Developing resident leadership : theory and practice in Boston's neighborhoods

Abstract

For decades, Boston residents have worked together and organized to strengthen and protect their neighborhoods, often in response to encroaching government policy and local development. The South End's Villa Victoria housing complex is a testament to the work of Puerto Rican residents to gain site control and save the area from demolition under Urban Renewal in 1968. In the 1960s, residents in several communities lobbied the state to stop the destruction of their homes as part of a planned extension of the interstate highway. Today, the Southwest Corridor Park reminds us of that successful organizing effort. It represents the first time federal funds were used to develop a combined open space and transit system.