Ed Logue
As director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority in the 1960s, Ed Logue was the highly visible face of urban renewal in the period following the destructive and controversial redevelopment of the West End.
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Era: New Boston(~1950-1995)
Urban renewal, the taking, Government Center, Charles River Park, highways, bussing
Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs was a journalist, author, and activist who argued for the prioritization of people in urban planning projects.
Victor Gruen
Victor Gruen was the Austrian-born architect whom Jerome Rappaport, Sr. hired to design Charles River Park, the development that replaced the demolished West End in the 1960s. But Gruen’s work also had national significance as “the father of the shopping mall.”
Herbert Gans
Herbert Gans lived in the West End for eight months prior to the start of its demolition, conducting sociological research on the culture and lifestyles of the Italian-American residents of the neighborhood. His findings in “The Urban Villagers” presented a significant criticism of Boston’s urban renewal process as inhumane, and Gans notably concluded that planners were incorrect to define the West End, a vibrant community despite widespread poverty, as a slum.
Judge Elijah Adlow
Elijah Adlow, born in the old West End at the turn-of-the-century, had a long career as Chief Justice of the Boston Municipal Court, yet made decisions as a judge that have a questionable legacy.
Jules Aarons
Jules Aarons’ candid photographs of the old West End are a special window into the social life of the neighborhood. His son, Philip, and grandson, Zach, have carried on the legacy of these pictures in creative ways.