Quote Originally Posted by Gistok View Post
Corktownyuppie, actually it wasn't a fire that caused Paris's transformation... it was Baron Haussman, the Prefect [[pitbull) for Emperor Napoleon III who between the 1840s and 1860s destroyed 40% of medieval Paris in order to build the broad boulevards that make Paris so beautiful. All the poor people who used to live in all those squalid medieval tenements... they got transported to the suburbs of Paris... where they still are today... you have to have money in order to live in the city today.
Actually, the areas outside of the Peripherique did not develop until the 20th century. What Baron Hausman did was slum clearing but Paris proper didn't become saturated with rich people until post WW2 era.

Fun fact about Paris vs Detroit is that the entire city of Paris could roughly within Detroit's Grand Blvd loop. Paris proper has also declined dramatically in population since the early 20th century, when it had nearly 1 million more residents than it does today...