# If I say the words "Pruitt-Igoe" to you with no context provided, do you know what I'm referring to? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 12, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780 "2019-12-12T20:48:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/1 "2019-12-12T20:48:26Z")
That’s the question. Please answer the poll before you read others’ posts. I’ll comment further in later posts. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/2 "2019-12-12T20:51:48Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/3 "2019-12-12T20:52:16Z")
[Pruitt-Igoe.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruitt%E2%80%93Igoe) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/4 "2019-12-12T20:53:17Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Nope. Thank you. Please add your age to the poll. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/5 "2019-12-12T21:01:41Z")
I’m asking because I dropped this term to a friend (a librarian, no less) who is only a few years younger than I am and she had never heard of it. I was really surprised, as this public housing experiment in St. Louis and its disastrous failure were well-known (so I thought) and even notorious. This morning she sent me an email complimenting me on my great memory. _\_ I just wondered how many people in my age group (ish) were likewise unfamiliar. Dopers know shit, but do they know \*this \*shit? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/6 "2019-12-12T21:09:27Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’m asking because I dropped this term to a friend (a librarian, no less) who is only a few years younger than I am and she had never heard of it. I was really surprised, as this public housing experiment in St. Louis and its disastrous failure were well-known (so I thought) and even notorious. This morning she sent me an email complimenting me on my great memory. _\_ I just wondered how many people in my age group (ish) were likewise unfamiliar. Dopers know shit, but do they know \*this \*shit? Never heard of it. On the other hand, I would expect people to know Cabrini–Green. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/7 "2019-12-12T21:16:03Z")
I used to live in Saint Louie, and drove by the location once or twice {shudder}. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/8 "2019-12-12T21:19:15Z")
I answered “yes”, but that’s technically untrue, since asking if I knew what “Pruitt-Igoe” meant out of context _is_ a context. ---
**Author:** ![icantdraw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3ec8ea/32.png) [@icantdraw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icantdraw)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/9 "2019-12-12T21:20:50Z")
I have heard of it, had done a bit of reading on this project a number of years ago as it is such an interesting story. A real social experiment. I’ve also watched the doc. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/10 "2019-12-12T21:21:07Z")
Age 54, I can’t remember having ever heard the term before. > [@Procrustus](#): > > Never heard of it. On the other hand, I would expect people to know Cabrini–Green. This. I’ve never lived in the St. Louis area, but I’ve lived in the Midwest for pretty much my entire life. In the late 1970s, as a teenager, I was certainly aware of Cabrini-Green, though I was living in Green Bay 200 miles away from Chicago at that point. My suspicion is that it may have been infamous in the late 1960s, but by the time I was aware of such things, generally, a decade later (as a teenager, I was probably more aware of news and history than most of my peers), it had faded from the general consciousness. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/11 "2019-12-12T21:21:27Z")
The only reason I’ve heard of Pruitt-Igoe is that years ago I was reading a synopsis of the images used in the avant-garde film _Koyaanisqatsi_. It was screened at the Student Union theater when I was at LSU and I was wondering “_What the heck is THAT?_” Anyway, footage of the Pruitt-Igoe implosions were among the imagery shown in the film. Years later, I read some accounts of how Pruitt-Igoe came to be, it’s quick decline and ultimate demise after only 17 (?) years active as public housing. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/12 "2019-12-12T21:39:38Z")
Yes, but only because I’ve watched a documentary about it. It was razed before I was born in 1979. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/13 "2019-12-12T21:41:33Z")
Over 55, never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/14 "2019-12-12T21:50:09Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Never heard of it. On the other hand, I would expect people to know Cabrini–Green. Ditto. I’ve heard of Cabrini-Green, but not Pruitt-Igoe. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/15 "2019-12-12T22:13:52Z")
Mid-ranged and never heard of it, but I’ve never even been in that half of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/16 "2019-12-12T22:17:15Z")
It took me a couple seconds to remember that it was a housing project and not an especially nice one. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/17 "2019-12-12T22:19:15Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [Pruitt-Igoe.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruitt%E2%80%93Igoe) Funny, I lived in STL and never heard of them. ETA Cabrini Green comes to mind though ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/18 "2019-12-12T22:31:46Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Ditto. I’ve heard of Cabrini-Green, but not Pruitt-Igoe. Same for me as well. I’m 42 and have lived in Texas my whole life. I know of Cabrini-Green from the movie Candyman, and suspect that might apply to others as well. My initial thought was that Pruitt-Igoe was something having to do with the former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/19 "2019-12-12T22:33:52Z")
I had seen the name before, but could not have told you what it was before looking it up. I don’t live in St Louis, I guess if you live there it would be more notable. Cabrini-Green though, yes that is more well known. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780/20 "2019-12-12T22:37:00Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Funny, I lived in STL and never heard of them. I’ve lived in St. Louis most of my life, and that’s probably the only reason I recognize the name. P-I has pretty much been out of the national consciousness ever since[this happened.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UntpCv3nFU) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-say-the-words-pruitt-igoe-to-you-with-no-context-provided-do-you-know-what-im-referring-to/844780.md?page=2)