James Rouse: A Developer of Shopping Malls and a Planned City

 
VOICE TWO:

     
The damaged building James Rouse was inspecting became the beginning of Boston's famous Faneuil Hall.  Repaired and rebuilt, it is an important part of a historic cultural center for stores, ethnic foods and street performers.

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James Rouse became a rich man.  During the early nineteen-fifties, he also became known for social action as well as property development.  He tried to improve a poor, undeveloped area in east Baltimore.  The mayor of the city said he would not offer complete support for a plan to rebuild the poor area.  So Mister Rouse resigned from a citizens' committee that was supporting the plan.

Today, more than ninety-four thousand people live in the city.

The influence of James Rouse continues today in other ways. Developers continue to re-build and improve poor areas of cities. And millions of people visit historic centers like Faneuil Hall and Harborplace every year.