Abstract
Frieden and Sagalyn note that, in the 1970s, a city's favorite solution to solving its problems was to build a mall. Although in the complete chapter (Downtown, Inc.: How America Rebuilds Cities, MIT Press) the authors focus on four case studies of varying political and social conditions, this selection contains only the most prominent example of a downtown retail success story, Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace. In developing the marketplace, Boston's leadership wanted to find a developer who could create a feasible retail project while preserving the architectural merit and historic character of the market buildings. James Rouse more than fit the bill, with his nerve and skill to "fit a modern retail operation inside the walls of 150-year-old warehouses on a crowded site in the heart of the city." Rouse was an optimist who believed that "the development business primarily consists of finding a way to overcome crises." This selection offers valuable insights not only into a complicated, pioneering downtown redevelopment project, but also about one of the country's most innovative and courageous developers.