Larry Short, developer of the student-oriented apartment complex Shortbread Lofts, is reaching out to residents of the Northside community and offering them jobs constructing the complex.
Shortbread Lofts should be commended for combining economic growth with community engagement.
It’s essential that the University and the town work together to make sure that the residents who call Chapel Hill home aren’t neglected when new businesses come to town.
Not only is Short publicly reaching out to the members of the Northside community for hiring opportunities, but qualified workers from that neighborhood will be given priority for available positions. Some jobs will last from six months to a year while others could go on longer.
Also, bringing a student-oriented housing complex to the downtown area might preserve the neighborhood, preventing homes that have historically been owned by Northside residents from being adapted into student rental housing.
There are many people who live in the Northside community who are either unemployed or underemployed. These job offers can make a difference in these people’s lives and their community.
However, Shortbread Lofts must not promise these opportunities to citizens and not follow through with them. Ignoring a community is bad, but lying to a community would be far worse.
