Buy the block Pt.1
When we talk of combating gentrification, there is this impulse to say folks need to buy the block–from rappers and celebrities to everyday people on the come-up. I've been a victim of promoting this idea myself. You see, there's a push for people of color in the hood to become homeowners even when mortgages are above folks' means. As if buying the block was a one-shot solution to the illness of gentrification. Truthfully, "buying the block" has never been enough.
When gentrification is knocking at the door, it's not always hipsters and foreign implants moving into our neighborhoods and raising the rent. Often what affects us the most is happening in neighborhoods blocks away from where we live. It's the rezoning and rapid development of areas where we never even got the option to buy. We're referring to the closed-off waterfronts turned factories and docks–they're all now luxury buildings for those that can afford it.
We experience the ripple effect of hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into these new developments while the surrounding communities–our communities–are slowly maimed. It's not like skipping stones in a pond; it's like cannonballing into a kids-size pool where it's a tsunami for anybody standing idle nearby. It doesn't matter if you own on your block. You're still going to get wet. Once Construction begins, you get the never-ending traffic that comes with that, the hazardous air quality, and non-stop noise pollution. All of this comes with that.
People have been fighting for the betterment of the South Bronx independently for decades through poverty with little funds and resources. Buy back the block? Organizations like Banana Kelly did that in the 70s. We've been "buying the block" since it was burning. And if there's anything to learn, it's not enough. Ownership doesn't mean much when communities are disenfranchised and disengaged despite people owning. It doesn't mean much when the necessary resources to sustain and promote growth in these spaces don't exist. Sure, you can buy, but what good will that do if the entire community lives under the national poverty line and property value is low? How does ownership help mitigate the effects of rapid development when there isn't enough economic development in the region and residents are encouraged to leave the borough to make ends meet?
Housing security is needed but in a place like the South Bronx–it's just not enough. Food insecurity means families spend more on average on the limited food available compared to most other parts of the city. Poorly resourced schools and a lack of recreational spaces push us to spend much more outside our community than we do within the community. Think about this–there was a moment when zero bookstores existed within the Bronx. There is only one currently.
It's always "buy the block!" but what about when corporations pollute drinking water and governments block access to resources located outside our communities? When our public transport system fails and wars across the globe lead to high gas prices. Imagine surviving gentrification only to have your neighborhood garden fall apart due to the massive shadow cast over what was once a vibrant space for growing locally. What happens when a corporation like Fresh Direct opens a huge distribution site in a place like the south Bronx–where asthma rates are already high. Buying the block–even for those that can afford it–comes at a cost. Most of the time, the price is our survivability and sanity. If we make it, our culture doesn't.
I think about towns like Austin (Indiana) and others where manufacturing jobs allowed residents to own in their community only to see industries pull out and shut down completely. The folks in those communities bought the block–still, it wasn't enough. Even as an owner, the lack of economic development and growth in these towns encouraged the next generation to sell cheap and move elsewhere. It's not uncommon–we've also seen this here in NYC–in Harlem and neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy (Brooklyn) and Jamaica (Queens). Sometimes it's influenced by unemployment and private companies that employ locally pulling-out–other times, divestment or failed government projects such as the Cross Bronx Expressway are to blame. People lose hope, fall out of love with the community they once called home, and bounce. In other cases, they stay and fight, but it's never enough. Buying the block is just never enough.
