To get a better sense of what I mean, let’s travel back. The year is 1960. Dexter Manor, a Providence public high-rise, was being built in response to the hundreds of people and families in Providence whose homes were destroyed by the construction of I-95. Dexter, a ten-story public housing development bordering the new Interstates 95 and 195, was built as a home for low-income seniors. At the time, Dexter Manor was praised by Providence Journal reporters and national housing advocates as a "model" development, in fact, "a vertical oasis."^a Now, Dexter Manor is hardly mentioned at all in the press, and, based on crime surveys, has one of the lowest qualities of life in Providence’s public housing stock for the elderly and disabled. That is a drastic decline in less than fifty years time. What happened?

On August 3, 1960, ground was broken for Dexter Manor. Many of the city’s Democratic Party elite, including Mayor Walter Reynolds, were present. With that first shoveling, Providence began a two-decade era constructing high-rise developments for the elderly. Dexter Manor was first conceived in the city-sponsored development plan of 1959 entitled, Downtown Providence 1970. As in most American cities, Providence’s high-rises followed the construction of highways. The construction of Interstate 95, and later I-195, resulted in the destruction of hundreds of homes, several businesses, and disruption to different ethnic communities (notably, Swedish, Cape Verdean, Russian, Italian, and Irish). Planners sought to offset the loss in population and business activity by promoting the construction of multistory apartment complexes concentrated in the downtown area. The hope was that a high concentration of residents would aide commercial activity and that housing would be provided to needy populations.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, in response to the call of city leaders, several projects were begun alongside the newly constructed I-95. In the private sector, the Regency Plaza towers were developed, hoping to attract urban professionals who worked downtown. Regency is still extant today, appealing to urban workers and students. In the public sector, Dexter Manor was the first of several elderly-focused public high-rises lining the highways; later towers included Sister Dominica Manor (1967), Father Parenti Villa (1973) and Carroll Tower (1973). The Providence planners were notably concerned with providing low-cost public housing for elderly residents whose homes had been destroyed by the highway construction. Reflective of that intent, 62% of the original residents in Dexter Manor were displaced residents from the adjacent neighborhoods that had been destroyed by the highway.^b Providence’s black community was initially under-represented in towers such as Dexter because of the decision to have the demographics of the new apartments reflect the demographics of the displaced neighborhoods.

Finished in 1962, Dexter Manor was praised by planners and local residents alike. A Providence Journal Magazine reporter wrote glowingly about the facility, commending the Providence Housing Authority for constructing a "vertical oasis for the elderly."^c Despite the initially positive reviews, life at Dexter Manor began deteriorating by the end of the 1960s. Providence suffered greatly from economic change and political upheaval during the late 1960s and 1970s. Like other industrial cities in the U.S., Providence’s manufacturing base declined as factories moved to lower-cost regions, neighborhoods experienced continued uprooting by roadway construction, and many middle class residents moved to the suburbs. The city’s mayor from 1965-1975, Joseph Doorley, when first elected, proudly conceived of himself and his administration as being "on the ramparts of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society…" and looked to Chicago’s Democrat Richard Daley for inspiration. Doorley’s reform efforts, including the attempted integration of schools and increased support for public works projects, such as the construction of the Providence Civic Center (now the Dunkin Donuts Center), were seen as far too radical by some conservative party leaders, and far too slow and hypocritical by more activist groups. Suffering from alcoholism, and growing more reclusive in his attempts to control decision making as his administration continued, Doorley and the city suffered a great decline. ^d

Reflective of this tension and its impact on Dexter residents, an article written in 1970 for the Providence Journal Magazine, entitled "Fear of Crime Inhibits Elderly," details the insecurity Dexter residents experienced with the downtown neighborhood. Contrary to planners’ expectations, the presence of a large elderly population did not encourage dramatic local business growth, and muggings downtown deterred residents from going out at night. Henry Riley, head of a tenant association at a public high-rise near Dexter, announced, "It was the fear of assault and robbery on the streets of the city that kept many elderly at home."^e

Alongside wider Providence struggles, a far-reaching change in Dexter Manor’s mission occurred in the mid 1970s. Large numbers of low-income disabled individuals became eligible to live as residents in previously elderly-only public housing units. Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (and, later, Title VII of the Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988) prohibits discrimination based on a handicapping condition in programs receiving federal funding, or that sell, rent or finance private or public residences.^f According to an official at the Providence Housing Authority, following the closing of Rhode Island’s state mental hospitals in the 1970s - due to budget cuts and investigations into abusive treatment at those facilities - hundreds of mentally ill individuals left, some becoming homeless, while others, with little income or job opportunities, entered public housing. There were no age restrictions on housing disabled individuals in elderly developments. To the arguable detriment of both, 30-year-old schizophrenics and alcoholics could be housed in the same corridors as 76-year-old women. Despite being a drastic change of mission to care for the mentally ill and physically disabled, and despite the fact that public high-rise towers such as Dexter Manor were not designed with the care of disabled people in mind, the Providence Public Housing Authority, in the 1970s, had to adopt the federal mandates, influencing life at Dexter Manor ever since.

In the late 1970s, following the ascent of Providence’s infamous mayor, Republican-turned-Independent Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, Jr., political influence at Dexter and other public housing facilities grew rampant. Symbolic of this politicized period, in 1976, Joseph DiSanto, the newly appointed chairman of the Providence Housing Authority, ordered large portraits of Mayor Cianci hung in every high-rise and public housing development in the city. Years later, at Mathewson St. Soup Kitchen, one of the patrons was overheard praising former Mayor Cianci, who was then serving time in prison for racketeering charges. "He was a good man. Nobody mess with Buddy. You know, he built the high-rises." No public high-rise developments for the low-income or the elderly were constructed during Cianci’s terms in office. ^g In 1977, the national Housing and Urban Development Office (HUD) issued a damning report on the state of affairs at Providence’s Housing Authority. "At best," it declared, "the authority is now operating as a reactionary agency with no established goals. Operational planning is nonexistent, the mood of many of its employees is indifferent, the delivery of services inadequate and too costly."^h With the threat of the loss of federal funding, the housing authority began a program of renewal, as new staff members were brought in to reestablish higher levels of professionalism and responsiveness.

Following a highly politicized period of management, by the early 1980s, cuts in federal grants to public housing decreased funds for support services. The administrators at Dexter were challenged to care for the elderly, a few families, and a disabled population, a small minority of whom was at times violent and threatening. A documentary made in the mid 1980s by a group of Brown students, "Silver threads among the Gold," offers a glimpse at life in Dexter during the period. Elderly women in the documentary, many longtime residents, spoke of being leery of going in the community elevators alone, of growing "fearful and paranoid" about their neighbors and of living in alienation. Several residents described drunks pounding on walls and on their doors. One elderly woman interviewed said, "By the time the security guard arrives, the person has already kicked the door, or screamed, or made a mess. It’s better just to stay inside." The film was later used as a lobbying tool for national reform by the Housing Authority, especially in the 1990s.

The lobbying of advocates for the elderly on the federal level, of which the Providence group was a part, produced rule changes enacted in 1995 that gave local housing authorities the ability, which they still have, to designate a limited number of public housing stocks as "elderly only" and restrict the access of disabled individuals to such facilities.ⁱ In the context of welfare retrenchment and reform in the 1990s, it seems that there were no massive accompanying initiatives to fund housing for the disabled. Currently, Providence has two "elderly only" designated facilities, Sister Dominica Manor on Federal Hill and Carroll Tower on Smith Hill near the state capitol building.

Dexter Manor remains a "mixed elderly/disabled facility," meaning that elderly and disabled individuals are housed in the same tower. Currently, Dexter Manor has the highest concentration of disabled adults in any public high-rise development in Providence.

A few informal interviews with residents conducted last fall suggest that quality of life can vary drastically from floor to floor, with some residents feeling safe and content, others anxious about the behaviors of certain residents. According to the Providence Housing Authority’s Annual Report on Security for 2005, at Dexter Manor, then housing 302 residents, there were 149 incidents requiring police response, leading to 6 arrests.^k In 2006, there were 88 incidents leading to police response and 17 arrests, two drug-related.^l In contrast, at Sister Dominica Tower, an elderly-only high-rise with 229 residents, there were 16 incidents with police responses in 2005, including 4 arrests, and 10 incidents with no arrests in 2006. The high number of incidents at Dexter comes from a group of particularly disruptive individuals, and not 149 individual residents. Regardless, the fall from being considered a "vertical oasis" to the present condition, at least in regard to crime and police intervention, seems dramatic.

As of last fall, bed bug and cockroach infestations were plaguing more than a dozen rooms and residents in the building. Several Dexter residents enjoyed the closeness of the apartments to the city’s bus routes and downtown shops. A few wished to see more activities and means of engagement in the tower for shut-ins. A growing Latino population could likely benefit from English studies, a survey by the PHA suggesting that at least 30% are interested in better learning the language. Many were thankful for having a low-cost apartment, mentioning the high rents and dangers of homelessness outside. On visiting, it seemed like Meals on Wheels or a similar group was providing food to some elderly residents at the tower. Many other residents participate in the Food Stamp Program.

Dexter Manor was created nearly fifty years ago in response to the dislocation of hundreds of people following the construction of the highway system. Over time, its mission has changed from providing housing for the low-income elderly to providing care for a range of individuals living in poverty, including the physically and mentally disabled, the aged, and elderly Latino immigrants. It has experienced both affirming and negative leadership and is a living community faced with integrating and balancing many needs and people. As stated in a 2004 report on resident services by the Providence Housing Authority, "As has been the case for nearly 20 years, the design and scope of our programs and services depends more on the restraints of available funding than necessarily on the needs of our residents."^m

We are neighbors to Dexter. We live in the same city. We benefit from the same highways that helped lead to Dexter’s creation in the first place. As the towers of 21^st century Providence rise up, we ought not forget the people who live in those towers built midway through the 20^th. ● BC

For more information on Providence Public Housing, including available volunteer programs, visit the Providence Housing Authority’s web page: http://www.pha-providence.com