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I think the Connector that broke up Sweet Auburn is the worst offender for Atlanta in this regard.
Don’t forget Freedom Parkway, which was a “planned” freeway that never made it that goes through Sweet Auburn. The idea for that freeway was to connect with the GA-400 in Lindbergh, can you imagine? It would’ve utterly destroyed some of Atlanta’s best inner ring neighborhoods. Unfortunately it didn’t stop the spaghetti junction of it being built with the connector though in Sweet Auburn
I mean also, most people don’t want to go to African American neighborhoods when they visit a city to know what there or not. Harlem is in the capital of the human world, Manhattan. So it’s famous.
I mean also, most people don’t want to go to African American neighborhoods when they visit a city to know what there or not. Harlem is in the capital of the human world, Manhattan. So it’s famous.
Yeah but most "african american" neighborhoods arent nearly as urban as they were 60 years ago. There were full neighborhoods in 30+ cities that looked similar to Harlem or Bronzeville. When they were razed, so was a lot of the culture.
Even Roxbury looks very different than it did in 1950.
Yeah but most "african american" neighborhoods arent nearly as urban as they were 60 years ago. There were full neighborhoods in 30+ cities that looked similar to Harlem or Bronzeville. When they were razed, so was a lot of the culture.
Even Roxbury looks very different than it did in 1950.
I think we’ve covered that, my point still stands. What vibrant African American neighborhoods there are Remaining are not really visited. Like Madison-East End and Ellwood here in Baltimore would qualify. But who’s coming there if they can just visit Canton or fells point?
I think we’ve covered that, my point still stands. What vibrant African American neighborhoods there are Remaining are not really visited. Like Madison-East End and Ellwood here in Baltimore would qualify. But who’s coming there if they can just visit Canton or fells point?
I think we’ve covered that, my point still stands. What vibrant African American neighborhoods there are Remaining are not really visited. Like Madison-East End and Ellwood here in Baltimore would qualify. But who’s coming there if they can just visit Canton or fells point?
I am not sure I would still call it vibrant, but the Treme in New Orleans is visited more than people know.
St Louis cemetery is a top spot for visitors (although it has cooled off in recent years due to the guided tours requirementto reduce vandalism) and it is in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans.
Louis Armstrong Park is a spot I visit every trip to the New Orleans. After a stroll through the quarter it is nice to decompress in the Park which is in Treme.
Tourists also flock to the Treme to eat but again, majority doesn't know it is a historic black neighborhood. Willie Mae's in the Treme for example usually has lines wrapped around the outside of the building.
I think one of the biggest loses for New Orleans was the destruction of the District in Treme. The District is probably better known as Storyville. It was the red light District of New Orleans and was completely destroyed. It was a bustling area with beautiful architecture.
In terms of culture, the Treme has had a longer run than Harlem. It's roots go back to the 1700s. Towards the end of that century the neighborhood started forming into a place for free people of color. The area around Congo Square was the town center and people would gather there for celebrations and to sell goods. It was the epicenter for black music. Jazz was developed there and City Blues was refined there.
If New Orleans had:
1. Continued to prosper
2. The Highway has not been built right through Treme
3. Storyville had not been torn down to build projects...
then Treme could have given Harlem a run for its money.
There's similar stories across the south, but the lost culture and history of the Treme was definitely on Harlem's level
For decades urban was synonymous with black neighborhoods. POC lived in the cities while white people had fled to the burbs. Mainly business CBDs developed in the core of cities and to get to them from the burbs highways cut right through black neighborhoods creating blight and stigma for these neighborhoods. When black people made it they quickly got out of there. The flight of the black middle class blighted the areas even more and the stigma grew.
Inner cities have been making a resurgence the last 3 decades, but they are not going to have the cultural vibe that they did 80 years ago. These new neighborhoods are a lot more integrated. Good luck trying to create a vibrant majority black neighborhood nowadays. Up and coming dense black neighborhoods might only be possible in places like Atlanta, but even then, Atlanta is already ton more diverse than it was 30 years ago and it is getting even more so.
You think cities are going to come in to these blighted neighborhoods, build them back up and then say it's just for the black folks? Why do you think people have it in their head that gentrification means white folks moving into the neighborhood? It's because when it gets fixed up that's usually what is happening. Black professionals will move anywhere white professionals move to and vice versa. You fix it up and becomes attractive for everyone.
I agree with the general flow of comments. There were many neighborhoods that gave off the Harlem vibe but most were destroyed. On one hand it is sad because of what was lost in terms of architecture, but on the otherhand I like integrated neighborhoods.
I don’t agree. If DC can do it, other cities can too. All the new construction market rate buildings east of the river in DC in Ward 7 and 8 are being rented by Black professionals.
As for Atlanta, the city should be able to build dense Black neighborhoods, but there aren’t any market rate buildings being built in Black neighborhoods far from the urban core where the Black majority is still 80% - 90%. To your point, the neighborhoods seeing dense housing in Atlanta are mixed and aren’t attracting a predominantly Black clientele. This may have to do with Black people coming to Atlanta for the suburban single family home dream versus urban lifestyle.
I think cities like Atlanta and others around America should focus on building Black neighborhoods far from the pressure of gentrification.
Last edited by MDAllstar; 12-18-2022 at 12:37 PM..
I don’t agree. If DC can do it, other cities can too. All the new construction market rate buildings east of the river in DC in Ward 7 and 8 are being rented by Black professionals.
As for Atlanta, the city should be able to build dense Black neighborhoods, but there aren’t any market rate buildings being built in Black neighborhoods far from the urban core where the Black majority is still 80% - 90%. To your point, the neighborhoods seeing dense housing in Atlanta are mixed and aren’t attracting a predominantly Black clientele. This may have to do with Black people coming to Atlanta for the suburban single family home dream versus urban lifestyle.
I think cities like Atlanta and others around America should focus on building Black neighborhoods far from the pressure of gentrification.
You are free to disagree, but facts are facts. You think metros like LA, Phoenix, Houston, SF, Dallas, Tampa, Miami.... that are less than 25% Black are ask if a sudden going to build nice upper class neighborhoods and only blacks are going to move there?
Step outside DC, Memphis, Atlanta and the few other chocolate cities and step into the real world. It ain't going to happen. A majority black area building a black neighborhood is one thing, a metro that is less than a quarter black in this day and age isn't going to build any such inner city neighborhood
You are free to disagree, but facts are facts. You think metros like LA, Phoenix, Houston, SF, Dallas, Tampa, Miami.... that are less than 25% Black are ask if a sudden going to build nice upper class neighborhoods and only blacks are going to move there?
Step outside DC, Memphis, Atlanta and the few other chocolate cities and step into the real world. It ain't going to happen. A majority black area building a black neighborhood is one thing, a metro that is less than a quarter black in this day and age isn't going to build any such inner city neighborhood
I can see your point, but facts aren’t facts because you can’t provide a factual example (outside of DC) where market rate luxury buildings are under construction outside of the urban core in predominantly 80% - 90% Black neighborhoods in city limits. The reason DC is the only example of this is because cities have to throw the kitchen sink at building market rate housing in low income census tract neighborhoods because those buildings can’t be financed without heavy subsidy from the city. Yes, I’m saying cities should subsidize market rate housing deep in Black neighborhoods so Black professionals have new and adequate housing options in neighborhoods where the people around them actually look like them.
I can guarantee you that if cities did that, Black people would live in those buildings. That is the answer, but do these cities have the political will to get it done? That’s the question we need to answer. Will they float (TIF) bonds and did they designate those census tracts as opportunity zones? Will they move city government agencies outside of downtown and into those Black neighborhoods to provide the needed anchor to make those developments pencil out providing daytime foot traffic to make retail viable? Will they use city taxes to subsidize Black restaurant owners so they can open new concepts in those Black corridors?
That is how cities can recreate Harlem.
Last edited by MDAllstar; 12-18-2022 at 01:44 PM..
You are free to disagree, but facts are facts. You think metros like LA, Phoenix, Houston, SF, Dallas, Tampa, Miami.... that are less than 25% Black are ask if a sudden going to build nice upper class neighborhoods and only blacks are going to move there?
Step outside DC, Memphis, Atlanta and the few other chocolate cities and step into the real world. It ain't going to happen. A majority black area building a black neighborhood is one thing, a metro that is less than a quarter black in this day and age isn't going to build any such inner city neighborhood
I commented on the Black rental market to create a Harlem. Here is the Black homeownership piece to create Harlem. We shouldn’t let people tell us we can’t! We can!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MDAllstar
Major news out of DC today regarding increasing Black homeownership in the city. The initial fund was given $10 million in this years budget. The annual amount earmarked for the fund is unknown at this time. Based on the $1 billion put towards multi-family affordable housing over the last 2-years, I'm sure the annual amount will increase well beyond $10 million per year. That is especially true with a goal to get 20,000 new Black homeowners by 2030 in DC proper.
"At the beginning of the summer, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) launched the Black Homeownership Strike Force (BHSF) in order to address homeownership disparities across the city.
Among the goals of this group were to provide recommendations for how a $10 million homeownership fund could be used to create 20,000 new Black homeowners in DC by 2030."
"Leverage the homeownership fund to create a public/private fund where 1/3 of the units are affordable, 1/3 of units are for middle income earners, and 1/3 of units are market rate and sold to Black owner-occupant homebuyers."
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