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Author Archive | Michael Rikon

March 21, 2023

We Don’t Care What the Stinking Pipeline Carries.

Remember the Keystone XL pipeline?  Welcome to the Summit pipeline.  Instead of oil, the pipeline would carry millions of tons of carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to be injected into underground rock formations rather than dispersed as pollutants in the air.  The 2,000 mile pipeline would carry carbon dioxide across five states to underground storage in North Dakota.  If built, it would be the largest carbon dioxide pipeline in the world. The idea behind the Summit pipeline is to take carbon dioxide from ethanol plants, where it is a byproduct… read more

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Posted in Carbon Dioxide Pipeline, Condemnation, Environment, Pipelines
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March 16, 2023

Racial Bias in Valuation of Residential Homes

We previously wrote an article in the New York Law Journal, “Diversity is Needed to End Racial Bias in Home Appraisals,” NYLJ December 27, 2022. We stated, the answer to appraisal bias on racial grounds is to expand opportunities for Black real estate professionals.  In a statement issued on September 20, 2020, the Appraisal Institute, the largest professional association of real estate appraisers reiterated its efforts to expand opportunities for aspiring appraisers to help combat bias in valuation. Less than 2 percent of appraisers identify as Black.  The appraisal industry… read more

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Posted in Racial Bias, Valuation
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March 9, 2023

Harris Neck, Georgia – Time to Return the Land

Harris Neck is located along the coast in the northeast corner of McIntosh County, Georgia.  It was once home to a prosperous and self-reliant community of 75 African American families.  It has been described as a stunningly beautiful 2,687 acres of meadows, freshwater ponds and marsh.  From the end of the Civil War until 1942, the community lived harmoniously with each other and their natural environment. According to an article written by Scott Reid in Change.org, “The people lived off the land, creeks, rivers and ocean, and they took their… read more

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Posted in Condemnation, Due Process, Fair Market Value, Racial Prejudice
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March 7, 2023

The Legacy of San Juan Hill – Not Pretty!

The New York Times ran a story by James Barron on February 15, 2023, “Before Lincoln Center, San Juan Hill was a Vibrant Black Community.” The article focused on an established and vibrant neighborhood that was razed for Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Seven thousand families and 800 businesses were displaced by urban renewal. The name of the neighborhood was thought to have been a tribute to the Black cavalry unit that fought in the battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War in 1898.  San Juan Hill was an… read more

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Posted in Blight, Condemnation, Racial Prejudice, Urban Renewal
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February 21, 2023

The Mere Mention of a Highway is Enough to Destroy a Neighborhood

An article written by Megan Kimble, “A Highway that Doesn’t Exist is Strangling a Black Neighborhood” published in Bloomberg.com describes what happened to the Allendale neighborhood in Shreveport, Louisiana. In my article, ‘Urban Renewal, An Assault on Black Neighborhoods,” to be published in the New York Law Journal on February 28, 2023, I spoke of how, “[i]n city after city, highways that were build to appease white suburban commuters, and enabled through white suburban commuters, and enabled through eminent domain and funds from the 1949 Housing Act and 1956 Interstate… read more

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Posted in Condemnation, Highways, Racial Prejudice in Urban Planning, Urban Renewal
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