The film about the Pruitt-Igoe disaster relays the story of another public housing failure. Looking back, it is easy to see what made the public housing complex fail: the movement of people to the suburbs, the lack of repair work, or the reluctance of police to intervene. At the time the housing was built, it seemed to be a great improvement to the previous dilapidated housing, but no foresight was put into place and the Pruitt-Igoe housing deteriorated as well.

The large Pruitt-Igoe buildings were put into place to act as an improvement. The slums, with unsanitary and cramped housing, were being demolished and instead several tall and identical buildings were put in place. Perhaps the slums should have been cleared, but these large buildings would eventually be almost vacant. The public housing authority in charge made a huge error in judgment, assuming that the city would grow and there would be a demand for more housing. Unfortunately this was not the case, as people who could afford to move moved out to the suburbs, leaving the rest to stay in the public housing in the city. This caused a major problem, since only the poorer families stayed in the Pruitt-Igoe buildings and they did not contribute enough rent to cover the cost of repairs. The utilities in the buildings quickly deteriorated and vandalism was rampant. Another effect of the exodus to the suburbs was the influx of drug users into the unoccupied buildings. One of women who was interviewed in the film mentioned seeing the lights on at night in a building that was supposed to be empty. She knew that inside were drug users or sellers and that added to her fear and lack of safety.

One of Jacobs’ points about the safety of streets definitely was apparent in the Pruitt-Igoe situation. The buildings had park areas that were placed between the buildings and were not accessible to the public. Nor did the public housing attract any street traffic from nearby residents. Because of the relative isolation and few people, the areas became extremely dangerous. At first cops arrived to Pruitt-Igoe, yet after several incidents of attacks on the police, they stopped answering calls to come into the area. This allowed crime to increase even further since criminals knew it was unlikely they would be hindered.

I was very surprised by one of the women in the film who said she loved Pruitt-Igoe, mainly because of her first memories there and the contrast of the new housing to her previous dilapidated home. She speaks of being excited to come live there and how her family finally had their own beds to sleep in, unlike their previous home where her mother had to sleep on the floor in the kitchen. While at first the Pruitt-Igoe homes may have been an improvement, the condition they became outweighs the positives. Had a different housing structure been built, it could have perhaps lasted longer and provided housing for the long term.

Overall, I believe the housing failed because it was constructed with no forethought and no one was given any incentive to keep the building in repair. Similar to the failure of the Chicago Housing Authority with their high youth to adult ratios, the placement and maintenance of the buildings invited crime and there were not enough people to police the area themselves. The rent was low yet the repair work costs were higher. It seems that often the public sector is unequipped to handle large-scale public housing.