The Tragedy of Urban Renewal: The destruction and survival of a New York City neighborhood

[DzekoVelez]

about half were black? Well then the other half were white so it was equal, no reason to label it black removal...

[n64wilbert]

Is that Art Tatum at 0:34 to 0:18? Is that Lonnie Johnson and Eddie Lang at 1:30?

[pdxeddie1111]

yay for the demoncats theyll make your life better whether you want it or not

[neobootsonious]

Liberalism rots society fom within. It undermines and destroys. It is a cancer. It is a disease.

[ChaimEliyahu]

Just because government has been stupid does not mean it must be. This story was repeated all over the US: overlooking the cultural value of neighborhoods in favor of powerful, hooked up capitalists. If regular people, motivated by values deeper than naked profiteering, abandon the goal of democratic government that considers other values (liberty and freedom among them, but also the cultural values of communities) we'll continue to be lost. What's the alternative?

[jaybreak]

The government destroys. Liberty builds.

[eirefrance]

@jaybreak Empty slogans make one look stupid. Reflective thinking makes one not look stupid.

[jaybreak]

@eirefrance How do you know I haven't done "reflective thinking"? This is youtube, not my viva voce.

[eirefrance]

@jaybreak The only thing I know about you is that you feel that empty slogans that tell 5% of the story are worth sharing with the world at large.

[MrAvocats]

That happened to us in Philadelphia in the late 50's/early 60s--a rural, working class, integrated neighborhood declared a slum, knocked down, and left empty for decades.

[hiphoprepublican]

Eminent domain is not necessary to accomplish urban renewal, but local governments have been trained to use it as a tool of first resort for assemblage of large-scale projects. However, the government's role is not to be a developer, but rather to facilitate conditions that are friendly to business - the use of condemnation takes this role too far.

~ Rep. Cory Gardner

[geehuckwow]

Government is theft. Theft is bad, ... black or white.

[jbjumpback]

Blacks, remember to turn out 98% for your Democratic Party...

'cause the white Liberals own you.

[eirefrance]

@jbjumpback Rednecks, remember to turn out for the Republican Party (although the Libertarian party will do in a pinch)....cause Wall Street owns you.

[eirefrance]

The first federally planned community ever is still going strong. Greenbelt, MD. If you pretend that govt involvement is ALWAYS a problem, then you're not using your Reason at all. You're just being an ideologue and blind follower. Hating something all the time is just being contrary, its not being intelligent or reflective. In short, its being a part of the problem.

[Moragauth]

@eirefrance *yawns* Typical looking at the seen and not bothering to catalogue the unseen. It is ALWAYS a problem. The rest is a string of assertions. Why is it being "contrary" or unintelligent or unreflective? You are part of the problem, not those who identify the government as the nexus of most social problems it generates and then evokes itself to "solve". At what cost did this Greenbelt MD arise? What does "going strong" mean? Please, get a fucking clue.

[eirefrance]

@Moragauth Oh, please. Yawning at someone on the internet doesn't make you "win" For fuck's sake, what do you think going strong means?

[Moragauth]

@eirefrance It can mean anything, depending on context and one's ends.

[eirefrance]

@Moragauth Ones "ends", yes indeed. Language should always be vetted for potential conflicts of interest, just like a paranoid Goebbels would.

[yojimbo81]

It's for the greater good. Obey.

[oldtimefreedom]

This is really a great piece, nice work Jim Epstein!

[TigerghostPictures]

When is ReasonTV going to feature something negative about the Republicans? All this democratic-bashing is getting kind of dull. Republicans have their issues too - such as being the "ANTI"-party... anti gay marriage, anti-pot, anti-this, anti-that.

[bluefootedpig]

@TigerghostPictures They just had one on illegal drugs and war on drugs not working, and then relating it weed use. They do some.

[ArtistsOfNoteVideos]

@bluefootedpig Huh? what are you smokin'? Read this and explain what you just wrote.

[bluefootedpig]

@ArtistsOfNoteVideos well, i was replying to someone saying that they never do anything against republicans, and war on drugs, but about a week ago they had a video on why the war on drugs doesn't work. So I don't see my comment is off.

[shamgar001]

These eminent domain videos are so frustrating to watch, but it's important to be frequently reminded that politicians are all scum-sucking parasitic assholes who will rob you blind the moment you get a chance.

If this country were where it should be, anyone who would suggest this kind of thing would be fearing for their lives.

[TigerghostPictures]

@shamgar001 You have such a dismal view of government... It's so sad. There is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that prominently features eminent domain called "Progress" and I suggest you watch it. Maybe then you could see the benefits of why eminent domain is a necessary thing to provide roads, new CAPITALISTIC opportunities, new rail, parks... ect. Besides did you hear how communistic their living conditions were... all that "community" talk... ick. The gov't was doing them a favor.

[shamgar001]

@TigerghostPictures Surely you must be a troll.

[TigerghostPictures]

@shamgar001 I fail to see why libertarians and conservatives adopt a policy of chaos. We need some type of order or direction, one that the free market cannot provide. We did not come to where we are today by chaos. We are not the backwater nation we were in the early-1800s. We were farmers then... cities have to have different rules. There is just too many people in one place to treat like farmers. But you just don't get it. This is just an urban vs. rural issue.

[shamgar001]

@TigerghostPictures Look up any video on spontaneous order. The idea that humans can't function without planing is too cynical, and thinking that anyone is capable of planning for everybody is fatal conceit.

[eirefrance]

@shamgar001 I love that you quote a Youtube video as your source. Very libertarian of you. After all, trusting someone who has studied human social organization for their entire life is too much like listening to authority. Better to trust the amateur who made a Youtube video.

[shamgar001]

@eirefrance That's quite a conclusion you've jumped to. The videos I'm thinking of are by professional economists (i.e. people who have studied this sort of thing for their entire lives), but by now the principles are widely enough understood that an amateur could make a reasonably good video.

[eirefrance]

@shamgar001 The principles of anarcho-capitalism might be understood, but that doesn't mean they're generally accepted. Why, here is a video by a sociologist and legal theorist that disagrees:

watch?v=1bqMY82xzWo&feature=ch­annel_video_title

[eirefrance]

@shamgar001 And I can name an economist off the top of my head who believes institutional order is the most important element in a market: Douglass North. And that's from reading his book, not watching his video.

[shamgar001]

@eirefrance You say that as if getting information from a book automatically makes it more reliable than hearing it in a lecture.

For the record, I am not an anarcho-capitalist (though I have sympathies in that direction). I'm a minarchist.

[eirefrance]

@shamgar001 I'm sure you are. And I'm a realist who weighs options and goes with the best option, not the most utopian.

[eirefrance]

@shamgar001 Most Youtube videos on Libertarian ideals are not lectures.

[Moragauth]

@TigerghostPictures I fail to see why you are so presumptuous and arrogant to think "planners" can provide "Order" over and above what the market - i.e. billions of individuals engaged in voluntary exchange globally - can. Why do cities "have to" have any particular rules? YOU don't get it. You are obsessed with "planning" for its own sake. It is neither needed nor wanted. We do not advocate "chaos" but organic order. We don't need your "direction", tyvm

[TigerghostPictures]

@Moragauth My direction? I am not qualified for such a position.

[Moragauth]

@TigerghostPictures No one is.

[TigerghostPictures]

@Moragauth Here is a good example... Wikipedia began as a system in which everyone could edit, change, manipulate, or say whatever it is that they want. It was created in full faith that humanity would, in the end publish the truth... and after so many reverts of "poop" in pages, Wikipedia decided to scrap the "All can edit" mentality in favor of a balance and check system: a Wikipedia "governing" principle. Someone needs to "direct" the sheep because most people are friggin stupid.

[Moragauth]

@TigerghostPictures You're confusing the adoption of rules/order for a monopoly on law and order. The two are not the same.

[eirefrance]

@Moragauth And your confusing all government with one form of government: tyranny. The two are not the same.

[j2tharome15]

Same thing happened at Chavez Ravine. The L.A. government used eminent domain to kick out many poor Hispanic families to build urban developments with the promise they would get first dibs. You know what occupy Chavez Ravine now.

[UTubekookdetector]

So-called central-planning and "smart growth" strategies (which are certainly being pushed in Washington, so we can ALL be subjected to it) are backfiring. It's part of a larger scheme to get you out of your car and reduce your independence. There will be lots of money flowing, none of it will go to the middle class, but it will go to certain developers in the form of corporate welfare.

[Smithistory]

AH Robert Moses. We have a parkway that he designed in Niagara Falls that some people oppose because it goes along the Niagara River and dominates that prime real estate.

[xcircaxriderx]

they did this at chavez ravine, as soon as the federal housing act was put in place, people were displaced... i guess dodger stadium was more important...

[senglord]

When this happened blacks voted republican slightly less than democrat, based on their economic and social interest. In all likelihood, New York Blacks would have voted against the Democrats that threw them out on the street. It was the devil's bargain that the Republicans made during the Civil Rights movement that created the African American Democrat monolith.

[Rollich]

Don't weep too hard. I knew this area very well, and it was very much a roach-filled slum. And it wasn't all black. Many Irish and Italian immigrants resided there.

[NAGGERNUTZ]

The ends justify the means

[caraclaudel]

Keep voting for Democrats and they will drain the individuality, personality, and life out of every neighborhood in America.

To liberals, govt is not about creating an environment in which we are free to pursue our own dreams, make our own decisions, and shape our own lives. They'll confiscate our property and trample our rights so they can pursue their utopian dreams. They'll create "the perfect system" and we'll just operate within it. If their system destroys our lives...oh, well.

[megagagnon1]

All i can say to these people is "how dare you scum". You allow the dems to  destroy your neighborhood, then you become rabid dems? You deserve poverty.

[thekingofcorsairs]

the power broker is one of the best books ever written. i'm really glad reason covered this.

[K20ej88]

Reason kicks so much ass.

[davidsquall351]

That sucks

[fifidaniels]

The Democrat party is THE worst nightmare for African-Americans but everyone on the left would have you believe it's the Republicans. I wonder if any of the people who were evicted still vote for Democrats.

[TheHigherVoltage]

It doesn't matter who gets elected or what an 'initiative' is called, the primary role of politics is to make every squeeze of the poor, by the rich, sound like a good thing.

[ichihentai]

Politicians know what is best. We should just let them decide everything and ask no questions. 

[furyofbongos]

Government = taxation = coercion = violence = chaos and destruction.

The institution of government doing something good is a logical contradiction.

[furyofbongos]

All you have to do is take the name of a government initiative and state the opposite and you'll have the ultimate results of the initiative.

[cyryc]

This is what is known as life. Everyone, at some point in their life, see a fond childhood location destroyed. My dad's childhood neighborhood in Houston TX has been demolished and swallowed up by nature like it never existed. A great nature trail I used to walk when I was younger in Harvest AL is now destroyed and now there's some hot rod repair shop there. We can blame who took them away or we can realize this is something that happens and part of our growth in the long journey of life.

[HorseWaterDrink]

Some how this is! George Bush's fault.

[LimeZYX]

Please tell me the name of that extremely catchy piano tune at around 0:36

[monajonz]

Enough politicizing of this issue. It's hardly important which political party championed this - the history of segregation and racism is so quickly forgotten. Tragically, it's a part of American history, not just black history.

THAT is what is most important.

[CurtHowland]

@monajonz "Enough politicizing of this issue"

Excuse me, but what is this issue OTHER than political?

[monajonz]

@CurtHowland - The ones who say, "it's a myth that Democrats want to help the poor." Or this shows "The Democratic Party's true soul." Of course this is political, but "politicizing" is a different breed of commentary.

[newperve]

@monajonz It would not be important is the Democrats weren't always trying to pretend that they were always and forever the friends of blacks and Republicans always and forever the enemies. It's just another myth that keeps black people down. I'm sure if Republicans did something to screw over white working poor then Democrats would resent it if they still presented themselves as friends of the white working poor.

[RomanV101]

They did the same "urban renewal" in Boston.

[Timasion]

Robert Moses caused the Brooklyn Dodgers to leave New York. Moses didn't like Walter O'Malley so Moses wouldn't approve the new stadium that O'Malley wanted. O'Malley was willing to fully pay for the construction and land, but Moses said no.

So, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. The New York Giants (baseball) left the same year for San Francisco.

That's what urban renewal brought NYC. The loss of two major sports franchises.

[dmhappy2777]

Collectivist VS INDIVIDUAL 

[arion45]

How does anyone buy that the government wants to help at all?

[ShrugMeSilly245]

How does anyone still buy into the myth that democrats want to help the poor?

[teton99]

Well at least Democratic/Progressives policies have worked wonders for Detroit…sarcasm.

[TheLastBrainLeft]

This is a must watch for all progressives.

[TheLastBrainLeft]

Robert Moses is the best and worst thing that ever happened to NYC.

[TheLastBrainLeft]

9 million thumbs up.

[kp194806]

This is so sad that this kind of stuff still happens... The people who lived here didn't deserve this...

[Beljora]

2:55 That commercial is actually PROUD that shelter for human beings was torn down and replaced with trees and grass.

[BillyJoe1305]

@Beljora Isn't that the plan again today? Just with a different name, green?

[MagnusIan]

Government big enough to give you everything you need is big enough to take everything you have, folks.

[newyorkairsoft]

Now look, you built a home, or a neighborhood, and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea? God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying socialist contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along. So we the government, paid by the tax payers, need to comply to this socialist contract, and HELP YOU, help others. You dig?

[jscarter79]

@newyorkairsoft Elizabeth, is that you?

[jscarter79]

@newyorkairsoft Elizabeth, is that you?

[modernfreestyle]

I think the idea of black vs. Hispanic vs. Asian vs. white (think "Italian", "Portuguese", "Russian", etc.) neighborhoods is so out of date, but I still get it from some people. It's not "your neighborhood" or "their neighborhood"--it's OUR neighborhood. It's not enough for us to "all just get along." We all have to learn to live together, too.

[duanescot]

ah finally, a story showing the true democratic party's "soul", pretend to be an ally to working class and the poor, but in reality, they simply want to be in control of their so called constituents, this story makes me sick, its the worst kind of "social justice", eminent domain should be outlawed and these fine folks should have their neighborhood back

[bocanutz]

Just another example of Democrat racism.

[jtbpnw]

Sadly, a majority of Blacks see conservatives as their enemies when in truth, the democrat party has done more to hold down the black populace (as a whole) from reaching their potential.

Battered wife syndrome.

[666sigma]

And they can thank the Democratic Party. Blacks and the poor need to wake up and realize that government is not their friend. Government is willing to do just enough to buy their vote. After that, they don't care.

Hope and Change.

More like:

Rope and Chains.

[Yakko77]

@666sigma Your last line nailed it like no other. That's bumper sticker worthy. You could make a fortune.

[justinrixx]

Government is the source of monopoly

[Sivels]

@justinrixx government IS a monopoly.

[TigerghostPictures]

@justinrixx There has to be some kind of singular rule of law, otherwise it would be chaos. If you are referring to government being a negative monopoly, then I must insist that it is not the most dangerous. Religion is a far more dangerous monopoly than government. At least with governments you can blame a person you can see, religion is far more sinister in that there is no blame - only will of an invisible threatening figure watching you in the sky. Both together is shear madness - Sharialaw?

[MrStevenJNelson]

And it continues today. Public/private partnerships continue to pick winners and losers everyday. Land is power and they want it.

[TheFujimoto420]

Why do my subscriptions keep telling me I've already 'watched' something when I haven't? Anyone else getting this?

[Cleopas82]

Government supporters always focus on their own intentions, and not the outcome of their intentions. These people have rights..... had rights.