THE LOWELL HIGH-TECH SUCCESS STORY - WHAT WENT WRONG

Ten years ago Lowell, Massachusetts was a high-tech success story. Aft er several decades of stagnation, the Lowell area had emerged as a thr iving center for high-technology employment. The Lowell story was view ed as a ''model for reindustrialization'' for older cities throughout the world. In recent years Lowell has once again become the focus of i nternational attention, this time as an example of a failed economic d evelopment strategy. Widespread layoffs and plant closings within its computer industry, particularly the collapse of Wang Laboratories, hav e dealt a crushing blow to the local economy. This article analyzes th e boom and bust periods the Lowell economy experienced with high-techn ology employment, identifying what went wrong and what might have been done to mitigate the impacts of economic and industrial change.