It feels nice to slap a boogie man label on someone and think that it is because he is just corrupt.  But it's important to note that Porter was completely in step with the contemporary thinking of architecture and planning of his time.  That anything we would consider urban was overcrowded, unsightly, and unhealthy and required urban clearcutting was just common sense to the people who made the decisions in 1950.

 

Whoa, there.... Some of history's most destructive periods have occurred when it was fashionable to be so destructive, and the leaders were allowed to destroy!

 

There were plenty of people who didn't get on the bandwagon to destroy cities when Porter was in power -- many people won important victories against the leaders of urban destruction like Porter. There were many leaders of "contemporary thinking of the time" that promoted various levels of destruction, from Joe McCarthy to Father Charles Coughlin to Michelle Bachman. But there were many more who refused to go along with the mob mentality and spoke out against them. Perhaps 100 years from now we may view what happened to America's cities from 1930 to the early 2000s very differently than many of us do now. And we may wonder how people like Porter came to power in the same way we wonder how other destructive leaders in history came to power.

 

But that doesn't mean we have to give them a free pass. Just the opposite. We have to be even more brave at times when people like Porter are getting a free pass. Only the lack of bravery allows destruction to be fashionable.

Who said anything about a free pass?  That wasn't my point.  Rather, my point was that Porter was a product of the architectural/planning thought of his time.  Had he never been born, someone else would have taken the scythe to our city, built highways, and blocked mass transit development.  Porter was just a face, though perhaps an especially ugly one.

 

And I have to ask- what victories?  Maybe a freeway was stopped here or there, a neighborhood or church saved.  But are there any major American Downtowns that aren't ringed with highways, that aren't surrounded by neighborhoods that had more highways punched through them, that didn't have their mass transit systems gutted?  Did all those cities just happen to have a Porter step in at the right time, or was this what the majority of people thought was the way forward for the American city?

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone that everyone in Youngstown hates.

 

I guess the more notorious property owners might qualify.  Mark Mallen is often given credit for the deplorable shape of Youngstown's north side.  It is said that he ran his properties (he owned dozens) into the ground, mortgaged them as much as he could, and then left town.

I would hope James Traficant makes the sh!tlist in Youngstown. I'm sure there are tons of mob figures too...

 

Also, who are the shrinking city leaders? I'd put them on there. Youngstown is basically going to be a donut hole if they have their way (already kind of is). Granted, I know the population loss was really extreme in Youngstown, but still...there's tons of sprawl that could instead be urban development. It'd be better to have a shrinking suburbs model.

 

I thought about Traficant, and I figured his following is too large.  I don't believe for a minute he would ever win another election if he tried to run for an office.  But there are people who still like him.  There are probably some mob figures that everyone hates, but I don't know them because they aren't talked about, and that mess was cleaned up before I moved here. (and I don't really care about that aspect of this area's history much)

 

Based on past comments, I'm sure you would hate those who embraced the shrinking city idea.  There is still room for new development in the city, on virgin land.  And, there are about 4k-5k vacant structures.  But, the modern sprawl you write about is outside of the city limits.  Those who live in the suburbs will be the first to tell you (and probably not very nicely) that the city had better not even think about telling them what they should do with their land.

Columbus: Anyone and everyone from the mitten part of Michigan. Except Kid Rock and ICP though it seems. The U.P. to gets a free pass as well.

 

LOL! At least people from Columbus can identify where those people are. Michiganders: "I hate OSU! Where's Columbus, is it near Cedar Point?"

 

At least its not like we expect OSU fans to know that there are 2 Big 10 universities in Michigan...because they can't tell the difference ever.

 

OSU fans and Michigan fans are awesome. They have no idea how much they have in common.

 

 

Anyways...back to the discussion:

 

Detroit:

 

- Ed MacNamara

- Jerome Cavanaugh

- Coleman Young

- Kwame

- L Brooks Patterson

- City Council

- Freman Hendrix (because the school takeover)

- Monica Conyers

Most people in Cleveland have no idea who Albert Porter is.  I won't deny that I would have loved the Lee or Bedford Freeways when I was going to Case.

 

Political figures have their followings.  I've heard Traficant is hugely popular in Y-town.  Kucinich has his following and I don't think anyone really strongly hates him, largely because he's ineffectual.  "Calamity Jane" Campbell made a lot of lists for awhile, but she's forgotten. 

 

Jordan is still disliked, Elway probably less so.  art modell wins hands down.  His only real competition is david modell.  A lot of us who are more familiar with the circumstances of the move hate david more than art.

Most people in Cleveland have no idea who Albert Porter is.  I won't deny that I would have loved the Lee or Bedford Freeways when I was going to Case.

 

Political figures have their followings.  I've heard Traficant is hugely popular in Y-town.  Kucinich has his following and I don't think anyone really strongly hates him, largely because he's ineffectual.  "Calamity Jane" Campbell made a lot of lists for awhile, but she's forgotten. 

 

Jordan is still disliked, Elway probably less so.  art modell wins hands down.  His only real competition is david modell.  A lot of us who are more familiar with the circumstances of the move hate david more than art.

Again, that freeway would have destroyed my childhood home.  Now that most of CH and SH is historically landmarked, we're safe.

Most people in Cleveland have no idea who Albert Porter is.   I won't deny that I would have loved the Lee or Bedford Freeways when I was going to Case.

 

good point.  What we're really making here is a list of people that city geeks (i.e.- us) love to hate in our respective cities.  I doubt most people in the region know about Albert Porter, and most probably would like what he did if they knew.  Same for whoever tore down half the Warehouse District.  Afterall, what is left is, you know, kind of neat.  But it's hard enough to park already as far as they are concerned, and who would want to walk more than a block to get to Tramp, or Barfly, or Whore, or whatever they're calling trashy clubs nowadays.

and who would want to walk more than a block to get to Tramp, or Barfly, or Whore, or whatever they're calling trashy clubs nowadays.

 

LOL