A Look Back at Urban Renewal Legacy

AJ:

The program offered free government funds and a promise: to transform America’s
aging traditional downtowns into modern, thriving hubs of commerce, community
and character. Three decades later, Westbrook is still waiting for delivery on
that promise. While the downtown area remains active, many of the smaller, local
retail shops that are the hallmark of the American downtown are gone. A changing
economic landscape surely had a role. But experts and city officials all agree
that a well-intentioned but poorly executed federal program must share some of
the blame.

- John C.L. Morgan