Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
Those prefabs were built largely on swaths of undeveloped land, much of it in the North End where the Explosion had destroyed most of the buildings a few decades prior. Some of what was lost was undoubtedly slummy but lots of what would now be considered historic architecture also disappeared as a result of the disaster. The replacements were simple little houses but cosmetically fit in with the other housing being built at the time save for the lack of dug foundations. They generally weren't considered eyesores that were parachuted in to fit small lots adjacent to existing older housing.
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There was also some on the Dartmouth side in the Wyse/Albro Lake area, but I think that land was mostly undeveloped as well. It’s interesting to me to see how people will sometimes latch on to offhand comments that were really not the main point of a post and turn it into something that takes on a life of its own.
Anyhow the point was that the little prefabs, although simple and modest, still had some attention to their appearance and had little details to make them look like homes. They could have just as easily made them into little boxes that were functional but eyesores. Most everybody that I have ever heard talking about them referred to them as the little wartime houses, with sometimes even the term “cute” tossed in - nothing negative at all.
I think that those who say that the Jubilee buildings were simply a product of maximizing profit are bang on, and also agree with your point that the city was complicit in facilitating this to happen. As if someone couldn’t have predicted all of it before it came to this…
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