I was born in the Hill neighborhood and have lived most of my adult life in various suburbs of New Haven. I am an adult learner, a History major at Southern Connecticut State University, and nearing retirement from my day job. I will graduate in 2025 and plan to do graduate work in 19th century U.S. history. My work as a docent at the Hyland House Museum in Guilford, Ct. has piqued my interest in the roles of slavery and the abolition movement in Connecticut's past.
The chapters from Model City B lues highlight the tensi on between a business management style of urban renewal and one that allows for citizen involvement , as it specifically relates to redevelopment in New Haven in the 1960’s. Jackson details how racial attitudes influenced the assumption that primarily white academic and business leaders knew what was best for neighborhoods such as the Hill . She explains that neighborhood organizers had a long and sometimes successful history of advocating with Mayor Lee’s administration for improvements and taking direct action to improve their neighborhood, while the focus of the planners worked to stymie c itizen involvement. Jackson describes how New Haven fit into the broader issue of urban redevelopment as a national issue, and h ow Mayor Lee’s relationship with the Federal Government fostered a top-down formula for deciding how Federal dollars were spent in the city. It was with great interest that I read Jackson’s histor...
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