Lowell Folk Fest Day two

[Scott]

[Cotuit]

Lowell's a lot like Providence in that it lucked out in a way at being poor in the middle of the 20th century. A lot of buildings that would have been torn down in the name of 'Urban Renewal' remain standing do to a lack of money for any 'Urban Renewal.'

[Allan]

Lowell looks like a great city. It's good that there was a lack of money for Urban Renewal. My city used to have a downtown lined with early 20th century 2 story brick buildings. Today all but 2 have been lost due to urban renewal. Now strip malls and parking lots stand in their places . Now they are going to try to recreate what they thoughtlessly demolished in the name of "progress" 30 years ago with a so-called "lifestyle center," which basically amounts to a shopping mall, except that you must travel from store to store outdoors.

[Scott]

Yep, planned industrial cities like Lowell were Americas original "rust belt". Eventually swallowed by Bostons suburbs, Lowell and Lawrence were those bad little cities you heard about on the news. Lowell has turned that around in a big way and events like the folk fest are signs of that. Fate has not been so kind to poor Lawrence though.

In day three there will be some cool videos for those with dsl or cable