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Building A New Boston: Politics and Urban Renewal, 1950-1970
"Here is one of the great stories in American urban history told by a great historian. In 1949, Boston was 'a hopeless backwater,' its skyline stunted, and its municipal government a national disgrace; by 1970 a 'New Boston' had been created, with new office buildings, new developments, and new economic dynamism. Thomas H. O'Connor, the dean of Boston historians, brings to this tale of transformation rich learning, intimate familiarity with his subject, and a lucid sometimes witty pen." – Jack Beatty, author of The Rascal The Life and Times of James Michael Curley 1874-1958 and Senior Editor, Atlantic Monthly
368 pages, Paperback
First published August 10, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 7, 2023
While O'Connor does a good job of outlining the ways that successive mayors of Boston during the age of urban renewal - Hynes, Collins, and White - brought investment back into the city, I find his characterization of the neighborhood public strange. The shift towards considering urban renewal as practiced in the U.S. unfeeling and in some ways inhumane (O'Connor can't escape the fact that the razing of the West End is seen as a disaster) likely hadn't fully happened by the time he wrote this book, and for the most part, he portrays the "townies" as uneducated, anti-intellectual families who are suspicious of university liberals and standing in the way of progress. I'm no fan of NIMBYs (especially given recent opposition to nearly every neighborhood residential project in an area with a severe housing shortage), but I don't think residents' fear of trampling by the BRA was unfounded even without the example of the West End. Does it matter if your street is cleaner if your house has been demolished and you can't afford its replacement?
Similarly, O'Connor glosses over the motivations for black protest in Boston, using words like "perceived" to modify charges of mistreatment. A discussion of busing comes in the last couple of pages of the book and makes no mention of Hicks' role in the acrimony. O'Connor posits that the enmity between poor whites and blacks was because they were competing for fewer resources, but does not point at the big financial clients who brought more tax dollars but did not provide anything to help the common Bostonian in the neighborhoods. This book is a celebration of downtown's renaissance, which is interesting in itself, but I take issue with the assertion that all the clearances and neighborhood policies were necessary to bring Boston back from the brink. Given the continuing unpopularity of the BRA, it's clear that the implementation of urban renewal in the 1950s-1970s still has an effect on how urban policy is viewed in Boston today.
Similarly, O'Connor glosses over the motivations for black protest in Boston, using words like "perceived" to modify charges of mistreatment. A discussion of busing comes in the last couple of pages of the book and makes no mention of Hicks' role in the acrimony. O'Connor posits that the enmity between poor whites and blacks was because they were competing for fewer resources, but does not point at the big financial clients who brought more tax dollars but did not provide anything to help the common Bostonian in the neighborhoods. This book is a celebration of downtown's renaissance, which is interesting in itself, but I take issue with the assertion that all the clearances and neighborhood policies were necessary to bring Boston back from the brink. Given the continuing unpopularity of the BRA, it's clear that the implementation of urban renewal in the 1950s-1970s still has an effect on how urban policy is viewed in Boston today.
July 12, 2021
3 ⭐️ Serviceable history of the political effort to revivify Boston by creating the government center area, the southeast expressway and the Prudential Center plus adjacent Hynes Auditorium. The author stresses the difficulties in writing the book because few written records exist of decision-making processes during the mayoralty of John B Hynes when these major developments were conceived. Subsequent mayor John F Collins skillfully advanced construction of the projects in the 1960s, completing the transformation of the West End, for example, from a very densely-populated tenement district into the the government center. Published in 1995, the book needs updating to more fully explore the negative effects of this enormous urban development effort, and to tell Boston’s more recent development history. The book ends on a depressing note: “By the late 1970s and early 1980s... the ‘vital flame’ of municipal leadership had begun to burn low in terms of providing the source of energy needed to inspire any greater vision and to effect any more substantive changes in either the physical appearance of the city or in the quality of life of its citizens” (299). The notes and bibliography are very useful.
July 16, 2023
Learned a lot from this book. Valuable recent history of boston and the city’s revival. Book has some definite blind spots about the impact of race and the ability for community to impact politics. Definitely one important view. Just don’t make it the only view you read.
January 4, 2022
Great book. Very informative and the author was able to weave it into a very compelling story.
March 1, 2016
Boston wasn't doing well coming off of World War II. Nothing was being built, no investments were being made, and maintenance of what was built was lackluster. And, Mayor James Michael Curley had driven a wedge between the the Boston politicians and Yankee business men so neither side would work with the other.
John Hynes was elected mayor beating Curley twice and set about creating panels to investigate what could be done to save Boston from becoming broken city. He managed to get Prudential to sign on and build over a defunct railyard in the back bay. Also, the War Memorial Auditorium, later to become the John B. Hynes Auditorium. He also cleared the New York streets section of the South End in Boston's first urban renewal plan. And, the very controversial leveling of the West End began under his administration. He served as mayor from 1950-1960.
John Collins came in after Hynes serving as mayor from 1960-1968. With Edward Logue serving as the Boston Redevelopment Authority's head, he unified urban renewal from the piece meal plans of Hynes. He completed Hynes' projects and the Boston Common garage was completed and Scollay Square was cleared to become Government Center. He continued to foster good relations with the business community particularly through the "Vault" composed of prominent Yankee heads of industry.
Kevin White became mayor in 1968. He kept Quincy Market from being leveled opting instead for it to be converted into a downtown retail spot against the advice of various urban planning experts. It turned out to be the right decision because Quincy Market was more profitable than even he could have imagined. But, White couldn't and didn't want to focus on buildings like his predecessors. He had people to concentrate on. Boston's racial and economic divide was growing. No longer were people separated by religion (Protestant vs. Catholic) and ethnicity (Brahmin vs. Irish). The real divisions were in income and black vs. white.
These divisions, while not begun in the urban renewal of the 1950s-1970s, where certainly brought into high relief by urban renewal. Black people were forced out of the South End to make way for well off whites looking to live near the downtown/Back Bay were investments were being made. Various ethnicities were thrown out of the West End with few arrangements made for where they would go next to make way once again for well to do whites mostly. Charlestown, Southie, and the Barry's Corner section of Allston fought back seeing development simply as money making opportunities for white collar workers at the expense of blue collar workers. Barry's Corner was still leveled but Southie and Charlestown had some success in keeping renewal at bay.
Definitely something had to be done to keep the city moving forward. This book helps you see the issues from many perspectives showing there are and were no easy answers.
John Hynes was elected mayor beating Curley twice and set about creating panels to investigate what could be done to save Boston from becoming broken city. He managed to get Prudential to sign on and build over a defunct railyard in the back bay. Also, the War Memorial Auditorium, later to become the John B. Hynes Auditorium. He also cleared the New York streets section of the South End in Boston's first urban renewal plan. And, the very controversial leveling of the West End began under his administration. He served as mayor from 1950-1960.
John Collins came in after Hynes serving as mayor from 1960-1968. With Edward Logue serving as the Boston Redevelopment Authority's head, he unified urban renewal from the piece meal plans of Hynes. He completed Hynes' projects and the Boston Common garage was completed and Scollay Square was cleared to become Government Center. He continued to foster good relations with the business community particularly through the "Vault" composed of prominent Yankee heads of industry.
Kevin White became mayor in 1968. He kept Quincy Market from being leveled opting instead for it to be converted into a downtown retail spot against the advice of various urban planning experts. It turned out to be the right decision because Quincy Market was more profitable than even he could have imagined. But, White couldn't and didn't want to focus on buildings like his predecessors. He had people to concentrate on. Boston's racial and economic divide was growing. No longer were people separated by religion (Protestant vs. Catholic) and ethnicity (Brahmin vs. Irish). The real divisions were in income and black vs. white.
These divisions, while not begun in the urban renewal of the 1950s-1970s, where certainly brought into high relief by urban renewal. Black people were forced out of the South End to make way for well off whites looking to live near the downtown/Back Bay were investments were being made. Various ethnicities were thrown out of the West End with few arrangements made for where they would go next to make way once again for well to do whites mostly. Charlestown, Southie, and the Barry's Corner section of Allston fought back seeing development simply as money making opportunities for white collar workers at the expense of blue collar workers. Barry's Corner was still leveled but Southie and Charlestown had some success in keeping renewal at bay.
Definitely something had to be done to keep the city moving forward. This book helps you see the issues from many perspectives showing there are and were no easy answers.
October 16, 2017
A fascinating look at a rather turbulent period in Boston's history, 1950-1970, the height of the BRA and the 'New Boston' movement. This book gave a detailed accounted of the politics, legislation, and people behind the forces of urban renewal, as well as the community activism of folks trying to save their homes from destruction. From the complete destruction of the old West End, to the piecemeal destruction of the South End, Charlestown, and other Boston neighborhoods, it was an excellent and somewhat depressing look at urban renewal in the 1960's. It was also a fascinating window into the bizarre world of Boston politics, and in general hugely increased my familiarity with the city.
March 10, 2008
Not promising when one sees the dowdy cover design, O’Conner’s book is extremely well written and (for me anyway – I don’t get out much) an enjoyable read. He covers perhaps the most important era in Boston political and physical development with much detail, yet this in no way reads as some oversized PhD dissertation. This detailed examination won’t be everyone’s cup of tea (this isn’t some Grisham book about rapscallion lawyers after all), but if you’re interested in Boston political and/or urban history or twentieth century urbanism generally, then I highly recommend this one.
March 6, 2010
This is a well-written review of the 20 years of changes in Boston from a post-war community on the brink of oblivion to the basis of Boston as we know it today. Recommended for fans of this great city and a good historical reference.
February 17, 2011
Good detail on the development and changes in Boston's individual neighborhoods, though a lot of this book overlaps with O'Connor's book The Boston Irish: A Political History
December 21, 2015
Interesting read about recent Boston history, political, development and everything. Fairly quick and easy read for the content. Engaging writing.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews