This is part of an occasional series of articles by others on community planning.
Like Anacortes, Las Cruces, New Mexico, flattened a large area of the city in the 1960’s for urban renewal. In their case it was the downtown area. A local blog proclaimed, in 2007, “The hands-down worst mistake in Las Cruces history was the destruction of Main Street under the guise of "urban renewal."
The "renewal" area contained 160 businesses. Thirty-eight agreed to make the required remodeling changes and were permitted to stay. 122 did not and moved or went out of business. A total of 84 families and 52 individuals lived in the cleared area and were forced to relocate.
Andrew von Maur writes "Crossing Campo Street from downtown Las Cruces into the Mesquite Historic District is like crossing between two urban worlds that are often misunderstood."
Full Story: Let Love Rule: Resilience in Mesquite