Boston
In my Boston exhibit, I explored the history of the Parkman Bandstand in Boston Commons. Though the Parkman Bandstand itself is not a change from ghettos to nicer living, it does come in a sweep of urban renewal that left parts of Boston very poor. The Parkman Bandstand is in Boston Commons, and is surrounded by the downtown district that evolved into a rich commerce area, and therefore its renovation is like that of a rich neighborhood. In contrast, neighborhoods like South Boston experienced extreme decay in areas like the Old Colony Housing Development and the Mary Ellen McCormack Housing Development (Lehr, O'Neill). While there was so much urban renewal in areas like downtown and the commons for the Bandstand, residential neighborhoods with larger minority and lower income families like South Boston were becoming slums with the people who could afford to leave leaving. Just as Wilson writes, the negative changes are in the ghetto neighborhoods where the residents left are unlike the richer ones who left. Poverty and low education ran rampant and with that came no legitimate way to get money to survive. Out of this comes the urban underworld. People like Whitey Bulger came to power through people’s desperation for money and survival. Whitey Bulger would give the money that South Boston desperately needed to South Boston while actual Boston urban renewal was focused on tourist and wealthier areas. Therefore, Boston faced the problem of an urban underworld through lack of attention and development of the ghettos, leaving the residents there desperate and isolated.