What is gentrification?
Gentrification is defined as the renovation or improvement of a house or district so that it conforms to more upper-class taste. Though these improvements do attract new citizens to town, the effects of this process can be very damaging to disadvantaged communities.
“The hallmark of gentrification is the displacement of residents, usually low-income and black and Latinx residents from communities that were previously affordable to them,” says Jillian Johnson, mayor pro tempore of Durham.
Increased costs of goods and rent cause low-income populations to be forced out of their homes and community. This national trend has seen an upturn in the Triangle in the past few years.
What are the causes and impacts of gentrification in the Triangle?
As the Triangle grows, more expensive businesses develop. This increases the property value in surrounding neighborhoods and forces low-income families to move away.
The Chapel Hill Town Council can’t enforce a requirement of affordable housing in apartments, which causes many apartments to be too expensive for low-income residents of Chapel Hill. In certain districts, such as Fordham and Eastgate, this has led to a lot of new luxury housing in these areas.
In an interview, Chapel Hill Town Council member Michael Parker explained that “certain neighborhoods, like the North Side, have become more attractive, and either due to home values increasing, and therefore taxes increasing or other kinds of situations, residents of some of our older, historic neighborhoods have been forced out.”
In Durham, the addition of new high-end restaurants and housing in the downtown area has made the area much more upscale, but also raised the costs of living for poorer populations in that area. While these new homes are attracting many new and excited residents to town, according to Johnson, they’ve hurt some existing communities in the area.
“I think there’s a mental and emotional cost, I think there’s a community cost (from gentrification),” said Johnson. “I think we also have to consider and try to mitigate as much as possible the negative consequences of that growth.”
How can affordable housing be maintained during the process of renovation in towns?
Affordable housing is the main focus in decreasing gentrification. The Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance in Chapel Hill mandates that 15 percent of all developments be dedicated to affordable housing. After losing a lawsuit, the Town of Chapel Hill can’t enforce this percentage anymore.
According to Chapel Hill Town Council member Nancy Oates, rezoning will help lessen gentrification because the regulations under the development’s new zone will require affordable housing that wasn’t previously mandated in the development. She wants to focus on town houses and micro-units because they are smaller and more affordable. She also said that Wegmans, a
popular grocery store coming to Fordham Boulevard, will bring in sales tax revenue, decreasing the pressure on property taxes to fill the town budget.
In Durham, a $95 million bond was just approved to fund affordable housing programs and redevelop low-income public housing in downtown Durham to make it more financially inclusive. The City of Durham hopes to lobby the state to approve uniform inclusionary zoning, exempt lower income individuals from some property taxes, and raise subsidies.
-by Shelby Swanson and Sophie Evans
Photo courtesy of Paul Sableman via Flikr
