Why Pruitt-Igoe Became the Worst Public Housing Project: Exploring the No-Go Zone

[@Legally_Bomb]

My mother was raised in Carr-Square Village and the Pruitt-Igoe housing projects. She later became a social worker and returned to work in Pruitt-Igoe in the Jefferson & Cass office of the Human Development Corporation. My mother later became a Missouri State Rep.

[@Virgo73Nikkie]

@@Legally_Bomb I used to work at HDC it was one of my very first jobs out of high school! I worked in the WIC office.

[@ohsoyouthinkyoucandance]

What’s her name

[@vaughnwilliams1208]

Not allowing fathers to live there was the thing that jumped out to me. This is a deliberate multi-generation attack on a community.

[@cyclone8974]

people just like to gloss over that.

[@keithharper1470]

The man in the house rule went on in every major city north and south . The movie Claudine explores this and it hits.

[@hochhaul]

Feminism said they don't need no man and their patriarchy.

[@sqike001ton]

it makes since on paper but not in practical terms in theory women are naturally going to want to get with a man and get married so once married they should no longer need welfare as the couple should be able to afford a family. in practice women said I don't want to lose my free government money but I still want to be with a man so hide the fact we are together

[@sqike001ton]

@@hochhaul but they don't want to lose that free government money and the government want the women married to them

[@pwp8737]

I lived in Toronto for many years, and it wasn't until after a decade that I found out that four apartment buildings within 3-4 blocks of me were public housing. They were well integrated with their surrounding, no crime, inhabited by lower income people who received varying rental subsidies. It doesn't have to be a disaster.

[@My_Old_YT_Account]

We had very low criminality before Castreau Invited the entire third world here

[@rocknrollnichole1071]

@@pwp8737 I love this! I lived in a rough area and most of my neighbors were super awesome and kind. I don’t think public housing should be a stigma,. What you described sounds exactly the reason it should exist. I wish my country was like that. Much love to you from Richmond,va. USA

[@9chilidog]

@@rocknrollnichole1071sure, Richmond has no problems with their projects...

[@tr4nsg0th1ca]

Here in the states, the government only values rich people, and poverty is something to be punished for

[@dennissvitak5475]

Has to be a small area. A LARGE area will quickly devolve.

[@DeeVine999]

My Grandmother raised my Dad and his siblings there in the 60's. She worked 2 jobs, saved her money and bought a home in South City, which is still in the family. She also put all 10 of her kids through college. There was military testing done around that time. My Dad still has health issues due to that. It became extremely dangerous towards the end.

[@jerep1715]

Yea, right :D

[@DogmaticAtheist]

​@@jerep1715 very constructive. Your truly an asset to our society.

[@rocknrollnichole1071]

I absolutely believe you. There were so many “studies “ back then that were conducted by the military. Also raising 10 kids does not mean they all popped out at once. Mad respect to your grandma, it seems like a hard a place to have lived.

[@rocknrollnichole1071]

@@DogmaticAtheistsorry took me a second to realize you weren’t talking about OP! ❤

[@ProllyGonnaUpsetU]

Prove it liar

[@chrisgobeil4751]

You can't take away the fathers and expect things to run smoothly. That IMO was the biggest downfall. Keep families together should have been the goal.

[@jonathanstensberg]

Not possible when the welfare program is for single mothers. It’s called the “marriage penalty”, and many welfare programs have similar problems.

[@leechjim8023]

I believe family breakup is BY FAR the greatest cause and denominator in poverty and crime!!!

[@JohnSmith-ct5jd]

Yeah, so they could pop out more kids on the public dime.

[@ernstschmidt4725]

yeah but if a father showed up the city would say "well there's a man you don't need this place to live"

[@rogerpenske2411]

Not gonna happen with communosociofascism

[@Sacto1654]

This was the same problem that doomed Chicago's Cabrini Green housing projects--too much neglect after the buildings were completed. And why Londoners *HATED* the tower blocks that went up after World War II, especially given the questionable build quality of many of these towers.

[@ingridfong-daley5899]

Yeah I found it ironic that a British architect was criticising the sterile, lifeless style of these buildings when so many of their tower blocks were identical.

[@777jones]

The main problem was not enough policing. And eligibility rules that virtually prohibited the presence of fathers.

[@DubhghlasMacDubhghlas]

@@777jones crime only happened once the building fallen into disrepair due the city not funding the repairs after the rent dropped because the rent alone could not fund the repairs. If the city kept the building up there would have been zero issue for increase policing. BTW most crimes go unsolved no matter the area.

[@DogmaticAtheist]

​@@777jonesthe presence of fathers cannot be overstated. In the 1950's blacks in america were wealthier than they are today. What changed?

[@noggin6870]

​@@DogmaticAtheistto be fair, that statement is true for pretty much the entire lower and middle class, the purchasing power of the average American in general has significantly dropped since the 60s.

[@cynthiaguarino2016]

I remember my fourth grade class going on a field trip in the 60's to Pruitt Iago. I'm 64 and can still remember what it was like at that time and it wasn't good. Even at my young age I was shocked at the poor living conditions these people had to endure. You could feel the tension.

[@michah321]

@@cynthiaguarino2016 everyone blames the people. People in a desperate environment from which there is no escape or way to improve and then blame them for why it failed. It's heartbreaking

[@nate8014]

@@michah321 providing cheap housing, which is typically a large portion of a person's monthly expense gives them an opportunity to escape and improve. many chose not to. this was not a prison and denying these people their agency isn't helpful. same stuff we see today.

[@michah321]

@@nate8014 some could but many could not. Public housing is never sustainable without a commitment from the community for upkeep. Rent is never enough.

[@e.gadd.1]

Minoru Yamasaki's comment was unforgettable after viewing the sad wreckage of what he created. "I never knew that people could be so destructive."

[@TurboSquare2000]

Well they arent people.

[@JLR-z8u]

@@e.gadd.1 and they did all to themselves BY THEMSELVES.

[@robertblake9892]

In 1977 Jimmy Carter visited the South Bronx. In surveying the landscape that looked like a bombed out German city he asked "Why can't we do something for these people ?" To which a New York State legislator replied: "Why should we build decent housing for people who are going to do nothing but tear it apart ?"

[@rogerpenske2411]

Gots ta luv Bah Bah Coo in da baff tub.

[@RedRaiderLobo20]

@@e.gadd.1 underestimated a demographic in America that Japan simply doesn’t have to deal with.

[@jasonhindle4054]

There’s a similar history in British council housing - some residents make the very best of what they’ve been given while others languish, falling into dependency on the state and into crime. It’s an important distinction that governments reliably ignore.

[@Xamsims]

All housing projects in the inner cities were horrible places. I remember as a kid walking around a few abandoned and closed down ones that were soon demolished.

[@trinydex]

what's the reason they were awful? where would you attribute blame?

[@tyrannyofexperts]

I see almost identical housing projects in Russia, and they have law and order and very few problems. How about Japan? There are no issues there either. I can't put my finger on why that is. Gnome-sain?

[@SpookyEng1]

My son moved into a new middle class development in San Antonio. A year later they built a “low income” public housing complex across the street. Fast forward one year, shootings in the streets, houses robbed, gang bangers cruising the neighborhood and taking over the developments private common area. It’s the people not the houses.

[@YELLTELL]

IT ONLY TOOK 20 YEARS FOR THEM TO DESTROY IT.... KINDA WEIRD THEY DESTROYED THE NICE SECTION 8 PROJECTS IN 20YEARS ALSO WHERE I LIVE IT WASN'T HIGH RISE BUILDINGS.......

[@majordbag2]

To be fair, how they build "low income" housing, the kind of tenants they put in it, and the how they're managed has a major impact on how they turn; just look at how Singapore does public housing. If you concentrate hundreds or thousands of poor, single parent families into a single building or block, you'd better build some serious infrastructure to deal with all the problems that poverty breed, i.e. unemployment and crime. This means not only more police but also social services such as job centers and public transportation. It shouldn't come as a surprise that if you just dump loads of poor people into a community without any serious support you wind up with a shithole.

[@daved4120]

@@majordbag2 You can't really compare how other countries do public housing as an example, the people and cultures are too different.

[@majordbag2]

@@daved4120 True you shouldn't just assume because it worked in one country that it will work on another but I stand by saying the projects were implemented in the worst possible fashion. Keep in mind I concluded that many years before even hearing about how they do it in Singapore and only know about Singapore because when I brought up how public housing should be done someone told me "that's how they do it in Singapore."

[@daved4120]

@@majordbag2 Also, you really shouldn't use Singapore as an example. Singapore has draconian laws and punishments for very minor infractions. If you litter you can be imprisoned for months to clean the city (and no, they don't pay you), if you graffiti anything you can be publicly beaten. I'd imagine the people in public housing in Singapore will take very good care of it, not because it's so well funded, or managed, but because if they damage it they'll be sent to the gulags.

[@donosodemaistre2764]

Actually, when they built Pruitt-Igoe the haydays of St. Louis were already over. St. Louis was no more the booming city of the early 1900s. It was constantly bleeding out middle-class citizens (to suburbia) and also industry. This led to a decline in the demand for affordable housing. So, instead of filling Pruitt-Igoe with lower-middle class citizens they had to fill it up with poor people. Maintenance of these buildings was expensive, and the low-/no-income tenants wouldn't pay the money needed to keep Pruitt-Igoe up. This is at least one reason why Pruitt-Igoe failed.

[@normwetherbee3403]

This is one of the only intelligent answers to this video.

[@senorpepper3405]

And then you get the documentary called Spanish lake.

[@trinydex]

sounds like San Francisco

[@rpm12091]

I am from St. Louis, the copper water pipes were ripped out for scrap, the bath tubs were used for barbecues trash was thrown out in the halls. No one including police would go any where near the place after dark.

[@ericclark133]

This place was a hellhole less than a decade after construction was finished. Buildings do not fall apart that quickly by themselves - a poorly built and maintained wood structure will last longer than two decades. I lived in similarly designed Soviet apartment buildings that had lasted longer than Pruitt-Igoe (by the time I lived in them) and although it was obvious that they were slowly falling apart, they still did not become anything close to the nightmare this project became.

[@TurboSquare2000]

Everyone knows what caused the failure. Were just not allowed to say it.

[@RAAM855]

Idk chinese buildings are notoriously known for structural damage wile being brand new cause they were built so cheaply.

[@tr4nsg0th1ca]

​@RAAM855 that's because the Chinese threw their morals right out the window. Ever seen how mainlander tourists act?

[@RedRaiderLobo20]

@@TurboSquare2000does it rhyme with bigger?

[@TurboSquare2000]

@@RedRaiderLobo20 sure does

[@amarissimus29]

The last thing you want in a housing project is a public bathroom. Believe me.

[@dave3657]

There was a nice apartment building in the Soulard district. At first I didn’t know it was public housing. Then the dumpster fires, graffiti , plywood covered windows. The tenants trashed the building . Then the building was bought, rehabbed and became condo’s. No dumpster fires, no graffiti, no trash.

[@Cjmacj]

These housing schemes/projects were a sociological disaster no matter what country they were in. We've plenty of them in my country housed by native citizens and they are absolutely disgusting dangerous places. Poverty and addiction is the same all over the planet.

[@simonfea2]

Ya, poors, who needs them.

[@simonfea2]

​@mromatic17 I bet you believe a family of 4 could live 10 years off of one of those COVID relief checks and that a loaf of bread costs 25 cents. SMH

[@Sacto1654]

@@dave3657 Now you wonder what would have happened to Pruitt-Igoe had a private developer got their hands on it, completely rehabbed it and turned it into for-sale condominiums.

[@DogmaticAtheist]

The soviet union went gangbusters on these types of high rise housing blocks. It didn't work so well for them either.

[@OLDMANTEA]

Minoru Yamasaki would go on design the Original World Trade Center twin towers. George F Hellmuth would go on to found the renowned Architecture firm HoK.

[@DCHutchins]

Politicians make horrible decisions, the never ending story. Look what is happening today. Of course there are exceptions, but people are people.

[@flipnotrab]

And that is exactly where this guys video fails. St. Louis politicians, State and Federal Congress members all got kickbacks from the contractors that built this project. Then the contractors shorted the buildings in MANY ways from electrical, heating, plumbing, and all the way to even the elevators.

[@leeboy2k1]

@@flipnotrab “The Money Power preys upon the Nation in times of peace and conspires against it in the hour of its calamity. It is more despotic than Monarchy, more insolent than Aristocracy, more selfish than Bureaucracy. It accumulates by conscious fraud more money than it can use. It .. denounces as public enemies all who question its methods or throw a light upon its crimes. It can only be overthrown by the awakened conscience of the Nation.” - William Jennings Bryan, New York Reception, 1906."

[@DogmaticAtheist]

There's a term to describe when policy has the exact opposite effect as intended. It's a common phenomena that is not given it's due.

[@beebtv]

12:00 "maintenence shortfalls encouraged vandalism" Odd mentality, "somethings broken so let's smash more stuff."

[@jamesricker3997]

When the owners do not care about the property, It sends a message

[@DoubleBob]

Just a rhetoric trick to make excuses for the criminals (who vandalize stuff) and blaming the system instead.

[@userequaltoNull]

It's the Broken Window phemenon.

[@rodneylewis4402]

Odd, but true. There are some people who will almost always take good care of things no matter what & some who will almost always destroy things, either intentionally or absent-mindedly. Everyone else is somewhere in between. I've seen it with housing, schools, vehicles, etc.

[@Urbanforager]

It’s cultural

[@jaelkalashnikov3833]

These weren't the only housing projects in St Louis. There were high ruse housing projects on the Southside in the Soulard area called Darcus-Webbe I believe, and had the same identical problems as Pruitt Igoe. I remember going to Soulard Farmers Market as a little kid around the holidays (we lived 50 miles out in the country) and seeing people standing stories up with their hands poking through the steel fencing, looking down and hollering at those below in the parking lot which had several cars sitting on blocks l. It was scary and depressing. There was graffiti all over the buildings, the playground had been destroyed and looked unsafe, gunshots constantly rang out, and I just remember thinking that jail must look like what these folks lived in. There were also a lot of gangs in those buildings. I don't remember when they tore them down, but I was glad they did....

[@evanhughes3027]

I was not ready for the picture of Mr. Igoe. Wow. That dude just looks well fed and ill intentioned.

[@MrSomebodyStrange]

To be fair, he's the second generation irish migrant which was a stigma of its own at the time

[@nasnas6867]

My grandmother aunts and uncle was one of the first families in those projects. Funny, our last name is Pruitt, but she's now 79, and i hear so many stories about those days 😂

[@rudypowell2475]

So was my parents, when we moved in there was only two buildings built and they were on the O'Fallon. We called them the first and second building!

[@georgeedward1226]

If you built a palace for somebody and they treat it like one huge toilet bowl, that's what it will become. The builders can't be blamed for everything.

[@michah321]

It was built in an IMPOSSIBLE manner. It couldn't be maintained. People couldn't watch or supervise their children playing. There were not enough elevators and the elevators didn't go all the way up. It was HORRIBLE, depressing, it was a PRISON. Anyone with two brain cells should have expected this disaster to fail

[@tyrannyofexperts]

@@michah321 Excuses, Excuses Now tell us why this is repeated in every city in America.

[@MarlinWilliams-ts5ul]

We have houses on our Main Street in Mass. that were built in the 1650s. The house I grew up in was built in 1785.

[@normwetherbee3403]

I grew up in a house that was built in the 1850's, I've been in buildings in Ireland that were built in the 1100's, What's you're point?

[@Dan__W]

Brown vs. Board of Education struck down segregation. Such a basic failure of fact finding undermines any argument your narrative about the circumstances of the design process makes. Segregation was in full force, especially in the American South during the 1950's.

[@majordbag2]

Personally I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he meant Plessy vs Ferguson and didn't notice until after the video went up.

[@InaneDragon]

@@majordbag2 Plessy was decided in 1892, he couldn't have meant that case since he's talking about a case which had to have occurred in the mid-1950s. If we assume he slipped up and meant to say that Brown ended separate but equal & therefore the project had to include minority housing rather than being all white (which he strongly indicated had been the original plan), it couldn't have been separated by building or section of the project. I'm not sure how to give a positive interpretation of this bit because it just isn't historically coherent.

[@majordbag2]

@@InaneDragon I understand that his but it's the only glaring mistake in a 20 minute and otherwise it seems pretty well researched. Keep in mind KZbin does not allow you to edit videos for mistakes like this so it's possible it's an oversight. IN any case, for me it doesn't automatically invalidate the rest of the video.

[@erynlasgalen1949]

correct. The US did not get equal opportunity in housing until the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s. Segregated housing was still a thing when Pruitt-Igoe was built.

[@painkillerjones6232]

In other countries, housing like this, not even as good, was built, used, and used successfully. And more have been built. It's not a roof and four walls that causes a problem.

[@babaluigi]

@@painkillerjones6232 what is it then? Interested to hear how you’re gonna twist this one up

[@painkillerjones6232]

@@babaluigi The people. That simple.

[@captain150]

@@painkillerjones6232 How and why did the people get that way?

[@painkillerjones6232]

@@captain150 Ignorance would be my best guess, but I don't claim to know everything.

[@captain150]

@@painkillerjones6232 By ignorance I assume you mean lack of knowledge, meaning poorly educated? Why would someone be poorly educated?

[@TJM316]

Its never the criminals fault.

[@arrow1414]

Eh? Brown vs Board of education STRUCK DOWN segregation, not enforced it! 7:53

[@carwashadamcooper1538]

You're correct. Unfortunately.. We'd have a much nicer, safer and cleaner country if it had gone the other direction. Oh well. I suppose feelings matter more than facts. It may not "feel good" but we are not all the same, nor are we all compatible.

[@arrow1414]

@@carwashadamcooper1538 Well the segragationist has been heard from.

[@bosscascade5566]

​@@carwashadamcooper1538the jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan subs checks out

[@lukepaule6004]

Based

[@AcuraLvR82]

No mention of the army radiation experiments that occurred here? During the early days of the project the Army was dumping radioactive cadmium sulfide down the buildings' hvac systems, trying to simulate radioactive fallout on large, Soviet style apartment blocks.

[@ViggoMJ]

So are so-called radiation experiments the reason why every housing project in every major city is a violent hellhole?

[@jayware4219]

@@AcuraLvR82 Jesus

[@damm41]

Cadmium sulfide is not radioactive. It is a known carcinogen however that wasn’t known until later

[@MoneyManTC]

@@AcuraLvR82 I believe it was called “Operation Large Area Coverage” if I’m not mistaken

[@DogmaticAtheist]

​@@damm41when spreading information it's prudent to ensure the information is correct. Who does that though? That's work.

[@sethschroeder9490]

I watched a documentary on this project years ago. Im glad to hear your take on this. I enjoy your content so much. Thanks!

[@McZachary44]

It turns out that people living in a place that’s either free, or next to free might not take care of their living spaces.

[@kakashisensei9258]

@@McZachary44 Not necessarily. The building was extremely neglected. Pipes burst in the winter, HVAC broke in the summer. Not to mention that the architect who designed the building was forced to change his design to cut costs. The fault is on the city, not the tenants.

[@noggin6870]

When the proprietor doesn't, why should the tenants?

[@MrMarcodarko]

they built these same buildings in the uk. Some still stand.

[@tomjones2056]

@@kakashisensei9258 nothing is ever the residents fault is it. It was definitely the cities fault drug addicts ruin things

[@dwaynedrummond4251]

@@McZachary44 tenants are the downfall of a 10 story building 😂😂😂😂

[@Turquoise1971]

My dad worked at Ralston in the late 60s. Ralston helped finance this project. In the first year those buildings were opened 20 people got killed. That's straight from my dad and that's the real number.

[@hustler3of4culture3]

That doesn't seem unusual if that number of humans live together under highly restrictive conditions.

[@Puppylover106-h6w]

@@Turquoise1971 I don't remember what year it happened but I sure remember the fire at Ralstan Purina and the horrendous time firefighters had with the incredible cold weather causing the water to freeze in the hoses. I can still remember the news showing the building covered in giant blocks of ice and what water they could use turning into ice as they sprayed the building.

[@nate8014]

@@hustler3of4culture3 that's a 200 per 100,000 murder rate, nearly 4 times higher than the highest murder rate right now in America (New Orleans).

[@hustler3of4culture3]

@@nate8014 yup

[@SadPuppySoup]

Where I'm from low income housing projects were in the 80's called prisons without fences and you never ventured outside after dark. I remember hearing gun shots and screams every night and I lived 3 blocks away in a one car garage I rented from an nice older lady. It was that or the projects for a poor person like me and I chose a garage over that. I know they had some good intentions by building them but they never followed up on any of it unless you broke a rule then they would show up and throw you and your stuff out on the lawn and have someone new moving in before the locks were changed. Just so dam sad.

[@trinydex]

what follow up would have worked

[@TimEssDub]

Mr. Yamasaki had the vision of a city-within-a-city but it's a shame that cheapness reduced it to an American commie block. What was the rationale for not allowing husbands and fathers live in the project?

[@culturematters4157]

The women received more welfare if they didn't include the fathers' income. The Democrat Party replaced husbands with Uncle $am and the women went along with it, voting (D) in exchange for more welfare given to single mothers.

[@DubhghlasMacDubhghlas]

it was not just within the project. Republicans back in the day put that on people who received welfare.

[@culturematters4157]

@@DubhghlasMacDubhghlas Welfare, as it exists today, was established by a Democrat congress and signed into law by Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of his "Great Society" welfare system. As written by the democrats, it provided more assistance to single mothers than married mothers.

[@culturematters4157]

@@DubhghlasMacDubhghlas Welfare, as it exists today, was established by a Democrat congress and signed into law by Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson in the mid-1960's as part of his "Great Society" welfare system. As written by the democrats, it provided more assistance to single mothers than married mothers.

[@DubhghlasMacDubhghlas]

@@culturematters4157 Just like with the CRA of 1965 it took bipartisan effort to pass the various social safety net bills. Which means they had to make deals with republicans to get it past. I should be saying the southern dems who later became republicans under Nixon.

[@TOKOLOSHE100]

"The Pruitt-Igoe Myth" was an amazing doccie. You get to watch in detail as the residents who lived there recount how they vandalized the buildings, murdered each other and made the place unlivable and are still proud of their handiwork.

[@thelordofcringe]

"Just give them free money, that will fix their anti-human pure evil lifestyle!" -reply by the average youtube commenter

[@lesterdiamond6190]

There’s just no hope for these people. Chris Rock described the problem better than a thousand PhDs could have.

[@JohnSmith-ct5jd]

Good point.

[@thecianinator]

sounds like you're trying to forget the part where fixing anything broken in the buildings was actually against the law and families with dads weren't allowed to live there to the point that the cops actually raided the place to evict any family with a man in the household

[@TOKOLOSHE100]

@@thecianinator Not at all, the maintenance budget was swallowed by the sanitation costs which were overwhelmed leaving no money for repairs and the system was ruthlessly gamed by lazy men unable to fend for their families and looking for a free ride. Watch the film for yourself and listen to the former residents words. It is a kill whitey documentary that backfires due to the intellectual honesty of the producers.

[@staceyhodur728]

As a middle class white girl in Michigan I loved the TV show "Good Times". I hope there was some at some time.

[@LDrumsOhio]

Interesting history regarding this development. I’d never heard of it until the film Watchmen used the song Pruitt-Igoe Myth from the 1980s and then learned a little about it. I see a lot similarities from other types of blocks in the US & UK and Russia, and do wonder if the sterile nature of the environment breaks the connection and human connection. I’ve been to high rises when I lived in Asia and I’ve been in some that were scary and others that were nice, and it’s really remarkable to see the variance in density and lifestyle differences especially based on income.

[@Mdntwaffles]

I agree that the architectural style of many post- WW2 public housing projects is part of the problem. “Modern,” unembellished, mass-produced structures are deliberately dour and present a space that is psychologically difficult to ascribe human warmth and emotional significance. However, Pruitt-Igoe’s failure I believe is uniquely American due to the multitude of social and racial dynamics involved. Towerblock public housing never had the stigma anywhere else like it does here in the states.

[@jeffking4176]

In 4th grade, I had a best friend, whose family escaped Pruitt-Igo, and moved to University City. Their house put them in the same area as me, so he went to the same school. He told me quite a lot about what it was like. We remained friends, though out the school year. Then they moved again.

[@jackiehoward7300]

The same thing is happening to a housing project in Louisville, Kentucky. The place is called Dosker Manor. I lived there from 2011-2014 and the buildings weren’t too awful. Since then, they’ve been taken over by pestilence, mold, and rats. The city refused to appropriately fix problems with the buildings and did nothing to control the bugs. Everything was blamed on the tenants. Now, the city has to demo the entire complex.

[@denislemieux4915]

Almost like the city wants to get rid of it so they can sell the land to a developer.

[@jackiehoward7300]

@@denislemieux4915 Yes. Most likely. My husband and I moved out of there after a pregnant woman was shot in the elevator. We got out of Kentucky six years ago and are so happy

[@jayware4219]

@@denislemieux4915and ppl wonder why there’s a homeless problem

[@DogmaticAtheist]

The tragedy of the commons is a real thing. Oftentimes there is not one single reason but a menagerie of different reasons which come together to have a stated effect.

[@trinydex]

​@@DogmaticAtheistare you saying that the tragedy of the commons happens in Japan?

[@sharonrigs7999]

It was hilariously known as the Zulu-Igbo Project

[@87Dodge87]

This had the look of past USSR type housing projects.

[@Brian-ii8kt]

They never mentioned the biggest problem of this complex is the residents and the criminal culture

[@tyrannyofexperts]

Repeated all over America in every large city Over and Over!!

[@meowymeowerton2820]

I feel like I just saw this topic yesterday on another channel

[@RLJSlick]

I know I did, I saw something similar on channel This House -The WORST Housing Disaster in US History: Pruitt-Igoe"

[@savvybear11781]

@@RLJSlick same here

[@Miami543210]

You did. So did I.

[@chillijoe8264]

it doesn’t matter what the buildings are like it’s the people in them that make it a place you want to live … or avoid at all cost…!

[@academaciated7466]

It’s really a shame how the funding was cut off among other things.

[@NorthFace520]

Crazy that this was the same architect that designed the Original WTC. Critics have said that the demolition of this complex was known as the death of modernism architecture. A good movie to watch is Koyaanisqatsi, it reference this quite well 😊

[@alka9613]

You weren't listening. What Yamasaki tried to do was vetoed by Hellmuth and the investors.

[@Razielchan666]

How is it that public housing works in so many other places all over the world?

[@normwetherbee3403]

Where exactly does public housing work "in other places all over the world"?

[@vonFisch]

@@normwetherbee3403 Europe? France, Germany, UK all have some form of public housing, other countries too.

[@normwetherbee3403]

@@vonFisch Yes and they have the same societal issues as most all public housing.

[@RobertBlack-x4u]

Public housing in Australia works well for the disabled and the elderly. Family public housing if congested in one area causes huge problems. Splitting public housing across multiple demographic regions dilutes the problems but that’s how they were built based on the American version at the time. Of course NIMBYism then comes into play which is ugly but if public housing isn’t denigrated into ‘poor ‘ areas they get a chance via public peer pressure not to lose their privilege. Not everyone is lucky enough to be born into a good family with good work values. It’s a tough call but better than being inhumane and putting people on the street. They can lose their public housing rights and the wait list is long. Ironically public housing in Australia was originally for the working poor with minimal education. Eg factory workers etc Housing for the unemployed was unheard of. Single mothers is a financially viable career in 🇦🇺. Time the births of your children right and you never have to work in your life. Compulsory abortion would fix just about everything in the social housing space

[@pwp8737]

@@normwetherbee3403 try Vienna's Gemeindenbau for starters.

[@Bjebebnjdkn]

Brown vs Board did the opposite of what you said. 8:10 It’s a landmark SC case. How is this a history channel?

[@heavymetalredneck7973]

Liberal history is backwards and skewed by the writers "feelwings" that's the problem, they avoid reality at all costs.

[@MrShobar]

It's not. It's a very amateurish attempt at one.

[@aviswright3869]

My family lived there and Carr Square village is where my Grandparents lived and my Mama was raised as a little Girl until teens then moved to their first house.

[@kukui79]

Brown vs the Board of Education did NOT enshrine separate but equal. It abolished it. This is an extremely basic history fact.

[@shabouga]

kind of an important detail

[@tedmarakas2626]

Question. Does anybody know of a low income housing project that was successful and can be copied ? I can't think of one.

[@DK-cr7hn]

Jail

[@tedmarakas2626]

@@DK-cr7hn Good answer. hahaha.

[@edljnehan2811]

I tried to play on the playground there as a neighborhood kid back in the 60s and was chased out of there with bottle Sticks and Bricks😢

[@williamthomas1]

The jobs left first and everything followed. NYC still has it's housing towers in Manhattan, not ideal but still there. This was rapid expansion followed by rapid job loss. Decade after Decade this city addressed these issues. This was a manufacturing city, a brewery city - 30 at one point - and East St. Louis was the same. Now goods are made overseas in slave labor countries. St. Louis was a Union City and business hates that.

[@Andrew-un8tx]

Consumers hate it too. Paying someone e over $40 an hour in salary and benefits to do a job an Indian or Chinese person will do for 10% of that isn't going to fly. Especially when they work 3-5 times harder for less money. The cost gets passed on to the consumer

[@erynlasgalen1949]

Same with Milwaukee.

[@erynlasgalen1949]

​@Andrew-un8tx You really think that the savings from offshoring our manufacturing gets passed along to the consumer in their entirety? And, no, the quality of the slave labor work is abysmal. My US made Amana refrigerator/freezer lasted me 28 years. Show me an Asian made appliance that lasts even a decade.

[@Joe-Przybranowski]

If buildings like this contained a different demographic, structures like these would last generations. They were built solid as hell.

[@Jkub101]

@@Joe-Przybranowski the projects in my neighborhood were 100% white. When blacks moved in, they started to deteriorate

[@dudeliberty]

@@Joe-Przybranowski bingo

[@vonFisch]

Said troll on a fresh new troll account, very telling...

[@joeblow4215]

If you have low rent housing, you will have low rent people.

[@krisstopher8259]

Both this project and the WTC were demolished. Mr Yamasaki died in 1986 so at least he didn't have to witness the tragic destruction of the twin towers

[@dudeliberty]

Thanks Israel

[@antoniovillanueva308]

_"Only one generation removed from the farm"_ Consider the possibility that the problem with these projects is population density. Some human beings (me) cannot adapt to dense urban areas. My life in urban areas made me ill and more than a bit nuts. I am retired now and I live an extremely rural existence. I am a better person out here. When I return to urban/suburban areas I now see desperation and anger. Portland, Denver, LA, Detroit, Baltimore,... When I go to these places I see some people who are failing and I wonder if they would be better off back on the farm. - Of course some people adapt just fine to dense populations. Obviously, some people do not. It is easier for me to love my neighbor when my neighbor is more than 10 feet away. Or maybe it is easier for my neighbor to love me when I am 1/2 a mile away?

[@antoniovillanueva308]

All of my favorite people are dogs, cats, or horses.

[@erynlasgalen1949]

Good point. i'm a country person too, and I'd go crazy with just a plaster wall separating me from my neighbors. Based on urban behavior, I think everyone goes a little crazy living shoulder to shoulder.

[@mfd8346]

When you design a place, make sure your clients arent Ninjas or they'll tear it up to pieces

[@Giovanni-33]

St. Louis native here. I remember Pruitt Igoe when I was a kid. There was always a stigma attached to it and those living there. I never knew why. But, now it's obvious that those deserving were never stigmatized. People are not cattle and will wither away in the stark industrial hell that was Pruitt Igoe.

[@jellybiscuit]

You're right. A cow can feed itself.

[@johnwolfe7058]

Animals are great, these "tenants" wants them gibs, so they're less than a animal.

[@doug6191]

"But, now it's obvious that those deserving were never stigmatized." What?! 🤨 That sentence doesn't read right.

[@DubhghlasMacDubhghlas]

@@jellybiscuit not when you cage a cow in a pen.

[@thatlittlevoice6354]

Let's not state the obvious, though.

[@JohnSmith-ct5jd]

Exactly.

[@Miami543210]

I never understood why the poor have so many children. It is very easy to not have kids. That was a single young woman, or man back, then living and those buildings, I would spend all day and night working at a legitimate job to improve my situation. The last thing I would do is make babies. It is the easiest thing in the world to do. Just don’t make babies. Then every penny you make is yours. Every minute you have is yours.

[@aw55550]

@@Miami543210 this is a looong stretch, but perhaps your primal drive to reproduce is getting stronger the poorer you are??

[@culturematters4157]

The problem is the Democrat Party structured welfare in such a way that it incentivized women to have children out of wedlock. The more children, the more welfare. Single mothers getting more welfare than married women where both incomes were considered. As it turns out, Uncle $am is a terrible husband/father. Blame the Democrat Party and the people who vote (D).

[@nthgth]

It's a pretty obvious correlation between poverty and having lots of kids. (And then, of course, expecting the rest of us to help raise them)

[@culturematters4157]

It pays for single women to have children, thanks to the Democrat Party.

[@culturematters4157]

It's a way to get free food, housing and other handouts.

[@tommyNix4098]

The term "housing project" evokes an image of a disheveled, dangerous, drug infested area most people want to stay away from. But I assume there are examples of housing projects that can be counted as long-term success stories.

[@timscott4754]

Brougham Village, Christchurch, New Zealand. Bye bye.

[@tommyNix4098]

@@timscott4754 Thanks, Glad to see it's working better in New Zealand.

[@colclumper]

Looked good in the beginning but the decent people moved on to a better life and the rest just destroyed the place

[@shakzor]

Blame everything except the people. How many times must the same things happen before we accept the one commonality is the culprit?

[@TJM316]

They have no ability to comprehend accountability.

[@JohnSmith-ct5jd]

Right. It is just a cultural thing. I also hate how the media keep saying "gun violence" as though it is the availability of guns that is the problem.

[@dallaslocal711]

Just say what you really want to cowards

[@shakzor]

@@dallaslocal711 Ask someone to have this conversation on free speech social media and we will see who is really a coward.

[@TJM316]

@@dallaslocal711 KZbin will erase the truth.

[@mikepearson9983]

And to this day, if you listen carefully, you can still hear the chirping of smoke alarms.

[@robertacton1271]

Today we have a huge homeless problem. Looking for answers? Try looking outside of North America!

[@ropersf]

I've seen similar public housing in Sweden built in the sixties that's still standing and looks great.

[@JohnSmith-ct5jd]

Because it is inhabited by Swedes, and Pruitt-Igoe is inhabited by,,,well you get the idea.

[@danielescobar7618]

Hmmm what could the be the difference? High trust homogenous society

[@ghostmantagshome-er6pb]

By the " common sense challenged ".

[@isaacsnuffer1665]

@@ropersf Crazy how great things can be when your leaders don't worship money.

[@delusionnnnn]

Pruitt-Igoe's demolition was prominently part of the astonishing non-narrative documentary Koyaanisqatsi. Absolutely worth a watch if you've never seen it.

[@lalac7207]

My daddy and siblings were raised here. I've heard so many stories bout this place.

[@teddyghioto]

You can give them everything and they still wont be happy..They destroy everything they come in contact with...

[@MrEric2cu]

Then put blame on anything but themselves. We've been pampering these animals for a eternity.

[@StillLivinginthewoods]

Public housing is always plagued by crime and degeneracy. Block housing takes all of that and concentrates it into it's worst form.

[@danmcguire3030]

If you don't understand the past you are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. As I watched this all I could think about was every politician today talking about "affordable housing". This is what they mean, socialism does not work.

[@ThePapo1980]

Lived in STL my whole life, north county, south county west county. This city has a real real crime problem, always has. Drugs, wealth inequality, red lining lack of jobs and never looking beyond manufacturing. Folks that are left can’t leave, less some boon comes around this will continue. Pruitt Igoe was just the symptoms of the problem

[@patrickaker4380]

So, it is a city that exists in the United States?

[@KentoKei]

@@patrickaker4380 yup

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

So you’ve never actually lived in St. Louis. lol

[@ZimbabweanBugbite]

@@StLouis-yu9izI’m born and raised in Ferguson, it is absolutely like this, granted there are still some great areas of STL but to act like we’re some shining metropolis is just unrealistic, and while I would like it to be that way it’s gonna take a lot of work to get us out of this

[@CJColvin]

The major problem to all of this was the fact that the city of St.Louis seceded from St.Louis County in 1876 and cause of that the city is now a hood infested area.

[@1k_vonte]

Don’t forget the military experiment(s) performed there 👀

[@rudypowell2475]

That's one i will never forget because i lived it. Still waiting on a class action suit!!!

[@cityside75]

First learned of Pruitt-Igoe through a movie called Koyaanisqatsi. It sets a tone through music and footage that seems to really capture the feeling of the last few years there. It stuck with me for a long time before I decided to research it and learn more.

[@keldonmcfarland2969]

The reason for the man-in-the-house rule was that it was expected that he would provide an income. It definitely went to far, but the overall reason was that, eventually, residents were expected to be on public assistance only until they could be on their own and take care of themselves.

[@Heike--]

That's not true at all, it was explicitly Marxist. Vote for us, get free stuff. Vote us out and get thrown out on the street. Unfortunately, it worked.

[@czechgop7631]

That's why I don't understand the logic of it at all. If they wanted the families to be able to pay rent, then it's extremely dumb to force the men out

[@DeanStephen]

The history of Pruitt Igoe reads like an unfortunately unwritten sequel of the Fountainhead.

[@RobSchellinger]

No different than any other public housing bloc. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@painkillerjones6232]

They work in other countries, as well as other social media sites. The ones that WANT you to get used to it, and consider it the future norm. They just call them "Green Living" apartments, or some garbage...

[@Relicords]

Footage of the Pruitt-Igoe demolition can be seen on the film Koyaanisqatsi

[@markcaldwell2831]

The reason for the downfall was the same as the reason for our ambitious 'schemes' here in Scotland in the 1950s with one scheme that housed over 50,000 peoley, and that was the lack of or no amenities....shops, pubs, community services, adequate areas for kids to play safely, and all the basics that people needed weren't there, and the place spiraled out of control. Its the fault of the governments....not the people.

[@eddiehazard3340]

MAYBE IT WAS AWFUL BECAUSE THE TENANTS DO NOT RESPECT EDUCATION, FAMILY, OR LAW ? I MEAN, LOOK AT ALL THE OTHER HOUSING PROJECTS... SAME DEAL.

[@753greg]

How does anyplace become a shit hole? Because of who lives there.

[@johnnyrico6202]

I really liked this film. Seen it at the theater. I found the cinematography ahead of its time and I believe it set a standard for future films.

[@SyncopatedLied]

The age old issue. City, State, and National policy making life unlivable for the average person.

[@DocSportello1970]

No mention of the movie Koyaanisqatsi (1982) and its famous use of the implosions of Pruitt-Igoe?

[@robertblake9892]

tNote that the people who plan and design these public housing projects never live in them. Calamity Jane Byrne of Chicago made a big deal about getting an apartment in Cabrini-Green. That lasted about 3 weeks.

[@Elleffante]

Desire Florida projects in New Orleans were huge. When driving over the Paris Bridge all that could be seen in every direction was the projects. They had their own schools, stores, banks, everything and it was next to impossible for people to get out of there. They are gone now, thanks to Hurricane Katrina.

[@jahyoda]

I agree with theory at end...you can't force a Societal Standard of Living on 15k people with addressing the feelings of tenants

[@MissFoxification]

There are successful estates built with the same goals that were successful. The difference is they moved with the times, they adapted and evolved. Any that didn't suffered the same end result.

[@chicanopride67]

buildings look like cellblocks

[@SalvadorButtersworth]

And it was full of criminals

[@CarmenBelcher]

My uncle who raised me & my sibling in Lake St.Louis, Mo was born there.

[@heavymetalredneck7973]

Yeah, it was the city's fault, not the people living in them 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@matej_n8392]

I first noticed these buildings in one of the parts of the Godfrey Reggio trilogy. I wanted to know more then.

[@maryhildreth754]

Will you make one about Cabrini Green please?

[@chicoredd7414]

It's more projects in Chicago than just Cabrini-Green

[@annenelson5656]

Say what you will about parks and green spaces the project doesn’t look much different than the dreary brutalist architecture apartments in East Germany and The Soviet Union. I wonder how much input Mr. Yamasaki actually had in the design. They were intended to divide the population and ensure segregation. Skipping elevators was a cruel stingy practice. There was no pride in living there. Living there meant you were nothing but poor and burdens on society. Finally the residents got pissed. The city had no intention on actually maintaining or improving the buildings. I’d love to do forensic accounting to see exactly how the city had shortfalls in paying for maintenance and repairs. I have questions.

[@SalvadorButtersworth]

Yes they were burdens on society, at least you admit it. But let's not accuse people of being stingy for giving free housing to burdens.

[@hukatus]

How on earth are the authoroties in USA so incompetent at managing public housing. Whole district just demolished.

[@royschultz1377]

Saint Louis had many housing projects, high rise, apartment, town homes, even private homes... As soon as a certain 'diverse' population became a large portion of the occupants they were all destroyed

[@JapanPop]

“she KAH ta gah NYE” 😂仕方がない。

[@TurboSquare2000]

We have wasted an unfathomable amount of money trying to civilize them. Its never going to work.

[@DylonCorp]

@@TurboSquare2000 despite the haters, I still believe Americans can be civilized. I mean, just recently we came within inches of our country being far more civilized.

[@allenatkins2263]

@@DylonCorp I guess you are the civilized one?

[@TurboSquare2000]

@@DylonCorp Nothing american about them.

[@kuhataparunks]

I've always wondered about this thank you

[@bunny4205]

New here and love your content - Great videos!!