EEK! The dreaded Urban Renewal Disease! Ah if we knew then what we know now....
The city of Batavia regrets its Urban Renewal of the 1970s. Many little historic store fronts along main street were taken down, as well as other buildings.  They errected a mall that looks more like a prison.  It never did well and they are still trying to figure out ideas to do something with it.  They also have a plan to re-do Main Street with trees and grass in the center of the road. They planted smaller trees on either side of the street. They are trying to get back some of the historic look that was destroyed.  A history of Batavia video was done a few years back and many of the residents discuss what happened during that time frame, with photos of before, during, and after.  Quite a good tape.

Scott Monje <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I have run across a couple of instances of "urban renewal" projects in small cities or towns in New York in the 1970s in which old structures were razed but little or nothing new was built to replace them. Was that sort of thing common, or were these most likely local eccentricities? Has anything been written about this?
>


--
Cindy Amrhein
Town of Alabama Historian
in Genesee Co., NY
Experience the Town of Alabama in Genesee County, NY.
http://www2.pcom.net/cinjod/historian/
APHNYS (Association of Public Historians of New York State)
http://www.tier.net/aphnys


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