http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Catie/Where%20We%20Live%2006-19-2012.mp3
New Haven was once known as the “model city” - for a massive urban redesign in the 1950s and 60s.
That renewal - 50 years later - has divided the city. Literally and emotionally. Now, some of the damage is being repaired - a plan toreconnect a “downtown” crossing where homes and businesses were destroyed to make way for a highway.
But alongside this effort - there’san attempt once again to take care of “blight” in the elm city. Last week New Haven acquired its first vacant property under an anti-blight ordinance - it allows the city to fine absentee owners, do repairs and place a lien on the property.
Meanwhile - others, like Ben Berkowitz of See Click Fix – are trying to spruce up the highway overpasses that still split the city up.
Today we’ll explore the issue of blight and look back at the 1960s - and find out what we can learn from New Haven’s urban renewal boom.
