Cochran Gardens, Public housing complex in north St. Louis, Missouri
Cochran Gardens was a public housing complex in north St. Louis, Missouri, made up of twelve buildings of varying heights spread across a large site. The complex provided affordable apartments for low-income families and, at its peak, was a fully active neighborhood.
The complex was completed in 1953 as part of postwar urban housing efforts in St. Louis. In 1976, residents led by Bertha Gilkey set up their own management system, which later became a model studied across the country.
The residents took over the day-to-day management of their own complex in the 1970s, which was very rare for public housing in the United States at the time. This model drew visitors from across the country who wanted to see how a community could run its own affairs.
The site no longer exists as the buildings were demolished in 2008, so there is nothing to visit on the ground today. Anyone interested in its story can find records and documentation in local archives and libraries in St. Louis.
President George H. W. Bush visited the complex in 1991 to recognize its resident-led management approach, which was a very rare event for a public housing site. The visit showed how far the reputation of this self-run model had spread beyond the city.
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