Urban Renewal in Retrospect Urban Renewal transformed Lancaster. It was responsible for rehabilitating almost 1600 structures, most of them residential, and for erecting 710 new housing units.
Numbers are only part of the story.
Urban renewal was a wrenching experience for the city and its people. Don't do it piecemeal, they said. Don't put a band-aid on it. Perform major surgery. There is no doubt that some demolition was essential.