Beyond the market : a case study of the downtown revitalization paradox in Framingham, Massachusetts

U.S. communities have a long history of implementing redevelopment projects based on the displacement of vulnerable minority groups, who have been blamed for physical blight, depression of property values, and stripping neighborhoods of life. In the early 21 t century, with recent immigrants to the U.S. largely bypassing major urban areas for suburbs and small cities, these new destinations now face "urban" pressures in devising redevelopment strategies and plans. The town of Framingham, Massachusetts is a suburb in the Boston metropolitan area that is confronting this challenge as it seeks to revitalize a downtown dominated by a substantial immigrant commercial presence. The town's revitalization process highlights a new variation on a common historical theme of the oftentimes damaging impact of redevelopment projects. This thesis examines the ongoing revitalization process in downtown Framingham in order to understand the paradox that the Brazilian immigrant businesses largely responsible for occupying storefronts, returning street life and vitality, and attracting investment to a once depressed district are now being displaced in the very name of revitalization.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Leit, Jonathan A

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• J. Phillip Thomson.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37870

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37870