Era: Modern (~1995-present)
The West End today
The story of urban renewal in the West End is a complex one, marked by both ambitious plans and challenging realities when it comes to affordable housing. Over the past seventy years, the West End has served as a cautionary tale, full of broken promises and ongoing struggles for income-restricted housing. More recent efforts, such as the affordable housing initiative that is part of the redevelopment of the West End branch of the Boston Public Library, look to address this past.
Boston, like its West End, is no stranger to marked population changes. Recent studies have predicted further transformations for Boston’s and Massachusetts’ populations that could have meaningful economic and political impacts. Such changes, current and future, are influenced by various interrelated factors: immigration patterns, cost of living, major disruptors, anchor institutions, and global population growth rate.
For twenty years, The West End Museum has preserved the history of the West End and the memories of its residents, many of whom were displaced by an urban renewal project in the late 1950s which demolished their homes and destroyed their community. The journey from the time of the evictions to the opening of the Museum’s doors in 2004 was full of fits and starts, including long legal battles. In the end, the perseverance of the entire lost community, and a smaller number of its dedicated leaders, made The West End Museum a reality.
Urban renewal projects, like that in the the West End, have long promised to revitalize aging urban areas, create economic opportunities, and improve living conditions for residents. Despite these positive intentions, urban renewal has also resulted in false promises, the physical destruction of neighborhoods, and forced removal of residents. Such negative impacts have resulted in social isolation, lost social connections, and loneliness.
The Temporary Home for Women and Children located on New Chardon Street in Boston’s West End was one of the first family shelters in the country. From its start as a small home on Charles Street, it has cared for women and children in need for over 150 years.
Urban renewal is a process that aims to revitalize and transform urban areas to meet changing societal needs, but it can also have far-reaching consequences, particularly in terms of population and housing dynamics.
West End Place, the mixed-income condominium complex on Staniford Street, is the home of The West End Museum. West End Place, like the Museum, owes its existence to the dedicated activism of displaced former residents who hoped to right the wrongs of urban renewal.
The Old West Church, standing at 131 Cambridge St, is one of the few surviving buildings of the historic West End. Since its opening in 1806, the building has served as a church, a library, a shelter, and a church again. It continues to hold masses and contribute to the Boston community today.
