The challenge
St. Louis needed modern, decent housing for low-income families after clearing slums.
The case
Pruitt-Igoe opened in St. Louis in 1954: 33 eleven-story buildings with about 2,870 apartments, praised at first as modern housing for low-income families. Within a decade it was plagued by vacancies, crime and failing maintenance. Rents were expected to cover upkeep, but as the city lost population and residents were mostly very poor, revenue collapsed and buildings deteriorated. Demolition began in 1972 and was complete by 1976.
Why it didn't work
Often blamed on its architecture, the deeper causes were a funding model that couldn't pay for maintenance, concentrated poverty and segregation, and a shrinking city. Design matters, but so do operating budgets.
Sources
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