Urban Renewal in New York State

For the month of October, the Lewis Library is hosting an exhibit on Urban Renewal. This exhibit explores the complex history and mixed legacy of New York State’s Urban Renewal program. Ninety communities in the state, including many in Western New York, undertook Urban Renewal projects, and while those projects promised to revitalize downtown areas, the program is most often remembered as a fraught period when many of the state’s most vulnerable residents were forcibly removed from their housing and private developers were given publicly subsidized deals on land purchases. In addition to the traumatic displacement of many New Yorkers, Urban Renewal programs are often associated with the demolition of many historical neighborhoods and business districts. They are a complicated emblem of mid-century “progress.”

 

The exhibit is located at the entrance of the library. There is also a corresponding online exhibit: https://nyheritage.org/exhibits/urban-renewal