> You may be overestimating how easy cut and cover is.
You're right. In fact, the Market Street passage of BART/Muni in San Francisco was a cut and cover. The closure of Market Street and delays in construction caused a lot of damage. Not the least of which the collapse of businesses[1]
The Theaters went out of business, became porn cinemas and liquor stores. Much of what Civic is today was a result of that era.
Not to say Cut and Cover was the 100% cause - but it was a major, major contributor.
FWIW, the Crown Zellerbach Building, completed in 1959, was "controversial due to the decision for the building to face Bush St. instead of Market St., Market St. being in decline during the time it was built."[1][2] 1959 was years before the Market St subway construction began.
Aside: I'm not a student of architecture, and Modernist (and especially International Style) architecture didn't really click for me until someone explained the design of that building. All building services (restrooms, stairwells, elevators, etc) are located in the giant, black, windowless monolith. To my mind that feature is most descriptive of the style and its motivations, particularly regarding the relationship between form and function and the emphasis on the latter. Its shape and materials are, at least superficially, almost entirely dictated by its pure function. Yet it's the defining characteristic of the form of the building and clearly intentionally imposing.
Very different neighborhood from Civic though -- even though they're only 20 minutes walk apart.
During and post-war that end of town was much less desirable. That changed significantly when the shipping moved. Also that building marks arrival of modern building techniques suitable for an earthquake zone. That triggered a construction boom in FiDi.
Mid-Market on the other hand was in a post-War retail boom. Civic was a major hub of retail and Theaters -- and was impacted a lot more by the BART construction.
All that said, the arc of San Francisco neighborhoods does baffle me at the best of times.
Having recently witnessed the boom in construction around the Canada Line stations, I'm not sure I agree. Many businesses on Cambie are doing very well, including some that hung on through the difficult time when the line was being built. Yes, some went out of business and that is sad, but many survived and fortunes seem to be up as a result.
In contrast, it didn't kill the downtown businesses on Granville St. While any long term construction is probably going to negatively impact adjacent businesses that doesn't mean cut and cover is going to be the wrong decision to make in every case.
> Not to say Cut and Cover was the 100% cause - but it was a major, major contributor.
I don't think it's the cut and cover method per se. Here in Minneapolis when they built a surface light rail line from Downtown Minneapolis to Downtown Saint Paul iirc nearly 200 businesses closed along the LRT and cited the construction as the primary reason. Any construction that impedes travel to businesses for a long time is going to be negative for businesses. Here we subsidized about half the affected businesses along the line during the 4 years of construction but it apparently was not enough.
You're right. In fact, the Market Street passage of BART/Muni in San Francisco was a cut and cover. The closure of Market Street and delays in construction caused a lot of damage. Not the least of which the collapse of businesses[1]
The Theaters went out of business, became porn cinemas and liquor stores. Much of what Civic is today was a result of that era.
Not to say Cut and Cover was the 100% cause - but it was a major, major contributor.
1: https://hoodline.com/2016/07/in-their-words-the-convergent-h...