national register nomination for boulevard park historic

Urban Renewal As Addressed By Urban Historians
The aforementioned books on historic preservation invariably mention urban
renewal and the demolition of American inner cities as a turning point for the
preservation community. Demolition of the historic urban cores of many American cities
provoked a response in many Americans interested in preserving architectural heritage.
Their focus on heritage and architecture overlooks the motives behind urban renewal as
described by urban historians. While city planners and Modernist architects may have not
cared for older buildings in an aesthetic sense, urban renewal projects arose from changes
in American public policy. Works of urban history discussing the redevelopment era
provide insight into these policy changes and the motives of those who promoted them.
Robert Fogelson’s Downtown investigates the way that political and business
interests in American central cities sought ways to expand and elevate urban centers. 21
During the early 20 th century, downtowns were the undisputed hub of activity in
American cities, but plagued by the problems of overcrowding, noise and pollution.
Populations of central cities started to drop even before 1900 as affluent citizens moved
into new streetcar suburbs on the urban perimeter. For urban planners of the era, the
division of land uses into residential and business areas seemed logical, but few believed
that downtown would lose its primacy as the site of commerce. 22
Over time, public transit and zoning transformed the singular “business district”
of downtowns into the “central business district,” one of several business zones in the
21
Fogelson, Robert, Downtown: its rise and fall, 1880-1950. New Haven and London: Yale University
Press, 2001
22
Fogelson, Downtown, p. 18-23
18