Greenbridge has thrown our environmentally minded town into an existential crisis.
For many, the 10-story monolith jutting out of the Chapel Hill skyline promises a death sentence to the historically black neighborhood in its shadow, Northside, and the black-owned businesses that have thrived there for generations.
It is part of the inevitable tide of progress for some — and the green-washed froth of gentrification for others. We hear a lot about that dreaded “g” word, but not a lot about how it works.
First, government tax assessors determine how much to tax a property based on its market value. Then, when a development comes, the values of the surrounding properties increase, as do the taxes. The higher costs converts to higher rents that are easier for students to pay by splitting the rent among several wage earners, as opposed to one or two.
Developments like Greenbridge force nearby homeowners to sell and move away. This has been happening for years in Northside, as students move into single-family homes.
Sometimes it gets downright ugly; if a homeowner with a mortgage has to foreclose, someone else can assume the loan and push the old owner out. If you have a mortgage and lose your job, the economy sours or you were the victim of predatory lending, the bank can repossess your home and charge you a rent you cannot afford. You can find stories like these in my neighborhood, Pine Knolls, near the intersection of Cameron Street and Merritt Mill Road, another historically black neighborhood.
It is a bitterly cold process. But why begrudge the developer for buying land where it makes the most economic sense?
With every coming development, the livelihoods of hundreds of residents are put in jeopardy. The disruption in the community takes a toll on business long before it can reap the benefits of the potential new residents.
Essentially, the interests of the developer and those of the community it moves into are divorced from one another, if not completely opposed. An entrenched community represents an obstacle to lucrative opportunities down the road.
On the issue of gentrification, Tim Toben, a managing partner in Greenbridge Developments, has only spoken conciliatory words at best.
“Gentrification has already occurred there,” he said in his Aug. 5 column in the Chapel Hill News. “It is unfortunate, but true.”
In other words, don’t blame him for hammering the last nail in the coffin.
Gentrification hurts a community by turning a blind eye to the reality of systemic inequality, in which race, class and gender all play a role.
Tragically, the posters that say “Greenbridge is racist” and other acts of vandalism have freed the Greenbridge partners from having to address the actual problems they cause.
Those are the problems that ought to be fixed, not made worse, by “smart growth.”
Solar panels do not excuse pitting renters against homeowners and pushing people already hit hard by the recession to the brink. True progress is a reward only won in good conscience.
Domenic Powell is a senior history and international studies major from Huntersville. Contact Domenic at powelldr@email.unc.edu.
