--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In housing in the fifties in Britain and…" description: "\"In housing in the fifties in Britain and the sixties, we pulled down the terraces - destroyed whole communities and replaced them with tower blocks and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/john-major-8314_block_in-housing-in-the-fifties-in-britain-and_879624.jpg" --- # In housing in the fifties in Britain and the sixties, we… ![“In housing in the fifties in Britain and the sixties, we pulled down the terraces - destroyed whole communities and replaced them with tower blocks and we built walkways that became rat-runs for muggers. That was the fashionable opinion. But it was wrong.” quote by John Major](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/john-major-8314_block_in-housing-in-the-fifties-in-britain-and_879624.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/john-major-8314_block_in-housing-in-the-fifties-in-britain-and_879624.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/john-major-8314_block_in-housing-in-the-fifties-in-britain-and_879624.jpg) > “In housing in the fifties in Britain and the sixties, we pulled down the terraces - destroyed whole communities and replaced them with tower blocks and we built walkways that became rat-runs for muggers. That was the fashionable opinion. But it was wrong.” [John Major](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-major/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Criticizes post‑war housing policies that replaced communities with impersonal tower blocks, leading to crime. **In simple terms:** Bad housing design harms communities. Key Takeaway Prioritize human‑scale, safe neighborhoods. Themes urban planning community crime social policy Mood concerned critical Type policy social When to use this quote - city redevelopment - housing projects - neighborhood revitalization - crime prevention - public policy Key Concepts human‑centered design social cohesion public safety Questions to Reflect On - How can planners balance density with community? - What alternatives prevent crime in new developments? A Different Perspective May underestimate economic pressures for high‑density housing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/block/) [Britain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/britain/) [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Communities Replaced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communities-replaced-1038152/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Destroyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroyed/) [Destroyed Communities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroyed-communities-1038151/) [Fashionable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fashionable/) [Housing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housing/) [Housing Fifties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housing-fifties-1038149/) [Muggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/muggers/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Pulled Terraces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pulled-terraces-1038150/) [Rats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rats/) [Replaced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/replaced/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Sixties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sixties/) [Sixty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sixty/) [Terraces Destroyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terraces-destroyed-1038148/) [Tower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tower/) [Towers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towers/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong/) ## Related quotes > [“It is said of the Jews, deprived of a stable homeland for so long, their temples destroyed, and their communities in the Diaspora, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holiday/it-is-said-of-the-jews-deprived-of-a-stable-homeland-for-so-long-2/) [Ryan Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holiday/) > [Never Forget, even for an instant, that the one and only reason anybody has for taking your gun away is to make you weaker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/never-forget-even-for-an-instant-that-the-one-and-only-reason-anybody/) [L. 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Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-parker/) [Browse all 1,755 Block quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/block/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In housing in the fifties in Britain and the sixties, we pulled down the terraces - destroyed whole communities and replaced them with tower blocks and we built walkways that became rat-runs for muggers. That was the fashionable opinion. 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