It was called "Urban Re-Development." It changed the city of Trenton and the South Trenton area from a middle size town with run-down and aging "ghetto" attributes into a town with glass-encrusted high rise state office buildings. Old streets in South Trenton such as Cooper, Fall, South Warren and many others were either truncated (Greenwood Avenue) or completely eliminated. - Tuesday, October 18, 2011
- Michael Kuzma said...
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Tom:
This was not only my old neighborhood, but just a year after this article, I went to work for the City of Trenton and watched the debacle up close.
Our family had moved out of the area two years prior to this published article. Having seen the fiasco the city created in the "Redevelopment" of Coalport, this project should never been undertaken. The Holland Administration came into power in 1960 during the "Development phase" His Director of Relocation, was typically out of the office sleeping it off. As a result, records were fudged, and hundreds of residents were never relocated
Like Coalport, there was not one iota of private development in the area. thousands were uprooted, business's were lost to the suburbs,and the State despite using our Police to respond to car break ins and robberies, and our Fire Department resources strained by the demands of those thousands of State workers that needed someone to put the fires out, paid a fair contribution to the city.
Like Coalport, Center City South, The Fitch Way didn't provide a return on our investment.
I must say that the only successful project undertaken in the 50's and 60's was one I was personally involved in; Mercer Jackson Rehabilitation Project, now known as Mill Hill. Seems like things have not changed much in all these years; All promises, no production.
Regards
Mike Kuzma
What is interesting is that the article mentions the concerns of one legislator who noted that while the City and State would sink a lot of money into the project, they would get nothing back. Looks like everyone ignored him and said the classic "it will stimulate private development" line- which is a myth. Thanks for posting- its very interesting to see how this was presented at the time! -sd
ReplyDeleteTom:
ReplyDeleteThis was not only my old neighborhood, but just a year after this article, I went to work for the City of Trenton and watched the debacle up close.
Our family had moved out of the area two years prior to this published article. Having seen the fiasco the city created in the "Redevelopment" of Coalport, this project should never been undertaken.
The Holland Administration came into power in 1960 during the "Development phase" His Director of Relocation, was typically out of the office sleeping it off. As a result, recirds were fudged, and hundreds of residents were never relocated
Like Coalport, there was not one iota of private development in area. thousands were uprooted, business's were lost to the suburbs,and the State despite using our Police to respond to car break ins and robberies, and our Fire Department resources strained by the demands of those thousands of State workers that needed someone to put the fires out, paid a fair contribution to the city.
Like Coalport, Center City South, The Fitch Way didn't provide a return on our investment.
I must say that the only successful project undertaken in the 50's and 60's was one I was personally involved in; Mercer Jackson Rehabilitation Project, now known as Mill Hill.
Seems like things have not changed much in all these years; All promises, no production.
Regards
Mike Kuzma