the western addition/lower fillmore has such an ugly history that is virtually invisible to us now, as we go there to hear jazz at yoshi's or see a move at sundance kabuki.
these photos by a flickr user named dizzy atmosphere make us remember things we'd rather forget. for instance, when we moved people's houses, simply because their location inhibited our ability to proceed with a particular agenda:
or when we bulldozed public housing projects because we changed our mind and wanted to build something bigger and better:
i do think that the face of urban redevelopment has changed. one big part of the shift has to do with how planning education has changed for the better. these days, there's a lot of questioning and self awareness built into planning programs, lots of talk of hegemony and such. also the rise of community planning and advocacy in the wake of these urban renewal projects has helped to create a more balanced process.
at the same time, what's done is done. the lower fillmore used to be the 'harlem of the west,' and now it feels drab and characterless, a clean slate for the often banal effects of gentrification. ironically the next big redevelopment project is bayview/hunter's point, the southeastern pocket of the city where most of the city's black population fled after they were pushed out of the lower fillmore in the 60s and 70s.
