Contents:
- Calliope
- Columbia Point
- East Lake Meadows
- Gonzales Gardens
- John Robinson Homes, John DeShields Homes
- Louis Heaton Pink Houses
- Nickerson Gardens
- Robert Taylor Homes
- Roger Williams Homes
- Sunnydale
- Page 1: 1-10
- Page 3: 21-30
11. Robert Taylor Homes
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Units | 4,415 |
| Groundbreaking | 1961 |
| Completed | 1962 |
| Demolished | 1998-2007 |
| Notable Residents | Michael Colyar, comedian Mr. T, wrestler Kirby Puckett, MLB player Corey Holcomb, comedian Ronnie Lester, NBA player Maurice Cheeks, NBA player |
Robert Taylor Homes were constructed from 1961 to 1962 in Chicago, Illinois. The complex contained 28 high-rises that were each 16 floors with a total of 4,415 units.
At one time, the Robert Taylor Homes was the largest public housing project in the nation. In a 1993 article, the Chicago Tribune reports that numerous gangs, including the Black Disciples (“BDs”), Gangster Disciples (“GDs”) and Mickey Cobras (“MCs”), controlled and dominated the Robert Taylor Homes. The wars between the gangs caused the homicide rate to increase drastically in the 1970s and 1980s.
Demolition of the Robert Taylor Homes began in 1998 and the complex was completely demolished by 2007.
12. Calliope Projects
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Units | 1,546 |
| Groundbreaking | 1939 |
| Completed | 1941 |
| Demolished | 2014 |
| Notable Residents | C-Murder, rapper Lloyd Polite, Jr., singer Master P, rapper, icon Silkk the Shocker, rapper |
The Calliope Projects aka CP3 aka the B. W. Cooper Public Housing Development was located in Central City, New Orleans and was constructed from 1939 to 1941.
Percy “Master P” Miller was born and raised in the Calliope Projects.
The Ringer explains that Percy and his brother Kevin stayed in the Calliope with their father after he split with their mother. Sadly, Kevin was murdered in 1990.
During the early days of the Calliope, one bedroom apartments were $8.25 a month and three bedroom apartments were $22.00 a month. Initially, the project was seen as a success, so the city invested in the neighborhood by building a gym in 1949. In 1954, a 12 block expansion added 860 units.
In May of 1981, the Calliope projects were renamed the B.W. Cooper Apartments. Cooper was an employee of the Housing Authority of New Orleans for more than 30 years who passed away in 1974.
In the 1980s, rival gangs operated in the Calliope and the violence increased rapidly. NOLA reports that there were 88 killings in the Calliope projects between 1993 and 2004.
After Hurricane Katrina, plans were made to demolish the Calliope projects but in 2007, a section of the project was reopened to some residents. In 2014, the Calliope projects were completely demolished. A new development was opened on the site in 2012 and named Marrero Commons. The new development contains 175 units.
13. East Lake Meadows
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Units | 654 |
| Groundbreaking | 1970 |
| Completed | 1971 |
| Demolished | 1994-1999 |
| Notable Residents | Eva Davis, community activist Gwen Torrence, Olympic sprinter |
The Atlanta Housing Authority constructed the East Lake Meadows housing projects in 1971. The complex was located near two golf courses: East Lake Golf Club was a private course and the other course was open to the public. The Atlanta Housing Authority built East Lake Meadows on what had been the public course.
The Atlanta Housing Authority hoped East Lake Meadows would be a tranquil oasis but it didn’t take long for the project to fail. By the 1980s, the crime rate in East Lake Meadows was so high that people started calling the project “Little Vietnam.”
Curbed explains that poor site design eventually led to repeated flooding, sinking floors and collapsing ceilings. Eva Davis was the president of East Lake’s tenant association and led rent strikes against the Atlanta Housing Authority and had to fight the local government for basic trash collection and improvements such as better outdoor lighting, landscaping and a bus stop for public transportation.
Pre-1996 Olympics efforts in Atlanta to break up concentrations of violence and poverty by creating mixed-income settings helped usher in demolition of East Lake Meadows.
In 1993, real estate developer, Tom Cousins purchased the East Lake Country Club and by July of 1995, renovations of the East Lake Golf Club were complete. Cousins developed a plan to have the East Lake Meadows housing project demolished due to its high crime rate and horrible living conditions. Corporate golf club memberships were sold to raise money to renovate the East Lake Meadows housing project.
In June of 1995, a plan for the “New Community at East Lake” was presented to tenants of the complex. Eva Davis was not impressed and explained that current tenants feared that they would not be able to move back to East Lake Meadows after the building was demolished and the new development was constructed. After 200+ meetings between Cousins and Davis, Cousins and the tenants of East Lake Meadows were persuaded.
In the mid-1990s, working with Davis and the Atlanta Housing Authority, Cousins began the multi-year, $125 million demolition and redevelopment of East Lake Meadows. After the housing project was demolished, it was replaced with a mixed-use community that is now called the Villages of East Lake. Other amenities include a public charter school and YMCA.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains that in 2018, East Lake Boulevard SE was renamed Eva Davis Way in honor of Davis.
14. Columbia Point Housing Projects
| Location | Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts |
| Units | 1,502 |
| Groundbreaking | 1953 |
| Completed | 1954 |
| Demolished | 1985 |
| Notable Residents | N/A |
The Columbia Point Housing Projects were constructed in 1954 and located in Boston, Massachusetts. The projects were the largest in Boston and New England and consisted of 1,502 units in 27 buildings.
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University explains that Columbia Point was constructed on land in Dorchester that was already home to a city dump. When a dump truck speeding through the development struck and killed a girl in 1963, tenants organized in the streets and refused to move until the dump was shut down.
The housing project was built to provide temporary housing for working-class families who were experiencing difficult times. By the 1970s, Columbia Point’s crime rate was high and the housing project fell into disrepair.
By the 1980s, there were only about 350 families that remained in the housing project and the buildings continued to fall into decline. In 1984, lacking the funds required to renovate Columbia Point, the Boston Housing Authority and the city of Boston decided to turn the property over to a private company to redevelop the area.
In the late 1980s, Corcoran Jennison Companies, a development company, was given control of the management, demolition and renovation for Columbia Point. In 1986, construction of the new Harbor Point development began and were completed in 1990.
The Columbia Point Dawgs aka “CPD” is a gang that was formed in the 1980s and named after the housing project. Universal Hub explains that CPD members often wear Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies caps, because of the P which stood for the “Point” in Columbia Point.
According to the DEA, in 2017, a member of CPD, Isreal Delacruz, was sentenced to 2 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Delacruz was one of many defendants affiliated with the CPD, indicted in June 2015 on firearm and drug trafficking charges, to plead guilty.
15. Nickerson Gardens
| Location | Watts, Los Angeles, California |
| Units | 1,163 |
| Groundbreaking | 1955 |
| Completed | 1955 |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Notable Residents | Jazz Joy, singer Jay Rock, rapper Anthony Tiffith, producer, founder of TDE Kerry James Marshall, artist |
Nickerson Gardens is located in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California and construction was completed in 1955. The complex contains 1,066 units.
Vice explains that in 1955, Nickerson Gardens became the final public housing project that was built in Los Angeles, California. The project was added to a list that included Jordan Downs, Imperial Courts and Hacienda Village which was later renamed Gonzaque Village. LA’s 4 projects are all located within a two-square mile area making Watts a concentration of poverty.
The project is recognized as the birthplace of the Bounty Hunter Bloods (BHB) gang which was established in 1969 by Gary Barker and Bobby Jack. In 2021, the Department of Justice arrested 19 suspected BHB members who were named in federal grand jury indictments alleging the manufacturing and distribution of crack cocaine in Nickerson Gardens.
Nickerson Gardens was one of the many locations featured in the 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A.
16. Louis Heaton Pink Houses
| Location | Brooklyn, New York |
| Units | 1,500 |
| Groundbreaking | 1957 |
| Completed | 1959 |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Notable Residents | N/A |
Construction of the Louis Heaton Pink Houses began in 1957 and was completed in 1959. The complex is located in Brooklyn, New York and has twenty-two, 8-story buildings with a total of 1,500 units.
In 2014, Louis Heaton Pink Houses resident, Akai Gurley was accidentally shot and killed by rookie NYPD officer Peter Liang who was patrolling the stairwells at the complex. Liang and his partner were entering a stairwell on the 8th floor while Gurly and his girlfriend entered the stairwell from the 7th floor, 14 steps below the officer.
The stairwell was pitch black because the lights were broken and Liang, for an unknown reason, had his gun drawn when he fired down the stairs. The shot ricocheted off a wall and then hit Akai in his chest, killing him.
Liang was convicted of manslaughter but a court reduced the charge to criminally negligent homicide and Liang was sentenced to 5 years probation and 800 hours of community service.
The New York Post reports that in 2019, Michael F. Hall, a NYCHA tenant, was arrested by Fire Marshals for starting five fires at the Louis Heaton Pink Houses. According to fire officials, over a 6 month span, each fire was started intentionally by Hall.
17. Gonzales Gardens
| Location | Columbia, South Carolina |
| Units | 236 |
| Groundbreaking | 1939 |
| Completed | 1940 |
| Demolished | 2017 |
| Notable Residents | Joseph Bernardin, Cardinal of Catholic Church Tyrone Corbin, NBA player |
Construction of the Gonzales Gardens housing project started in 1939 and was completed in 1940. The project was located in Columbia, South Carolina and initially consisted of 236 units. WLTX explains that in 1942, an additional 44 units were added to bring the total to 280.
In 1940, the Columbia Housing Authority reserved 100 of the apartments for non-commissioned officers families stationed at Fort Jackson. When the complex initially opened, rent ranged from $7.65 to $16.75 per month and that included electricity, gas and water. In 1940, the year it was built, Gonzales Gardens was a whites-only community.
WIS-TV reports that demolition of the Gonzales Gardens housing project started in 2017. After being demolished, the site sat vacant for several years but in 2022, the Columbia Housing Authority broke ground on the Oaks at St. Anna’s Park. The new development will consist of a 95-unit senior apartment building and 190 townhomes.
18. John Robinson Homes, John DeShields Homes
| Location | East St. Louis, Illinois |
| Units | 314 |
| Groundbreaking | 1953 |
| Completed | 1954 |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Notable Residents | N/A |
The John DeShields Homes was built in 1954 in East St. Louis, Missouri. The project was named after Reverend John DeShields (1860-1950), a minister at the St. Paul Baptist Church for more than 50 years.
ProPublica explains that in the 1930s, between the world wars, discussions started about constructing 2 public housing development in East St. Louis, one for white families and another for black families. After years of debate, in 1943, about 400 families moved into the John Robinson Homes and Samuel Gompers Homes.
St. Louis Public Radio explains that the John Robinson Homes opened in 1943 as a blacks-only apartment complex. On August 8, 2017, Alexis Winston was found dead in her apartment at the John Robinson Homes. Fox 2 reports that Winston had been shot several times. She was 23-years-old and her one-year-old daughter was at home at the time of the incident. Luckily, Winston’s daughter was uninjured.
The John DeShields and John Robinson housing projects are located across the street from each other on McCasland Avenue. Describing the two East St. Louis housing project, former St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly explained that “the two housing projects right here are the deepest concentration of shots fired, as well as homicides involving guns. These places are the epicenter of much of the violence.” Kelly is now the director of the Illinois State Police.
19. Sunnydale Housing Projects
| Location | Visitacion Valley, San Francisco, California |
| Units | 767 |
| Groundbreaking | 1940 |
| Completed | 1941 |
| Demolished | 2019 |
| Notable Residents | Rikishi, professional wrestler |
The Sunnydale Housing Projects were designed in 1939 and construction began in 1940. The project was complete in 1941 and became home to wartime ship builders who returned home after World War II. The complex was located in Visitacion Valley and consisted of 767 units.
SF Heritage explains that Sunnydale was the third housing project planned in San Francisco after Holly Park in Bernal Heights and Potrero Terrace in Potrero Hill. In 1941, about 50 families moved into the complex and rent ranged from $17 to $29.
In a 2008 article, SFGATE explains that the Sunnydale projects were once considered a decent area to live but the development is now the home to those who are unable to afford anything else.
After years of planning, Gavin Newsom’s HOPE SF is finally taking form. Hope SF is Newsom’s plan to rebuild San Francisco’s 8 worst housing projects, including Sunnydale:
Mercy Housing explains that demolition of the Sunnydale projects began in 2019. The new Sunnydale will include 995 affordable and market rate units located on the 50-acre site of San Francisco’s largest public housing project.
20. Roger Williams Homes
| Location | Mobile, Alabama |
| Units | 452 |
| Groundbreaking | 1953 |
| Completed | 1954 |
| Demolished | 2017 |
| Notable Residents | N/A |
The Roger Williams Homes were built in 1954 and contained 452 units. The project was located on the south side of Three Mile Creek, the waterway that snakes through most of Mobile, often littered with trash.
The Roger Williams projects were named after H. Roger Williams who opened Mobile’s first black-owned drugstore in 1901. Sadly, the projects became violent and crime skyrocketed over the decades after it was built. Drug-related crimes and poverty haunted the projects for more than 60 years.
AL.com reports that in 2015, the Mobile Housing Board received about one-quarter of the $3.2 million in Choice Neighborhood Planning grants which was awarded to 6 cities by HUD. Through the program, the Mobile Housing Board received $375,000 in grants to build upon current initiatives to create a safer neighborhood with improved opportunities for all.
In 2016, the Roger Williams Homes closed. In 2017 demolition began, thanks to federal grants that made redevelopment possible.
