Pruitt-Igoe (housing project)

Pruitt-Igoe was a large public housing complex in St. Louis built in the 1950s to provide affordable homes for low-income residents. Designed with modern principles, it aimed to improve urban living, but quickly faced issues like poverty, neglect, and social problems. Lack of maintenance, poor management, and economic decline led to increasing crime and decay. By the 1970s, residents and the city saw it as unlivable, and the buildings were demolished between 1972 and 1976. Pruitt-Igoe became a symbol of failed urban housing projects and sparked debates about public housing policies.