Boston: Act II

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The crowd—black and white—applauded as the mayor of Boston walked down the city-hall corridor. "I understand," he said with a wink, "that some of you want to see me." On some days it seems as if everyone in Boston wants to see Kevin White, who has managed to temper the austere efficiency of his predecessor with urbanity and charm.

White's administration, in fact, seems to be an ideal Act II for what has be come known as the New Boston. In Act I—the fine, sometimes brilliant administration of John Collins—the city was dramatically saved from nearly three-quarters of a century of inelegant decay by a variety of bold, even spectacular renewal projects. Business confidence, lost by a succession of amiable but frequently corrupt mayors, was restored, private investment increased, and "the Hub," as its citizens still sometimes like to call it, once more was the center of something.

Built-Up Resentment. If anything, Collins was too efficient. Residents of renewal areas often were given little choice when their neighborhoods were targeted for improvement, and the mayor himself was sometimes too busy to hear complaints. Realizing his lack of popularity, Collins judiciously decided not to seek reelection, leaving the door open for White, who was bored with seven years in the undemanding job of Massachusetts secretary of state. As it was, the built-up resentment against Collins' planners and button-down administrators very nearly lost him the election. Though his Irish pedigree was impeccable, White was suspect in some parts of the city because of his Ivy education (Williams, '52) and cool manner, which sometimes makes him seem more Yankee than the Brahmins.

The new mayor quickly let it be known that change would continue—with a difference. All the renewal projects started by Collins would be completed, but the emphasis in future would be shifted from big downtown building schemes to less visible, but no less important, housing and neighborhood-improvement programs. As proof of his efforts, he announced this month that he had persuaded Boston banks, insurance companies and industries to invest $56 million in depressed neighborhoods. Some $50 million will be in loans to finance rehabilitation and construction of low-income housing units, while the remaining $6,000,000 will be seed money to encourage poor people to set up their own businesses.

Voices of the Poor. As a candidate, White earned the adjective "bland." No one describes him that way now. Not only has he listened to the voices of the poor; he has put them in positions of power. The former education director of the N.A.A.C.P., Paul Parks—who also happens to be an able civil engineer —was put in charge of the Model Cities program; a welfare mother was named to the public-welfare board, whose highhandedness she had protested in a raucous sit-in. As a result of White's concern for Negro neighborhoods, his critics now call him "Mayor Black."