ABSTRACT
Overall, public housing in the United States is a success. It has been so, to a great extent, since its formal creation through the Federal Housing Act of 1937. For nearly sixty years, this program has created millions of jobs, helped eliminate devastated portions of our cities, and provided affordable housing for poorer Americans. A knowledge of the history of public housing, from its emergence as an idea in the early 1930s through the debates about its future, is very important to an understanding of the program as it exists. This vision of the future for public housing requires an infusion into the housing industry of some new types of public entrepreneurs. The program will not be formula driven but rather one that seeks the right, sometimes unique, solution for each group of residents and each neighborhood that it serves.
