ABSTRACT
Members of the political class who subscribed to bourgeois principles of urban aesthetics had much to lament in history’s unkind treatment of Port-au-Prince. Until about 1945, Port-au-Prince had a functioning cadastre and a town layout plan that allowed orderly reconstruction after each disaster and a method of guiding urban expansion. Visitors and local commentators rarely found the city pleasing to look at, but the unpleasantness was more or less well organized within the town plan. The environment surrounding the houses left much to be desired. High density of wooden structures, lack of water service, and the absence of roads leading to the interior of the neighborhood made it a tinderbox. Water was generally less expensive, neighborhoods less dense, and housing costs often lower than in St. Martin. But all of these areas, like Brooklyn, were further away from downtown. To justify such sacrifice, small and flimsy shelters had to be important to them.
