Tenant Organizations In Public Housing Projects: A Report On Senate Resolution No. 347

Abstract

Tenant management was initiated as a response to the virtual breakdown of housing authority management in Boston and St. Louis two decades ago. The first resident management corporation was created in 1971 from frustration with poor management and maintenance at the Bromley-Heath public housing development in Boston.  In St. Louis, frustrated tenants organized the nation’s first public housing rent strike in 1969.  As part of the strike settlement, a Tenants Advisory Board was created to work with the St. Louis Housing Authority (SLHA) on all matters affecting tenants.  Through negotiations with the SLHA, tenants bargained for representation on the SLHA’s Board of Commissioners and for resident management at all public housing sites...