Katelyn Wilkinson
Professor Demong
Assignment 6: Pruitt-lgoe Myth
1. Architecture is said to have assisted in the demise of Pruitt-Igoe because the modern high
rises were said to create a breeding ground for isolation, vandalism and crime. It created
an environment of fear. Big government also assisted in the demise of Pruitt-Igoe because
they could not afford the upkeep of the affordable housing and everything started to
slowly break down and there were no funds to be able to fix it. They were then forced to
raise rent which the tenants could not afford.
2. As lower income families were moving in to Pruitt-Igoe, middle-class families were
moving out of the city and buying homes in the suburbs. Jobs also followed these
families to the suburbs which began to drag down the economy in the city. This also
contributed to the demise of Pruitt-Igoe as jobs and people were leaving which made it
nearly impossible for others to get jobs. The affordable housing of Puritt-Igoe was
supposed to be filled which would help keep rent low and maintain the place, but which
so many people leaving the Pruitt-Igoe could not stay full and generate enough rent to
cover the cost of repairs and protection.
3. The welfare system that only offered this affordable housing to single mothers with no
men in the home encouraged women to have more children without a man who stayed in
the home and also encouraged the separation of family. This separation ofhe family lead
to the downfall of the institution of the family which caused the children there to have to
act like the men of the house and of the community because they didn’t have their own
fathers there to teach and raise them. This was a very unhealthy welfare system as it
broke families apart and actually discouraged men from staying with and help take care
of their families as all of the responsibility fell on the mothers.
4. As Pruitt-Igoe started to fall apart, people began to urinate in elevators and throw bricks
and bottles at the firemen and police as a way to show that they were angry with the way
they were living and what they were dealing with. It was a way to retaliate and to give
them, the outsiders who lived in better environments, a taste of what it was like to live
there not realizing that it drove them away and made their desire to help them decrease.
The ghettos bring psychological problems and issues with living in them that are then
shown by these outrageous acts. It breeds violence and other issues which are then so
hard to escape for most as they have to adapt this way to survive in that environment.
5. The general public and the media looked at Pruitt-Igoe in a way that blamed the people
for the downfall of the affordable housing in the city. They blamed the residents as they
stated it was because they were poor, uneducated, and rural which caused their own
problems and lead to their own destruction. Outsiders also began to fear black crime and
poverty as Pruitt-Igo began to get increasingly dangerous.
6. Even through Pruitt-Igoe failed, the people who used to live there often talk about having
fond memories there and the happiness they experienced there. Although it did fail, in the
beginning it was something that was so special to them as many of them came from
Katelyn Wilkinson
Professor Demong
poverty-stricken areas. Moving into Pruitt-Igoe was so memorable for them and the
memories they created from living there in its infancy was so strong for them because of
how different it made their life. Even after the destruction of Pruitt-Igoe, several still
remembered the wonderful Christmases they shared and the time splaying with other
children in the streets because despite the bad there that started to trickle in and
eventually took over, they had an attachment to the place because of what it first
represented to them.
7. The element of structure was tied in to Pruitt-Igoe by the government creating
requirements for the tenants to live there. They restricted welfare if there was a man
living in the home with a mother and her children and TV’s and radios were not allowed
in the home for some time until the Housing Authority deemed it okay to finally have
one. Structure limits agency. It was, however, the residents’ choice to live in Pruitt-Igoe
and decide if they wanted to help maintain the place themselves. Although structure
limited their agency in a lot of other ways which leaked into this, they were not forced to
stay against their will. It can be said that outside, structural forces created the
impossibility for them to get out of the situation, but they still had agency. This agency
was used to urinate in elevators and throw bricks and glass bottles at police and firemen
who came there to help with situations. Their agency was used to push them out and
show them that they did not want them here.
8. This documentary left me realizing the problem with big-government trying to fix
problems and with affordable housing and other big-government projects. The problem
being that they are not addressing the real problem. In Pruitt-Igoe, affordable housing
was created to help get these people out of poverty and help provide them with the basic
necessities that they need and deserve. However, there was not enough money to help
with the upkeep of these facilities. They depended on people filling up the facilities and
using the rent to help with the upkeep, but when that failed there was no other solution
but to raise the rent for the tenants which they could not afford. This also ties in to the
basic economics of the dying community, lack of jobs, lack of income and lack of funds
to support the housing project and the people within it. As a result, this led and
contributed to the destruction of Pruitt-Igoe. Although the government tried to do its best
to help the people of St. Louis and Pruitt-Igoe by creating this housing for them because
the main issue was not addressed the downfall of this was inevitable. What also resonated
with me id that the people living there felt it was the government’s sole responsibility to
take care of them while living there. In the documentary when a resident was being
interviewed and was told the government could not afford the upkeep of the housing and
he was asked where the money was supposed to come from he stated that he felt that was
the government’s problem. Although there were strict and unfair requirements to live
there like not having a man in the house among other things, it was still interesting to see
the residents blame the downfall solely on the government and not take any responsibility
themselves even if it was a small portion.
Katelyn Wilkinson
Professor Demong
