History:Willimantic Redevelopment, Part 1

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Vacant Lots and Broken Dreams:
Urban Renewal in Willimantic Connecticut
Richard Baber, 1993

Part 1 of 8

It started quietly for Willimantic, Connecticut on June 13, 1966, the Common Council voted to create the Willimantic Redevelopment Agency.  It ended with a crash on Oct.21, 1976when, among  protests, demolition began on the Hurley- Grant building and the Union block.When it was over much of Willimantic's downtown  business and residential district including ten acres in the city's center was gone.  In its place a handful of new public buildings three parking lots and vacant land  At this point the city fully expected thar private developers to come in and rebuild a shiny and prosperous new Willimantic and some did.However 15 years later most of this land remains vacant and many people are wondering how this could have happened.  The reality is that Willimantic had the same experience as countless towns and cities across the nation:: the promise of urban renewal  often turnout to be dreams.  Instead of creating new retail centers new housing and new jobs, instead of revitalizing   the economic well being of the municipality and the quality of life of its residence urban renewal left Willimantic with broken hopes and little else

The primary agrarian roots of the United States resulted in an anti-urban bias that persists to this day .Although cities grew and population shifted as trade and maufacturing began to dominate the economy, a natural distrust of urban centers developed.  As industries grew, cities attracted immigrants and rural poor seeking jobs and housing: ethnic and cultural differences caused further divisions.  By the end of the nineteenth century cities had become economically strafed with poor in the ghetto and the wealthy in exclusive neighborhoods and the middle class seeking refuge in the outlaying areas. Initially cities absorbed these areas as populations grew, but by the 1920s this practice ceased when political opposition to it grew.  Suburbs resulted as retreats to the middle class.

In the 1920s suburbs experienced tremendous growth.  The nation appeared economically prosperous and as more families owned automobiles, the commute to the cities and jobs became more convient  This was followed by an even bigger explosion of suburban growth following WWII.  Again this was primarily a middle class movement.  Several factors contributed to these population shifts'  The federal government began building modern highways.  New people not only could easily commute to the cities for their jobs but could easily escape at the end of their work days.  As commuter towns grew so did the services: doctors, lawyer, shopping malls and eventually manufacturing and offices.  People began to have fewer reasons to travel into the city.

Concurrently, populations shift from south to north, from the center to the coasts and from rural to urban areas.. The overwhelming reason for this was a declining agricultural economy which prompted the rural poor to give up farming and seek employment opportunities available in the cities. Coupled with this movement was unrepresented immigration . In the 1950s, 28 million people immigrated to the United States and 85 percent settled in urban areas.

These newcomers crowed into the inner cities and further pushed the middle class out .If they needed additional incentives two other factors encouraged their movement.  One was blockbusting , where disreputable realtor would connive to get minority families to buy homes in all white neighborhoods They would literally go door to door attempting to create panic of the prospect of a racially changing neighborhood.. This often caused the value of real estate to decline.  Established neighborhoods were thrown into turmoil and property owners, fearing a total loss would sell their home at deflated prices.  The realtors  would then  inflate the price and sell to minorities or convert them to multiple family units and rent them.  While illegal this practice flourish.  The other factor was the FHA and VA loan guarantee program which offered liberal terms on new housing for newly married couples, preferably with children.  They required only minimum earnings and good credit histories.  This new housing was being built in the outlying areas close to the ciries in what became known as suburan tract housing.  With there older housing the cities were left to the poor, the elderly and the minorities.  It was at this stage that urban renewal began.