![]() Cities are epicenters of this development, and development case studies abound. A fire released pent-up demandĮconomic development is big business in the United States, with federal, state, and local agencies all trying to promote investments, joint ventures, technology centers, and anything else that can boost jobs and development. Destruction, it seems, can lead to progress-if conditions are right. By studying Boston’s fire and other historic events, Hornbeck and his colleagues are observing what can help areas, poor or rich, grow and reach their economic potential. While the fire has faded into history, its aftermath contains lessons directly applicable to modern economic development. “If that many buildings were burned in a downtown urban area today, it would be enormous news, and perhaps even seen as more catastrophic than it was then,” says Chicago Booth’s Richard Hornbeck. ![]() With damages that amounted to $75 million, this 19th-century fire represented a major disaster for the time. “Whole blocks were literally mowed down by the flames like wheat before the reaper’s scythe,” wrote the Boston Daily Globe, under the headline, “DEVASTATION!” By the time the fire was contained the following morning, it had claimed 20 lives and destroyed 776 buildings, wiping out 11 percent of the total assessed value of all Boston real estate and personal property. ![]() A fire had started in the basement of a commercial warehouse, and it consumed one building and quickly spread. ![]() On November 9, 1872, an alarm sounded in south central Boston. ![]()
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