Documenting the ways family public housing hasn't worked is easier than understanding the cause of its many afflictions. True, some projects were poorly designed for family living and security. The site of Robert Taylor Homes, near railroad tracks and expressways, was a terrible place to put children. Yet, as Venkatesh makes clear, Robert Taylor in its early years functioned pretty much as it was intended. And housing professionals have long noted that in New York City, where demand for apartments is high, the public housing authority has been able to keep employed tenants and maintain the public housing stock.
Critics often blame racism for public housing's troubles.
Vale, for example, shows that African Americans suffered discrimination and unfair treatment in Boston's public housing, and others have demonstrated similar injustices in other cities. After examining the CHA's records, however, Venkatesh concluded that Chicago's legendary racial problems did not bring about the downfall of Robert Taylor Homes. Even in Boston, Vale's evidence reveals, the number of welfare families in public housing first rose during the 1950s when the overwhelming proportion of the households was white. Twenty years later, some of the housing projects in black neighborhoods were perhaps more dangerous and miserable than those in white neighborhoods, but not by much. The works under review here make clear that public housing declined primarily because authorities lowered their standards for admission to the projects.