USF College of Education Fifty-Year History
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The Model Cities Program was a federal initiative implemented in 1966 under Lyndon B. Johnson, and its original mission was to allow historically underserved communities to dictate and govern their own progress. The government selected 150 cities in the US and allocated funding for economic development projects, and then people within those cities would choose a “model neighborhood” that should receive the bulk of that money. It aimed to provide affordable housing, jobs, and quality educational opportunities to neglected communities. It did cause some initial hype, though it ended soon after in 1972 and was unsuccessful having a long term legacy. Many think this is due to the top-down development approach embodied by the program created
by powerful people who were focused on erasing the past rather than learning from it and trusting affected people to rebuild their communities entirely on their own terms. |