The West End was raised to increase the tax base. The make-up of that neighborhood was 1/3 Italian, 1/3 Jewish and 1/3 Irish. Leonard Nemoy, a West Ender, did a documentary about the neighborhood. The Seaport District was mostly empty lots, parking lots and empty warehouses. Virtually no housing in that area what so ever. Prior to being empty lots and parking it was a vast rail yard going back decades. Truth be told rents have increased in South Boston but the vast housing projects on the west side still exist and the rents have not increased.
Yeah, all this stuff is done to increase the tax base.
FYI the word is ‘razed’.