Friction Grows In Transitioning Providence Neighborhoods

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle

 

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Data: Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity BLUE: Net Change in Number of Low Income Persons of more than 1,000

Are transitioning Providence neighborhoods a sign of economic progress -- or the displacement of minority and lower income residents who can no longer afford to live in their own neighborhoods?

Multiple neighborhoods in Providence are in transition — long-time poorer residents are being displaced by investors and new residents looking to take advantage of the city's increasing housing prices. As of March 2019, "the average rent for an apartment in Providence is $1,963 which is an 11.92% increase from last year when the average rent was $1,729," according to the real estate website Rent Jungle.

The transition is taking place at a number of neighborhoods including the West End, Summit neighborhood on the East Side, according to data. Today, the West End is home to top-ranked restaurants and condos.

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In the West End, gentrification is turning into a battle over the future of the neighborhood and has even led to the picketing at Sunday church services.

“[Gentrification] is a net negative. It's a net positive for those who can afford it. A lot of people living in the suburbs and working in the city, they don't want to travel from way out. So a lot of these places, these apartments are being turned into condos,” says Suzette Cook, a Providence resident who lives on Elmwood Avenue -- and has been a vocal critic of the proposed arrangement to put the proposed Wangari Maathai public charter school at the historic John Hope Settlement House. 

Data compiled by the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity at the University of Minnesota’s Law School looked at an analysis across the United States and found a number of Providence neighborhoods in transition. The data tracked census data from 2000 to 2016.

The group defines the change as “Displacement tracts are those showing strong economic expansion and a net decline in low-income population. Concentration tracts are those showing strong economic decline and a net increase in low-income population.”

 

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Providence Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris

John Hope is the Flash Point

Community members in the West End of Providence have been expressing concerns over a new charter school going into the location of the John Hope Settlement House -- and as GoLocalProv reported, circulated a petition demanding more answers from the board of John Hope. John Hope had been a century community organization providing services primarily to lower income residents. Over the past five years, the non-profit has been hit with multiple controversies including financial mismanagement and political infighting.

Providence City Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris said the petition -- 'The Selling Out of John Hope -- was started after a community meeting at John Hope regarding the interest from the Wangari Maathai Community School to be housed there prompted more questions from the community about the potential arrangement. 

Harris, who represents the West End including the area of the John Hope Settlement House tells GoLocal that the change is creating tension.

“The way they came down Westminster is part of what we've seen," said Harris, of Wangari Maathai eyeing John Hope for the location of its proposed charter school. "People are getting pushed out. The cost of housing, with inflation -- people can't keep up."

"[The community] made this clear at the last meeting that this is gentrification," said Harris. "They called it out by name at the meeting. It's real. This is what we are seeing."

Providence is already tagged as one of the most unaffordable cities in the country.

“They're making them look nice -- but they know how to build up these properties. And to rent them, you have to have first-month, last month and a good background check -- a good credit check. And for the rents -- you may as well buy a house. They're pushing people out 'cause they're tired of traveling. And Massachusetts is relocating here because their cost of living is insane,” said Cook.

Picketing Church Services

The issue has become highly divisive. The location of the Wangari Maathai charter school in John Hope has led to the picketing of the board chair outside of her chair.

“We picketed [John Hope board chair] Jameela [Dunston's] church this weekend, there were 20 of us out there at the [African Methodist Episcopal] Church on Bellevue. And we'll be there on the first Sunday of the month. She stated how she felt -- that this is my place of worship,” said Cook.

Efforts to reach Dunston were unsuccessful.

 

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Aaron Renn, Manhattan Institute

A Changing City

Aaron Renn of the Manhattan Institute says that the transformation of neighborhoods is a part of the natural progression of cities on the upswing.

“Gentrification is a loaded and pejorative term. It's better to specify exactly what conditions you mean when using the term. The biggest problems we have today in terms of neighborhood geography are segregation (racial and income) and increasing concentrations of poverty,” said Renn.

“Addressing these conditions will require greater intermixing of people. This can mean poorer or minority residents moving into affluent areas. Or it can mean more affluent people or whites moving into lower income neighborhoods.  If no affluent people ever move into low-income neighborhoods, then segregation will persist,” said Renn.

 

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