This thread might not get much use but I was thinking that it might be nice to have a place to list good books people have read and would
Recommend to other readers about all things urban in Boston. Since it's a small subject, I would also include books about the history and culture of the city as well.
Building the New Boston by Thomas O'Connor is a great book about the fifties and sixties and how bad a shape the city was in before urban renewal. It has gotten some criticism that it doesn't chronicle the stories of those displaced enough, but overall it gives a very readable history of this period and puts into perspective how the city could end up destroying itself - and how the urban renewal projects spurred growth.
Streetcar Suburbs by Sam Warner is mentioned on this site sometimes - it chronicles the development of the inner suburbs like Roxbury and Dorchester by the extension of streetcar lines. It's a little repetitive and somewhat disjointed (skips around neighborhoods and time frames) but it was a lot of interesting maps and photographs of housing (many of which have since been demolished). The author also really does a good job, I am assuming accurately, of describing the subtle differences in socioeconomic classes and their reflections in the various architectural styles of different neighborhoods.
Recommend to other readers about all things urban in Boston. Since it's a small subject, I would also include books about the history and culture of the city as well.
Building the New Boston by Thomas O'Connor is a great book about the fifties and sixties and how bad a shape the city was in before urban renewal. It has gotten some criticism that it doesn't chronicle the stories of those displaced enough, but overall it gives a very readable history of this period and puts into perspective how the city could end up destroying itself - and how the urban renewal projects spurred growth.
Streetcar Suburbs by Sam Warner is mentioned on this site sometimes - it chronicles the development of the inner suburbs like Roxbury and Dorchester by the extension of streetcar lines. It's a little repetitive and somewhat disjointed (skips around neighborhoods and time frames) but it was a lot of interesting maps and photographs of housing (many of which have since been demolished). The author also really does a good job, I am assuming accurately, of describing the subtle differences in socioeconomic classes and their reflections in the various architectural styles of different neighborhoods.