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Archive | Urban Renewal

July 25, 2023

Federal Funds Now Devoted to Help Undo the Damage to Black Neighborhoods by Urban Renewal

We have previously written how Urban Renewal brought under the Federal Housing Act of 1949 authorized cities to use the power of eminent domain to clear “blighted neighborhoods” for “higher use.”  (See “Urban Renewal, An Assault on Black Neighborhoods, New York Law Journal, February 24, 2023.) African Americans, who were 12% of the population in the US, were five times more likely to be displaced than they should have been given their numbers in the population.  In city after city, highways that were built to appease white suburban commuters, and… read more

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Posted in Blight, Eminent Domain, Urban Renewal
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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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February 16, 2023

The Poppleton Area of Baltimore Still Suffering from Eminent Domain Policies

Former residents of the Poppleton neighborhood of Baltimore filed a Complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing against Baltimore City. According to a report published in NPR, the administrative complaint filed against the city, its Mayor Brandon Scott and Baltimore City Council alleges that the city violated the federal Fair Housing Act. That federal law prohibits individuals from being discriminated against when renting or buying a home, seeking a mortgage, housing assistance and other such activities, according to HUD.  Individuals are protected against discrimination of race, color, national origin, religion,… read more

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Posted in Eminent Domain, Racial Bias, Urban Renewal
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February 9, 2023

Urban Renewal, An Assault on Black Neighborhoods

The Federal Housing Act of 1949, which was in effect from 1949 through 1973, authorized cities to use the power of eminent domain to clear “blighted neighborhoods” for “higher use.”  According to an excellent paper published by the Institute for Justice, “Eminent Domain and African Americans,” written by Mindy Thomson Fillilove, MD, in 24 years, 2,532 projects were carried out in 992 cities that displaced one million people, two-thirds of them African American. African Americans, who were 12% of the population in the US, were five times more likely to… read more

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Posted in Blight, Eminent Domain, Racism in Urban Planning, Urban Renewal
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