If only good intentions mattered, human history might have been very different. If only good will was the deciding factor in the affairs of life, the outcome of our actions might always be positive. 

The sad truth is that however noble our motivations may be, that just may not cut it: wrongs are often committed out of ignorance.

The tales of urban redevelopment change from city to city, but tonight I have read a grim one that has made me rethink the renewal of Clay and the other public housing units of Annapolis.

In the current issue of The Atlantic (VOLUME 301 NO. 6 | JULY/AUGUST 2008) I have read a truly disheartening article about what went wrong with the redevelopment of downtown Memphis, and believe this article to be required reading for anyone who is involved in the redevelopment projects that will reshape Annapolis.

The article began as an investigation as to why Memphis, of all cities, topped the national ranking of violent crime. The author met with criminologists that had been conducting the same investigation for some years and had found an answer:

But it’s a dismal answer, one that city leaders have made clear they don’t want to hear. […] Ultimately, it reaches beyond crime and implicates one of the most ambitious antipoverty programs of recent decades.

When I read that line my heart sank. In a way I knew what they were talking about before moving past the introduction. The Memphis downtown cooled off following redevelopment, and suddenly, after a brief lull in crime, the outer lying areas exploded in a crime epidemic. But the explanation is eye opening.

The story begins in 1997, when Memphis demolished its first project and began handing out Section8 vouchers so that residents could move out of the “ghetto” and mix into the wider metro areas in an attempt to break the cycle of poverty and give families a middle-class lifestyle. It was, like the other noble antipoverty programs in the country, inspired by the 1977 Gautreaux program which by 1991 had demonstrated that carefully screened and carefully placed families could break out of poverty simply by relocating them to areas with lower poverty rates and better schools. This got waves of media attention and by 1992 was the new quick fix to the poverty problem. Long story short, housing projects around the country were introduced to large wrecking balls.

The Memphis story becomes Annapolis’ in 2006 when the Dixie Homes housing project is demolished and families are given vouchers. Many of them move to Springdale Creek Apartments. In less than two years Springdale loses its charm and begins to look like Dixie. The relocation actually pushes several neighborhoods passed the “tipping point […] beyond which crime explodes and other severe social problems set in”.

George Galster, of Wayne State University […]in his paper (”A Cautionary Tale”) compares two scenarios: a city split into high-poverty and low-poverty areas, and a city dominated by median-poverty ones. The latter arrangement is likely to produce more bad neighborhoods and more total crime, he concludes, based on a computer model of how social dysfunction spreads. […] In 2003, the Brookings Institution published a list of the 15 cities where the number of high-poverty neighborhoods had declined the most. In recent years, most of those cities have also shown up as among the most violent in the U.S., according to FBI data.

This theory is the foundation of much that comes later in the long article. The final six pages are even too powerful to summarize and anyone concerned with Annapolis (not only Clay) should read all of it carefully.

We might be embarking on a road already traveled several times by other cities, but that only now are able to access the disappointing results of so noble an effort. The stark division in housing prices will force those relocated to move not to low-poverty areas but to declining neighborhoods, and we will see tipping points reached in a couple of years from now.

Not that the project can’t work, but that the relocation must be done with the utmost care and support structure.

Physically redistributing the poor was probably necessary; generations of them were floundering in the high-rises. But instead of coaching them and then carefully spreading them out among many more-affluent neighborhoods, most cities gave them vouchers and told them to move in a rush, with no support.

If that is not possible the entire endeavor must be put on hold, until an alternate solution can be found. The issue here is not the redevelopment, but therelocation.       We must ensure that the glittery images of a revitalized downtown do not cloud the more important goals. We must require that the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis put forth a detailed plan as to how they will be placing these families evenly in low-poverty areas, even the ones who do not qualify to return to the redeveloped neighborhoods. We must ultimately remember that people are far more important than buildings. 

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Timmy Grins caught up with Immortal Technique one of the most revered MC’s in Hip Hop today. The subject of their conversation was the gentrification of Harlem, NY. Sprouting from there additional focus gets shed on the interesting crime patterns that seem to follow the dismantling of public housing…CAUTION SOME LANGUAGE MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR THOSE UNDER 18.

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WHEN:  4th Tuesdays of every Month
WHO:    Anyone who wants to help with Clay Street
WHAT:  A monthly gathering of like minded individuals in pursuit of making Clay Street a safer place to live, come one come all.  
WHERE:  Stanton Center Conference Room

*We ask that if you are new and learning about the Association, to please hold your questions till the end of the meeting.   

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WHAT:  Potluck Dinner
WHEN:  630pm to 830pm
WHERE: The corner of Clay and West Washington Street
WHO:  Anybody!

For questions and ideas please call Timm Grins 443.857.8775

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