There have been several attempts at this going back to LBJ's "Great Society" and the housing projects like Cabrini-Green and a host of other programs which have failed miserably. Sure, let's do the same thing again and again and ignore the underlying issue, otherwise it would be politically incorrect.
The underlying issue is poverty.
Housing projects are a band-aid solution and I agree, they don't fix the main problem.
The solution is to invest in the community, invest in the infrastructure, give the people who live there a reason to believe they can make a difference through education and community outreach. Get them able to stand on their own two feet and get them to pass that outlook on life to their kids. No quick fix. It would take generations of time. But we don't want to spend the money or the time on any of this. We'd just rather put band-aids on the symptoms instead of healing the problem.