giving the audience both sides and allowing them to make their own conclusions. Desmond goes to great lengths to make the story accessible to all classes and races, but it seems to especially resonate with people who can relate to the book’s subjects or who are liberals in sound socioeconomic standing. With this novel, Desmond hopes to highlight the fundamental structural and cultural problems in the evictions of poor families, while putting faces to the housing crisis. Through the lens of the social reproduction theory, Desmond argues in Evicted that evictions are not an effect of poverty, but rather, a cause of it.

Read More

Analysis Of The Documentary The Pruitt-Igoe Myth

1222 Words | 5 Pages

The documentary, The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, asks the big question regarding this controversial housing project: why did it fall? The Pruitt-Igoe housing project was meant to help impoverished people. Through this, the housing committee wanted to provide a safe place for kids to play, families to live, and most of all allow the city of St. Louis to prosper. Instead of Pruitt-Igoe cleaning up the city and providing more job opportunities, it created concentrated poverty and hyper segregation. Along with these demographic factors, the lack of maintenance and end of World War II added additional pressures to Pruitt-Igoe.

Read More

Gentrification All Bad Justin Davidson Analysis

1841 Words | 8 Pages

There has to be a realistic solution that can be put into motion to benefit everyone involved. Referring again to his article “Is Gentrification All Bad?” Davidson argues that urban renewal, if done right, is not a monstrous custom that it is painted to be; nevertheless, he reasons that gentrification depends on who does it, how they do it, and why they do it. As a resident in New York, a city where gentrification is as widespread as the common cold in winter, Davidson speculates that those who go into a neighborhood with the intention to renovate houses, or abandoned buildings ought to have a good reason for it. The author points out that “Gentrification does not have to be something that one group inflicts on another…” (Davidson 349), rather, he suggests that everyone, the gentrifiers and the locals, be on the same page when it comes to developing their

Read More

A Past For The Future: The Invention Of Old Sacramento

1098 Words | 5 Pages

Old Sacramento had a lot of changes to remove everything that was in the past to the future. “The Invention of Old Sacramento: A Past for the Future” by Lee M. A. Simpson and Lisa C. Prince, wrote on how old Sacramento changed throughout the years. Old Sacramento is an historical site that reproduces growth of an inner-city with environmental politics and historic preservation movement. Old Sacramento is also a home of successful business during the nineteenth century, due to a district that was created in Old Sacramento.

Read More

International Hotel And Political Activism

1402 Words | 6 Pages

During 1969 and the 1970’s, International Hotel, or commonly referred as I-Hotel, was and is a very crucial part of San Francisco political activism. It’s served as a banner for Asian American activism, for the improvement of poor housing conditions. During this place and time, the fuel for student political activism was high with the Third World Liberation Front social movement happening at San Francisco State College and at UC Berkeley, both fighting for the establishment of an Ethnic Studies Department. Hence, the Bay Area was a well of political activism at the time. In 1969, the tenants of I-Hotel faced eviction from Milton Meyer & Company and have the building replaced as a parking garage.

Read More

Summary Of Suburban American Problems And Promise

1198 Words | 5 Pages

When given the task to watch and understand the documentary "Suburban American: Problems and Promises" I was genuinely interested. Due to my interests in property development and real estate, I wanted to know the reasoning for why certain areas and region were considered appropriate locations for building a suburban neighborhood. Therefore, I started to realized that the audience that the movie was directed towards was people who are interested in the development of the Urban and Suburban areas of our previous and present generations. Also, this documentary should spark the interest in any American history fans, construction management and even people that are interested in civil rights movement. This documentary touches on all the reasons

Read More

Chicago Race Riots Essay

746 Words | 3 Pages

The new development in progression today shows the idea of how marketable land around the city is and how diverse neighborhoods cause for better funding and better relationships between people of different ethnicities and cultures. Even though the Chicago Race Riots was a negative event, over the years its effects became positive. As a result of all the looting and burning down businesses, it gave the developers a chance to integrate new business ideas and housing plans to help advance the community in the future. This is one of the major historical events used today as a lesson taught to students to eliminate

Read More

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth Analysis

1172 Words | 5 Pages

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth is a documentary that explores public housing in Saint Louis, Missouri, in particular the history of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex. Pruitt-Igoe was a public housing project billed as the perfect solution in the early 1950s, to solve the problems of slums in Saint Louis and to bring people back into a city that had seen a population decline from previous years. Saint Louis was an ageing city desperate to regain their postwar prominence as a bustling city, but faced many challenges pertaining to the racial makeup of the segregated city and the loss of many jobs to suburban areas. Many whites had begun to participate in what is now referred to as “white flight”, or the migration of middle class whites to

Read More

Essay On Hooverville

717 Words | 3 Pages

Hooverville Who were the victims of Hooverville? Well I’ll tell you that all over the United States, people had suffered from the government actions. Banks failed the people becauase of the choices they had to decide for what they thought was for the best. Hooverville was a shantytown built by the people who had lost their homes, and their jobs.

Read More

Discrimination In Toronto's Urban Housing

164 Words | 1 Pages

In the essay, ‘Discrimination in Toronto’s Urban Housing’ I will be focusing on certain stereotypes that shape the modern day residential market of Toronto and what it provides to the buyer. First-hand account

Read More

Robert Moses's Positive Effects On Society

571 Words | 3 Pages

Due to the building of roadways throughout the world, many buildings had to be torn down, resulting in the eviction of

Read More

Black Men Stereotypes

1714 Words | 7 Pages

One way in which this fear is implemented is by increasing the inequality between races. Urban planning, in particular, has played a large role in this as it has historically advantaged some people while putting others at a disadvantage. From gentrification and racial disparities in law enforcement to practices such as blockbusting and redlining, it is apparent that policies and decisions made by city planners were not designed to benefit everyone equally. Particularly the Housing Act of 1949 and the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Both of these policies displaced residents through the use of eminent domain and condemnation laws (Budds, “How Urban Design Perpetuates Racial Inequality – And What We Can Do About It”).

Read More

Essay On Housing Discrimination

1517 Words | 7 Pages

The government had to subsidize housing projects using taxpayer’s money. Thus, maintaining status quo is inefficient and against the Constitutional right of all Americans to have better housing facilities. 2. Intensify enforcement of the housing

Read More

Gentrification Informative Speech

1145 Words | 5 Pages

Title: Gentrifying Chicago neighborhoods. General Purpose: To inform my audience of Gentrification in the Norther part of Chicago around the 1960s. Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, the audience will understand the meaning of gentrification, how Puerto Rican families in the Northern part of Chicago lost their homes to Gentrification, how they fought against gentrification, and how gentrification is now occurring to Mexican families in the Southern part of Chicago. Thesis: Puerto Rican families lost their homes in the 1960s when Lincoln Park was gentrified despites their best efforts, and today Mexican families are losing their homes in Pilsen to gentrification. Introduction I. Attention: What would you risk in order to continue having a home?

Read More

More about The Story Behind The Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project

Related Topics

Open Document