Contents:
- Introduction
- Brewster-Douglass
- Cabrini-Green
- Imperial Courts
- Jordan Downs
- Liberty Square
- Magnolia
- Marcy
- Queensbridge
- Somerset Court
- Techwood
- Page 2: 11-20
- Page 3: 21-30
Introduction
The Great Depression marks the beginning of the US government’s direct funding of federal public housing. The federal public housing program started as a part of the Housing Act of 1937, passed during the New Deal, the overarching name given to the programs established during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to deal with The Great Depression.
The Rise of Public Housing
FDR signed the Housing Act into law in 1937. The purpose of the law was to provide financial assistance to state and local governments to construct public housing. Construction of public housing projects increased dramatically under this new law. In 1939 alone, 50,000 housing units were constructed.
The initial purpose of public housing – set forth by FDR’s New Deal – was to provide temporary housing primarily for white middle class families. Over time, many low-income families, disproportionately people of color, were displaced to make way for these new developments. pic.twitter.com/0KitiYMEr4
— UNUMKenBurns (@UNUMKenBurns) June 10, 2020
In 1965, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was established. This transformed public housing from a locally operated affair to a cabinet level programs.
The Fall of Public Housing
Public housing in the United States was established to give the poor an alternative to living in the slums but instead, gangs used the buildings as recruiting centers where they sold and stored their drugs and firearms. By the 1990s, the deplorable conditions of public housing projects were exposed and became a critical issue reflected in the policies of elected officials.
Gangs would threaten residents in public housing projects, forcing them to help them hide their drugs and guns. In numerous public housing complexes around the nation, gang members would use units on the higher levels, and even the roof, to look out for cops. When gang members spotted police officers, they would use walkie talkies to warn fellow gang members.
Public housing projects allowed gangs to sell their drugs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Gang members and drug dealers would ride elevators with drug buyers and select floors based on which drug the buyer wanted.
1. Jordan Downs
| Location | Watts, Los Angeles, California |
| Units | 700 |
| Groundbreaking | 1950 |
| Completed | 1955 |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Notable Residents | Tyrese Gibson, singer/actor Florence Griffith-Joyner, Olympic sprinter Isabell Masters, presidential candidate |
Jordan Downs was first opened in 1944 for steelworkers during World War II. In the 1950s, the complex was converted to low-income public housing. Jordan Downs is located in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California and has 700 units.
In the 1970s, the Watts Varrio Grape (WVG) gang emerged from the Jordan Downs projects with a mixture of both African Americans and Hispanics. The Hispanics eventually joined the Mexican Mafia which led them to add a 13 to their name, becoming “South Side Varrio Grape 13.”
The African Americans members of Watts Varrio Grape went by “East Side Watts Varrio Grape” or “Eastside Grape Street Crips.” In the 1980s, a new generation of African American members established the “East Side Watts Baby Loc Crips.” New black members in the late 1980s referred to themselves as “Baby Loc Crips.”
Jordan Downs has been used as a location for several classic movies, including Boyz N the Hood and Menace II Society.
2. Marcy Houses
| Location | Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York |
| Units | 1,705 |
| Groundbreaking | 1945 |
| Completed | 1949 |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Notable Residents | Jay-Z, rapper, icon Memphis Bleek, rapper |
The Marcy Houses aka The Marcy Projects are located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York and consists of twenty-seven, 6-story buildings. The project was completed in 1949 and contains 1,705 apartments.
One of New York’s most notorious gangs, the Trinitarios, is often associated with the Marcy Houses. The Dominican American gang, was founded by two Dominican prisoners, Leonides Sierra and Julio Marine, in 1993 while they were locked up on Rikers Island. The New York Times explains that outside jail, the Trinitarios got their start in the Marcy Houses before expanding throughout New York and Long Island. The gang became known for using machetes instead of guns in their attacks.
The Marcy Houses are best known as the birthplace and childhood home of rapper, Jay-Z whose apartment was on the 5th floor. The rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, recently teamed up with Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey on Bitcoin Academy, a series of free financial literacy courses being offered exclusively to Marcy tenants.
3. Cabrini-Green Homes
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Units | 3,607 |
| Groundbreaking | 1942 |
| Completed | 1962 |
| Demolished | 1995-2011 |
| Notable Residents | Curtis Mayfield, singer Polo G, rapper Eddie Johnson, NBA player Charlene Mitchell, presidential candidate Kim Foxx, Cook County State’s Attorney |
Many believe that the Cabrini-Green projects were built on cursed grounds from the start. Cabrini-Green replaced an area that was formerly known as “Little Hell.” The Chicago Tribune explains that the area was originally settled by German immigrants and eventually Irish immigrants moved to the neighborhood. After the Irish moved, the area became Swedish.
The area was eventually leveled by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. The Swedish eventually moved and Sicilians moved in. The area was already run-down and eventually poor blacks who were fleeing the Jim Crow South were allowed to move to the area. In 1937 the Chicago Housing Authority was established to deal with the city’s poorest areas, including Little Hell and during World War II, the city decided to bulldoze Little Hell and build the Cabrini-Green Housing projects.
The first phase of the Cabrini-Green Housing projects, the Frances Cabrini Homes were built in 1942 and consisted of 55 two and three story buildings that were located close to Chicago’s Near North Side. This was a series of low rise buildings.
At its peak, Cabrini-Green was home to about 15,000 residents. In 1981, Mayor Jane Byrne moved into the Cabrini-Green to try to prove a point regarding Chicago’s high crime rate. The publicity stunt failed, she couldn’t handle the conditions and decided to move out after 3 weeks.
Gang members would break through walls, creating tunnels from one end of a floor to the other. When the police would come, gang members would use the tunnels as escape routes.
In 1970, two police officers were murdered at the Cabrini-Green complex. The Associated Press reports that the two men convicted of the crime were both paroled in 2021.
Unlike Chicago’s other public housing projects, Cabrini-Green is very close to one of Chicago’s wealthiest areas, the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park. High-end shopping and expensive housing was located less than a mile away, on Michigan Avenue.
In 1992, the horror film Candyman was released, and the story takes place in Cabrini-Green. The 2021 sequel also takes place in the projects. The slasher film is a perfect metaphor for the horrific conditions in Cabrini-Green.
In 1995, the Chicago Housing Authority began demolishing the Cabrini-Green housing projects. CBS News explains that the last building in the complex was demolished in 2011.
4. Magnolia Projects
| Location | Central City, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Units | 1,403 |
| Groundbreaking | 1939 |
| Completed | 1941 |
| Demolished | 1998-2008 |
| Notable Residents | Soulja Slim, rapper Juvenile, rapper Jay Electronica, rapper Kelly Oubre, Jr., NBA player |
The Magnolia Projects aka the C.J. Peete Public Housing Development is located in Central City, New Orleans and at its peak, contained 1,403 units.
The first part of the Magnolia Projects, bordered by Magnolia Street, Washington Avenue, LaSalle Street and Louisiana Avenue was constructed in 1941. In 1955, the project was expanded north past Clara Street.
In the 1980s and 1990s, similar to other public housing projects, conditions in the Magnolia Projects had been neglected and declined significantly. The crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s caused an increase in drug use, violence, crime and killings. In 1990, the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) and the New Orleans Police Department opened a police substation in the Magnolia projects in an effort to decrease crime.
In 1998, demolition of portions of the Magnolia Projects began as a part of HANO’s plans to revitalize the project. By 2005, only 144 people lived in the project and most of the buildings were vacant and fenced off when the area flooded due to Hurricane Katrina.
BET reports that the Magnolia Projects were fully demolished and redeveloped as Harmony Oaks beginning in 2008. While the Magnolia Projects contained 1,403 units, Harmony Oaks only has 143 units.
5. Techwood Homes
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Units | 604 |
| Groundbreaking | 1935 |
| Completed | 1936 |
| Demolished | 1996 |
| Notable Residents | Samuel Truett Cathy, Chick-fil-A founder Cecil Burke Day, Days Inn founder |
In 1935, the Techwood Homes became the first public housing project built in America. The project was built in Atlanta, Georgia and replaced Tanyard Bottom, a shantytown referred to as the Tech Flats.
The complex provided affordable housing to 604 families and as the first federally funded housing project constructed under the Housing Division of the Public Works Administration, the project served as a model for subsequent housing projects. Techwood Homes was located northwest of downtown Atlanta, and between Coca-Cola’s headquarters and the Georgia Institute of Technology’s campus.
At the time of its opening, Techwood Homes was a “whites only” complex and it remained that way until 1968. During the civil rights movement, racial transition occurred rapidly. Within six years of integration, Techwood Homes was 50% black.
Over the years, federal funding was not allocated toward housing projects like Techwood and the project quickly deteriorated. The Techwood Homes were demolished in advance of the 1996 Olympics.
6. Somerset Court
| Location | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Units | 257 |
| Groundbreaking | 1943 |
| Completed | 1943 |
| Demolished | 2007 |
| Notable Residents | N/A |
Somerset Court opened for occupancy in 1943 in East Baltimore. The project consisted of 257 two-story buildings along nine courts. The project was located on 8.6 acres in East Baltimore’s Old Town community, two blocks away from Johns Hopkins Hospital.
When the Somerset Court project was built, it was 1 of 5 projects that was meant for blacks only in Baltimore. The other 4 projects in Baltimore designated as black only housing at the time were the Poe Homes, McCulloh Homes, Douglass Homes and Gilmore Homes.
In the 1980s, the project was renovated and maintained a high occupancy rate but by the 1990s, Somerset Court began to change. The units deteriorated and new families started to move into the project, with members who sold drugs. There were serious maintenance issues, including leaking pipes that caused sections of the ceilings to collapse.
Somerset Court also experienced sewer, electrical and plumbing problems. In 2007, the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) informed residents that the site was approved for demolition by HUD and explained that former residents may have a right to return to a brand new home within the Perkins Somerset Oldtown (PSO) development. In 2009, the Somerset Court housing project was demolished.
7. Imperial Courts
| Location | Watts, Los Angeles, California |
| Units | 498 |
| Groundbreaking | 1944 |
| Completed | 1944 |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Notable Residents | N/A |
The Imperial Courts projects were built in 1944 and are located in the Watts area of South Central Los Angeles. The project contains 498 units and is the largest housing project west of the Mississippi.
The complex is located at 11541 Croesus Avenue on Imperial Highway between Grape Street and Mona Boulevard. The area is the home of the PJ Watts Crips gang.
Parts of the movie Training Day was filmed in Imperial Courts because director Antoine Fuqua wanted the movie to look as authentic as possible. Fuqua obtained permission from local gang leaders to shoot in Imperial Courts.
8. Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects
| Location | Detroit, Michigan |
| Units | 701 |
| Groundbreaking | 1935 |
| Completed | 1942-1952 |
| Demolished | 2014 |
| Notable Residents | Joe Louis, boxer Diana Ross, singer The Supremes, singing group |
Construction of the Brewster Project and the Frederick Douglass Apartments began in 1935 with a groundbreaking that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt attended. On September 9, 1935, a street festival was held in the Hastings-Benton Street area to celebrate the Brewster Homes, America’s first federally funded housing project designed for African Americans.
Construction of the Brewster Project began in 1935 and the first phase was completed three years later. It contained 701 residential units and opened in 1938. By the early 1950s, the Frederick Douglass Apartments were completed. It contained two-six story low rises and six 14-story residential towers.
The Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects were once the home of boxer Joe Louis, Diana Ross and The Supremes. The animated series The PJs was based on the projects.
The Brewster-Douglass Project was originally built for the working poor and initially, the Detroit Housing Commission required an employed parent for a family to qualify for tenancy. As the years went by, the Detroit Housing Commission became less selective, and crime increased in the 1960s.
In 1991, the Brewster Homes were demolished and by 2008, less than 300 families lived in the Frederick Douglass Homes. In 2008, the decision was made to shut down the Brewster-Douglass homes and it was demolished in 2014.
9. Queensbridge Houses
| Location | Long Island City, Queens, New York |
| Units | 3,142 |
| Groundbreaking | 1938 |
| Completed | 1939 |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Notable Residents | Capone, rapper Mobb Deep, rap group Nas, rapper Roxanne Shante, rapper Ron Artest, NBA player |
Construction of the Queensbridge Houses began in 1938 and the complex was opened in 1939. The Queensbridge Houses are located in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, New York and the complex contains 29 buildings and 3,142 units.
Queensbridge is the largest housing project in North America, with about 7,000 residents. The complex was for the nearby Queensboro bridge. When it opened, the rent for a 4 room apartment was $22.75 per month.
Queensbridge is best known as the childhood home of rapper, Nas. Born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones on September 14, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York, as a young child, Nas and his family moved into the Queensbridge Houses. Complex explains that crime, especially drugs, ripped through the projects in the 1970s and 1980s setting up the world that produced Nas.
Who can forget Ron “Metta World Peace” Artest making Craig Sager say “Queensbridge” live on air after helping the Los Angeles Lakers win the 2010 NBA Championship!?
The Queensbridge projects continues to face many of the issues other public housing projects experience along with a set a unique issues. In 2020, many hotels, near the Queensbridge Houses were converted to homeless shelters. A few months later, the tenant association at Queensbridge, complained that 13 hotels in the area were converted and occupied with more than 1,700 homeless people.
In 2021, after a stray bullet killed a teacher, 28 alleged gang members of warring gangs within the Queensbridge development were arrested. ABC reports that several members of the Makk Balla Brims Blood gang were arrested along with members of the Jet Blue gang and the Obligated to Money/Money the Motivation (OTM/MTM) gang.
Along with the issues inside the Queensbridge projects, there are also serious problems in the surrounding areas. In 2022, residents of the Queensbridge Houses have complained about a dangerous intersection next to the complex along 40th Avenue. CBS reports that on October 10, 2022, a man riding an electric scooter collided with a driver and later died. The man, Darnell Orr, lived in the Queensbridge Houses and sadly passed away.
10. Liberty Square
| Location | Miami, Florida |
| Units | 753 |
| Groundbreaking | 1934 |
| Completed | 1937 |
| Demolished | 2015 |
| Notable Residents | Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, NFL player |
Liberty Square aka the “Pork n Beans Projects” was opened in 1937. The development was constructed as a part of the New Deal, a series of programs enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s.
Liberty Square was one of the first housing projects in the United States to serve black residents. Miami’s leaders lobbied for the development because they didn’t want blacks in Miami’s Central Business District, which was expanding at the time.
Violence has plagued Liberty Square for decades but it’s important to understand the backstory. In 1896, when Miami became a city, more than 1/3 of those listed on the charter were black but they were only listed to meet the required number of voters by state law to form a new city.
Blacks weren’t allowed to own or rent residences so they were forced to live in. Overtown, then called Colored Town. Historic Overtown became the Harlem of the South with schools and churches built and business within the area prospering in the 1940s. In the 1950s, Overtown’s economic activity declined due to restrictive Jim Crow laws.
Overtown began to deteriorate as it became overcrowded and was eventually considered the ghetto. The blacks that lived in Overtown saw Liberty Square as a vast improvement in 1937 when the project opened.
Overtown had become overcrowded and dangerous so Liberty Square was highly sought after. By the 1970s Liberty Square hit hard times due to the influx of drugs. In the 1980s, riots did further damage to Liberty City, after police were acquitted in the beating death of a Liberty City resident.
In 2015, the Miami-Dade County Department of Public Housing and Community Development announced redevelopment plans. A “New Liberty Square” will come in the form of “Liberty City Rising” an initiative to address the crime and poverty in the area. In March of 2022, CBS reported that Liberty Square Redevelopment Project has provided upgraded public housing for hundreds of families in the community.