Yep. It's already happened. Urban Resurrection of West Coconut Grove, Miami has their website ALL in Spanish. Guess that's good motivation to get the ball rollin' on my language training.
If you want to check out their website, it can be found here http://www.urez.org/web1/index.html
Monday, February 22, 2010
They Paved Paradise, and Put Up a Parking Lot
Except, It's interstate 95. My internship host sent me some resources to learn more about the communities I'll be working in this summer. One of those communities is Overtown. Overtown started as a segregation community in the 1890s. It grew into a very well developed area with thriving businesses owned by the residents of Overtown. By the 1950's, Overtown reached it's peak. Over 40,000 members of the population and 318 established businesses were there.
In 1965, an "urban renewal" project constructed interstate 95 and State Highway 836 right through the heart of Overtown. This unfortunate addition to Overtown caused a lot of displacement and cut the population in half. Many churches and businesses closed including the Lyric Theater, the pride and joy of the Overtown community that once featured Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and Aretha Franklin.
Now, 51% of the population live in poverty. The median household income is $11,314. There are only 41 businesses. The part of Overtown that is under the highways is completely abandoned. The homeownership rate is 3% (the national average: 60%). I looked it up on Google Maps and sure enough, the view was from the center lane of the highway. I saw nothing but cars and some of the downtown skyline.
The economist in me wanted more statistics. I wanted graphs of this. What was the supply and demand like before and after the highways were built for Overtown? For the rest of Miami? Were the opportunity costs that low that they were fine with building through this community?
The Community Developer in me wanted to see what organizations, churches, and individuals did to try and prevent this and see what they're doing now to get the city back on it's feet (which is basically my internship).
But the most dramatic reaction was in my heart. I'm excited to hear the stories of redemption going on in Overtown.
For more info. on Overtown and Touching Miami with Love (the community development organization there) go to http://www.touchingmiamiwithlove.org/pages/overtown.html
In 1965, an "urban renewal" project constructed interstate 95 and State Highway 836 right through the heart of Overtown. This unfortunate addition to Overtown caused a lot of displacement and cut the population in half. Many churches and businesses closed including the Lyric Theater, the pride and joy of the Overtown community that once featured Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and Aretha Franklin.
Now, 51% of the population live in poverty. The median household income is $11,314. There are only 41 businesses. The part of Overtown that is under the highways is completely abandoned. The homeownership rate is 3% (the national average: 60%). I looked it up on Google Maps and sure enough, the view was from the center lane of the highway. I saw nothing but cars and some of the downtown skyline.
The economist in me wanted more statistics. I wanted graphs of this. What was the supply and demand like before and after the highways were built for Overtown? For the rest of Miami? Were the opportunity costs that low that they were fine with building through this community?
The Community Developer in me wanted to see what organizations, churches, and individuals did to try and prevent this and see what they're doing now to get the city back on it's feet (which is basically my internship).
But the most dramatic reaction was in my heart. I'm excited to hear the stories of redemption going on in Overtown.
For more info. on Overtown and Touching Miami with Love (the community development organization there) go to http://www.touchingmiamiwithlove.org/pages/overtown.html
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