Reply #25: It happened in the Miami "Overtown" area too.

[mia]

http://www.floridacdc.org/members/overtown/expressway2.htm

...In 1950, Overtown had a thriving central commercial area and 45 percent of the African American population in Miami-Dade County. In 1960, Overtown reached its peak in population (close to 33,000) and had a diverse mix of 318 businesses. After around 1970 and the projects the study focuses on, Overtown bottomed out to a level from which it has never recovered. The expressway and urban renewal projects displaced close to 12,000 people and another 4,830 moved out for other reasons during the 1960s. From 1960 to 1970, the community lost 51.2 percent of its population and 33 percent of its businesses; in 1970, 15,935 (8.4 percent) of the county's African American population lived in Overtown, and the areas significance and commercial importance had seriously declined.

In addition to the severe loss of residents and businesses, the community's internal circulation system was left in shambles, the vacant space under the elevated expressways became a wasteland and haven for undesirables, and home ownership dropped from 12 percent to 5 percent from 1950 to 1970. Today, Overtown has one of the highest poverty rates and worst (and cheapest) housing in Miami-Dade County. The population is now just under 8,000 and there are only 41 businesses left -- compared to 389 in 1950. Only 2 percent of the county's African American population lives there and 32 percent of the population lives in either public housing or government subsidized housing....