A Decent Place to Live: From Columbia Point to Harbor Point: A Community History

"A Decent Place to Live" chronicles the rise, fall, and rebirth of Columbia Point—a Boston housing project built in in the early 1950s for working-class families. By the mid-1970s, the model community had disintegrated and become a symbol of failure, danger, and decay. Redeveloped as Harbor Point, the complex was reborn in 1988 as a successful mixed-income, racially diverse community. Told through the voices of those who struggled to make a life there, and battled to rebuild their community, "A Decent Place to Live" offers important lessons for urban planners and policymakers nationwide.

JANE ROESSNER, who holds a PhD in English literature, is a Senior Writer/Editor at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.