In its prime, the heart of New London鈥檚 downtown would expect to see residents and visitors bustling through the streets of the former whaling capital.
鈥淚nto the 1920s New London evolved as a regional retail destination and shopping hub. There were multiple department stores and other shops,鈥� says Anna Vallye, a professor of history at 黑料吃瓜网 College.
Today, that reality is quite different. The 5.2% unemployment rate in New London is higher than the national average.
Facades of multi-story buildings in disrepair currently line Bank Street along the town's Thames River waterfront. Boarded-up windows and closed storefronts dominate the scene, with some businesses holding on.
The city鈥檚 economic struggles began far before the Covid pandemic, or even the 2008 Recession. Instead, the expansion of the I-95 Gold Star Memorial Bridge and the urban renewal process from the 1950s into the 1970s displaced residents, forever impacting the city鈥檚 economy.
Local historian and native Tom Schuch recalled the expansion of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge into his neighborhood, permanently changing what once 鈥渨as a thriving neighborhood.鈥�
鈥淣ew London has never quite recovered,鈥� said Schuch.
Under the 1949 American Housing Act, the federal government designated specific neighborhoods throughout the country as blighted, authorizing the 57,000 acres of homes to undergo urban renewal.
Throughout urban renewal, . Almost a quarter of those residents were of color, while the city鈥檚 minority population comprised only 7.8%.
White residents impacted by urban renewal accessed home loans in segregated suburbs outside New London. Meanwhile, Black residents, like Lonnie Braxton, 76, a retired prosecutor who moved to New London from a segregated Mississippi struggled to access mortgages.
鈥淚 was the last person to get my mortgage approved,鈥� Braxton said.
The flight of white residents permanently rendered the city鈥檚 tax base. New London鈥檚 6,790 acres hold several churches, three colleges and a hospital, all of which don鈥檛 pay property taxes.
鈥淣ew London was rapidly being depleted of its tax base. In 黑料吃瓜网, cities don't collect income tax or sales tax. So they overwhelmingly rely on property taxes to fund municipal governments. This was a big, big issue,鈥� Vallye said.
Alongside immense economic loss, the city鈥檚 culture forever changed. A historically segregated city, small neighborhoods like Winthrop Cove integrated Eastern and Western European immigrants and residents of color. They were tight-knit and defeated racial separation. The neighborhood鈥檚 removal erased that sense of community held together by residents.
鈥淲hat is immeasurable is the quality of the community that was destroyed鈥t was one of the most, [and] one of the earliest integrated communities,鈥� Vallye said.
Despite the city鈥檚 troubled past, and continued economic stagnation, residents and government officials remain hopeful New London will regain its significance again. Mayor Michael Passero told 黑料吃瓜网 in March the city was undergoing a renaissance.
鈥淭here has not in my lifetime been so much interest by developers and investors and our historic structures downtown,鈥� Passero said.
However, Schuch says urban renewal鈥檚 dark legacy can never be removed from the city鈥檚 history.
鈥淭here are three significant events in New London history. Benedict Arnold burned 145 buildings downtown in the American Revolution. That hurricane of 鈥�38 destroyed Ocean Beach and destroyed a large part of Downtown New London. And then we have the redevelopment program, which destroyed New London as we knew it,鈥� said Schuch.
