URBAN RENEWAL

I love looking at old pictures of Southie. I recently posted pictures of a rail line being placed on B St. in the early 1900’s.

When I grew up in the south end of South Boston in the early 1940’s I was quite familiar with the neighborhood northwest of D St. The area was full of houses not unlike the ones I lived in on West Fifth St. near Dorchester . It was during this period when the do-gooders nationwide felt that cities had to be reborn. The new fad was basically to demolish entire neighborhoods under the guise of urban renewal. The theory was to replace these perfectly livable homes with structures affordable for the greater masses. The D street project was one of the first to be built.

I was kind of shocked when they tore down the homes around D St. As a kid I imagined that we were going to be next. At least when they rebuilt the "project" they did provide affordable housing for the people they displaced.

Years later the West End was also demolished. The neighborhood there was very much like our neighborhoods. Maybe somewhat congested but home to many nice families. This is where the urban renewal ran amuck. They replaced housing in the West End with high rise buildings with luxury apartments. None of the displaced people could afford them.

Southie got a much better deal in the so called "Urban Redevelopment" era. Picture is of the West End.