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How can I be an activist (combatting gentrification) in my community?

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How can I be an activist (combatting gentrification) in my community?

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This Cincinnati neighbourhood has a storied history. Today, it's the scene of a major urban renewal effort that's prompted no small controversy.

On a typical, pre-pandemic weekend, thousands of people would descend on Cincinnati's revitalised Over-The-Rhine district just north of downtown.

Revellers would come to lounge on the grass in Washington Park, shop at any of the dozens of elegant new boutiques or meet for a beer at Rhinegeist Brewery's vast beer hall.

Over-The-Rhine, or OTR as it's better known, didn't always have a reputation as a place to kick back and relax.

Twenty years ago this April, police shot and killed Timothy Thomas, a 19-year-old unarmed black man wanted for outstanding traffic and other non-violent misdemeanours.

The anger fuelled by his death resulted in some of the worst rioting the country experienced since the Los Angeles unrest of 1992, and led to millions of dollars in property damage.

It marked an era of decline and neglect for the area, and by 2009 Over-The-Rhine ranked among America's most dangerous districts.

Since then, however, much of the district has undergone a massive and expensive regeneration process, and in many ways now finds itself almost unrecognisable from the past - for better or worse.

Named for the German immigrants who moved here from the mid-1800s to work in local breweries and slaughterhouses, by the early 1900s Over-The-Rhine had grown into a thriving community of tens of thousands.

A combination of anti-German sentiment sparked by the First World War, and Prohibition in the 1920s, saw many lose their jobs and leave the area.

From the 1940s, increasing numbers of migrant workers from Appalachian regions moved in, though as many saw their socio-economic circumstances improve they moved on, fleeing cramped living conditions in poorly maintained tenements.

By the 1960s, Over-The-Rhine became home for many displaced African-American residents forced from a neighbouring district by the construction of a new interstate highway.

Fast forward 60 years and the area has undergone great changes. New microbreweries, throwbacks to their bustling beer-infused heritage, and quaint boutiques, restaurants and music venues have turned it into a popular going-out spot.

Its stunning collection of 19th Century German Revival and Italianate architecture ranks among the largest in the country, attracting millions of visitors every year. In 2017, the American Planning Association named Over-The-Rhine one of the nation's five "great neighbourhoods", in part as it "serves as a national model of neighbourhood revitalisation".

A streetcar ferrying revellers between Over-The-Rhine and downtown Cincinnati began operating five years ago. This spring, FC Cincinnati's sparkling new $250m (£182m), 26,000 capacity stadium is set to open outside its western fringes, providing around 1,000 new jobs.

Much of the forward progress has been the work of 3CDC, a non-profit developer established by the City of Cincinnati and local corporations such as Procter and Gamble, Fifth Third Bank and the supermarket giant, Kroger, investing around $800m in the area.

When 3CDC started out in 2004, there were almost 3,000 vacant buildings, lots and housing units in Over-The-Rhine.

Joe Rudemiller, with 3CDC, says investment specific to Over-The-Rhine has seen 173 buildings restored, another 44 new buildings constructed, and acres of "civic space" and two civic buildings refurbished.

It has also built close to a thousand condominiums and 468 apartments - 283 as affordable housing units - as well as facilities for the homeless and hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial space.

Having spent two years selling Colombian and Venezuelan food from a pop-up tent outside Over-The-Rhine's historic Findlay Market, Isis Arrieta-Dennis jumped at the chance of opening her own eatery when the opportunity arose.

"We were looking for a place that was somehow diverse and saw that the Findlay Market was a place that would bring the diversity we needed for our business," says the Colombian native, who opened The Arepa Place nearby in 2018.

"As a woman, as a minority business owner, for me the doors have opened. The work has been hard (but) the community has given me a lot of opportunities."

Over-The-Rhine's growth has fuelled hundreds of similar businesses and a budding entrepreneurial scene that firmly positions it as one of the most dynamic urban districts in the Midwest.

But that revitalisation has also come at a cost.

It's sparked a furious debate, centred on access to affordable housing and displacement, over whether the recent changes have been positive for the existing community, or simply a prime illustration of successful gentrification.

For Maurice Wagoner, president of the Over-The-Rhine community council, a proposed $77m mixed development project at the intersection of Liberty and Elm streets (3CDC is not involved) is just the latest example of local black families being left behind and excluded.

Rents at the development are set to range from $1,400 to $2,800 - out of reach for most locals, Wagoner says - while the developers are seeking a $20m, thirty-year tax abatement.

"They're (the developers) using our tax dollars to build this development, and we can't afford to live (here). The average person can't afford to live in there," he says, pointing to the site.

A 2016 report produced for the Community Council found a 73% drop in affordable housing in Over-The-Rhine between 2002 and 2015.

"We don't have no qualms against development," says Wagoner, who has lived in the area since 2012 but has been involved in community issues for 13 years.

"But we want equitable development. The people here, they want to improve their quality of life, they want to be part of the revitalisation. But they can't be a part of what they see going on in the neighbourhood."

Supporters have argued the project would be an overall positive for the district, including through job creation and greater urban density.

On 3 February, Cincinnati City Council voted to green light the development.

Many members of the local black community for whom Over-The-Rhine has been home for generations still suffer from chronic housing and jobs shortages.

Housing blight and all-too-frequent building collapses remain worrying factors for many.

Two years ago, a centrally located supermarket closed to be replaced by a new, bigger store - the first to open since 1969. But for residents in the northern areas, it means an additional mile round trip to collect groceries. Violent crime and shootings, though fewer than in the past, continue to plague the area.

The marginalisation black residents felt and experienced at the hands of law enforcement most infamously two decades ago still persists. Cincinnati Black Lives Matters protests were prominent in Over-The-Rhine last summer.

Job losses caused by the pandemic have further squeezed low-income residents and small businesses alike. Arrieta-Dennis says her business has suffered a 25% fall while many local stores have been forced to close altogether.

To help, 3CDC has restructured its debt in order to assist with rent reductions and relief programs for the 80 restaurants and tenants in Over-The-Rhine and in the downtown area it supports.

Still, the broader building boom and soon-to-be-opened football stadium mean community leaders fear their biggest concerns will outlast the pandemic, with short-term rentals set to further fracture the community and change Over-The-Rhine's social fabric.

"They (developers and landlords) are making profits off Airbnbs rather than giving people a place to live in our community," says Wagoner.

"The neighbour next door to me rents it out for Airbnb. I don't know who my neighbours are anymore. It's terrible."

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Over-The-Rhine: Is this a model for urban renewal or a warning sign?

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In Cincinnati's Over-The-Rhine neighbourhood, does urban revitalisation come at a cost?

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A well-known activist in Cincinnati, Buddy Gray, once said this about OTR: "We're much like a colony far away in the Third World who's being attacked by outsiders who want our land. Our land is really valuable now, and we are not." [35] This statement seems more applicable than ever. Currently, organizations are working on their own and journalists are writing exposés to convince the council members of the negative impacts that arise from allowing 3CDC to develop without being forced to respect the wishes of the neighborhood's population. While the OTR Community Council is doing great work, they need to connect beyond individuals in the community to more organizations. Therefore, a community coalition should form with the intent to connect local organizations with residents of OTR. The coalition also needs to recruit the newcomers who have moved into OTR. Without their voting support, it will be far more difficult to create meaningful change to the OTR neighborhood.

This community coalition should hold meetings and re-write the original community plan (originally titled "Over-the-Rhine Comprehensive Plan") with OTR council members and the Cincinnati City Board of Directors as the primary intended audience. The document must illustrate why the residents' ideas and lives are valuable, and how they are not currently being respected. It will also need to be realistic; the original document was extensive and had widespread support but without financial buy-in from policy-makers, 3CDC was able to ignore their suggestions and proceed with its plans. [36] OTR's organizations have the power to increase social cohesion by forming a coalition that will connect residents with policymakers who can influence how developers are regulated. Such efforts will undoubtedly require creativity, hard work, and patience.
Conclusion
The combination of stress and low social support can lead to negative health outcomes. [37] Therefore, increasing social support and cohesion in this community is vital if change is to occur. Nevertheless, Yvette Simpson who is a councilwoman in Cincinnati said 3CDC is a private nonprofit and therefore does not need to answer to the community, only the organization's board. Simpson's advice was, "What probably can and should happen going forward is for the city to be a more meaningful intervener to help make sure the expectations the community has for 3CDC are more realistic, and that 3CDC becomes more transparent." [38] A combination of policy and a community coalition is important to give responsibility to both OTR residents and the city government if mobilization and change are to occur.
References:
[01] Sing P. (2017) Where do you live? Retrieved from Politico Magazine: http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/05/23/housing-health-environment-harlem-doctor-000443.

[02] Krieger J. & Higgins D.L. (2009) Article 5: Housing and Health: Time again for public health action. In Hynes H.P. & Lopez R. (Ed.), Urban Health (pg 101-127). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

[03] Burgard, S. (2012) Housing instability and health: Findings from the Michigan recession and recovery study. Social Science & Medicine, 75(12):2215-2224.

[04] McTague, C., & Jakubowski, S. (2013). Marching to the beat of a silent drum: Wasted consensus-building and failed neighborhood participatory planning. Applied Geography, 44(Supplement C), 182-191. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2013.07.019.

[05] Woodard, C. (2016). How Cincinnati Salvaged the Nation's Most Dangerous Neighborhood. Retrieved from Politico Magazine: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/what-works-cincinnati-ohio-over-the-rhine-crime-neighborhood-turnaround-city-urban-revitalization-213969.

[06] Madden D. & Marcuse P. (2016) Introduction: The residential is political. In Defense of Housing, (p. 1-13). Verso Books.

[07] Aranibar, C., Henderson, F., Martin, A., Rocco, E., Rose, C., Ray Rubel, L., Stevenson, E., et. al. (2013). Over-the-Rhine History. Retrieved from Cincy.com: http://cincy.com/home/neighborhoods/parms/1/hood/over-the-rhine/page/history.html.

[08] Ibid.

[09] McTague, C., & Jakubowski, S. (2013). Marching to the beat of a silent drum: Wasted consensus-building and failed neighborhood participatory planning. Applied Geography, 44(Supplement C), 182-191. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2013.07.019.

[10] Department of Planning and Buildings. (2012, April). Over-the-Rhine Statistical Neighborhood Approximations. Retrieved from City of Cincinnati: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/linkservid/B5547015-A0F1-CB62-3D788CC10EA7C3BD/showMeta/0/.

[11] McTague, C., & Jakubowski, S. (2013). Marching to the beat of a silent drum: Wasted consensus-building and failed neighborhood participatory planning. Applied Geography, 44(Supplement C), 182-191. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2013.07.019.

[12] Ibid; Woodard, C. (2016). How Cincinnati Salvaged the Nation's Most Dangerous Neighborhood. Retrieved from Politico Magazine: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/what-works-cincinnati-ohio-over-the-rhine-crime-neighborhood-turnaround-city-urban-revitalization-213969.

[13] Ibid. (Woodard).

[14] Community Building Institute. (2016). OTR/Pendleton 2015 Housing Inventory [PDF document]. Retrieved from Community Building Institute: http://otrcommunitycouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/OTR-Housing-Inventory-Presentation-1-21-2016.pdf.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Seitz, A. (2017). OTR, Downtown developers cash in on city's property tax deals. Retrieved from WCPO Cincinnati: http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/otr-downtown-developers-cash-in-on-citys-property-tax-deals.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Department of Planning and Buildings. (2012, April). Over-the-Rhine Statistical Neighborhood Approximations. Retrieved from City of Cincinnati: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/linkservid/B5547015-A0F1-CB62-3D788CC10EA7C3BD/showMeta/0/.

[19] Ibid.

[20] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2017). Mixed-Use, Mixed-Income Redevelopment in Cincinnati. Retrieved from PD&R Edge: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_inpractice_030915.html.

[21] Community Building Institute. (2016). OTR/Pendleton 2015 Housing Inventory [PDF document]. Retrieved from Community Building Institute: http://otrcommunitycouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/OTR-Housing-Inventory-Presentation-1-21-2016.pdf.

[22] Department of Planning and Buildings. (2012, April). Over-the-Rhine Statistical Neighborhood Approximations. Retrieved from City of Cincinnati: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/linkservid/B5547015-A0F1-CB62-3D788CC10EA7C3BD/showMeta/0/.

[23] U.S. Census. (2017). Percent Change in Median Gross Rent. 2006-2010 and 2011-2015. Retrieved from PolicyMap: https://umich-policymap-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/maps. Accessed: November 9, 2017.

[24] Ibid.

[25] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2017). Mixed-Use, Mixed-Income Redevelopment in Cincinnati. Retrieved from PD&R Edge: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_inpractice_030915.html.

[26] Swartsell, N. (2017). Neighborhood groups are still fighting for a say in a proposed new development at Liberty and Elm. Retrieved from CityBeat: http://www.citybeat.com/news/news-feature/article/20860152/contested-crossroads.

[27] Ibid.

[28] Department of Planning and Buildings. (2012, April). Over-the-Rhine Statistical Neighborhood Approximations. Retrieved from City of Cincinnati: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/linkservid/B5547015-A0F1-CB62-3D788CC10EA7C3BD/showMeta/0/.

[29] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2017). Mixed-Use, Mixed-Income Redevelopment in Cincinnati. Retrieved from PD&R Edge: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_inpractice_030915.html.

Swartsell, N. (2017). Neighborhood groups are still fighting for a say in a proposed new development at Liberty and Elm. Retrieved from CityBeat: http://www.citybeat.com/news/news-feature/article/20860152/contested-crossroads.

[30] Downtown Cincinnati Incorporated. (2016). The State of Downtown: The Progress of Downtown Cincinnati in 2016. Retrieved from http://www.downtowncincinnati.com/docs/default-source/Stakeholder-Docs/2017-sod.pdf?sfvrsn=2.

[31] Rose, K., & Lin, M. (2015). A Roadmap Toward Equity: Housing Solutions for Oakland, California. Retrieved from http://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/pl-report-oak-housing-070715.pdf

[32] Ibid.

[33] Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition. (2017). Retrieved from Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition: http://www.ohcc-ccso.ca/en

[34] Smith, R. (2015). 3CDC in Over-the-Rhine: Between Two Worlds. Retrieved from Cincinnati Magazine: http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/citywiseblog/3cdc-in-over-the-rhine-between-two-worlds/.

[35] Ibid.

[36] Over-the-Rhine Community Council. (2002). Over-the-Rhine Comprehensive Plan. Retrieved from: https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/assets/File/2002_otr_comprehensive_plan.pdf.

[37] Kaplan, R. M., Patterson, T. L., Kerner, D., Grant, I., & HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center. (1997). Social Support: Cause of Consequence of Poor Health Outcomes in Men with HIV. In Sourcebook of Social Support and Personality (pp. 279-297). New York: Plenum Press.

[38] Smith, R. (2015). 3CDC in Over-the-Rhine: Between Two Worlds. Retrieved from Cincinnati Magazine: http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/citywiseblog/3cdc-in-over-the-rhine-between-two-worlds/.

Cover Image Source: Mark Peterson/Redux Pictures for Politico Magazine

All figures created by Brianne Brenneman

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Gentrification Disguised As Urban Revitalization - AGORA

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Economic development too often becomes a large-scale balancing act. On the one hand, communities wish to invite wealthy investors, developers, and young professionals to bring the resources that they offer in order to improve quality of life and public services. On the other hand, such development c

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