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A GOOD AGE: Memories of Boston's old West End can't be razed

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QUINCY — After I moved to Boston in 1965, I soon heard stories about Boston’s old West End, razed by urban renewal a few years earlier in 1959. As a reporter, I covered events at Boston’s new City Hall Plaza and Government Center, where the West End once stood. Former residents described the demolished neighborhood in idealistic ways, expressing great fondness for their lives there. In my 20s, I looked at it all as more of a curiosity.

Recently I’ve had a chance to hear…