For Power U, gentrification is when high-income families are ushered into low-income neighborhoods, push property values up and take over existing properties to a point where the original residents can no longer afford to live there- and are displaced. When a community is invested in in a way that allows residents' income to keep pace with rising values and minimizes displacement we consider this community development.
Miami experienced one of the greatest real estate booms in the country since 2000. It has one of the highest gaps between increase in median price for real estate and increase in income. This same is true for rents. The vast majority of new housing during the boom, and even today during the real estate crisis, is high-end luxury housing. The City of Miami Mayor prioritized a plan to develop the entire downtown area and attract upper-middle income and wealthy young professionals to reside in the downtown core. Not only is this resulting in the displacement of longstanding residents, who have endured decades of neglect, but it changes the entire social character of the neighborhoods. Neighborhoods which are predominantly Black will most certainly no longer be so after gentrification.
Overtown is one of Miami's oldest communities and was first known as Colored Town, since Jim Crow laws forbade the mixing of races when workers first arrived. It was home to the Black workers who built Miami's railroad, homes, hotels, businesses, roads, and entertainment industry. By the time the interstate project was proposed in that area in the 1960's, Overtown had Black millionaires as residents and homeowners, and was full of families. Residents had a strong civic commitment that kept them independent from White and growing Cuban power. Overtown was nicknamed the Harlem of the South. But that soon began to fade with the construction of I-95 through the heart of Overtown and the resulting displacement of 20,000 residents, roughly half the total community. Today there are approximately 8,000 residents, 90% of whom are renters. Unemployment rates are above average, the majority of males have had their right to vote taken away, and the median income in under $15,000/year. While the remaining residents have watched their neighborhood decline, their civic commitment and will to fight for a better community has only increased.
Power U has worked with Overtown residents to fight several high-end housing projects that would have displaced a significant number of residents. This fight can be especially challenging because sometimes the effects of a housing project are indirect, and harder to prove. This has been the case with the City of Miami's endorsement of Croswinds development proposal for an empty lot of public land. Although there are no residents being displaced from that piece of land (they were already displaced in the 1970's when new housing was initially promised), the mere prospect of a luxury high-rise resulted in:
Public housing that already exists is held vacant by the authorities as a tactic for encouraging “undesirablesâ€Â? to move out and make way for wealthier families. Slum lords, either in collusion with local housing agencies, or in hopes of getting rich quick by selling their land, allow building conditions to become so dangerous that residents have no choice but to leave. In other cases residents are taken advantage of and deals to convert ownership are made. Town Park in Overtown is an example of both these challenges. A gas explosion destroyed and damaged two buildings, and continued gas leaks further threaten the health and safety of the residents. At the same time, the Board is quietly taking steps to convert to condos and trying to block residents from organizing against this.
This is where Power U comes in. Residents of Overtown have the will and desire to work together for a better community, but lack the tools to do so. Our work is aimed at building an organizing base of low-income, inner city residents around urban development issues. Whether it's fighting for low-income housing, tenant rights, safer housing, or safer streets, Power U provides community members with the tools, skills, and confidence to organize around the issues that matter to them and advocate for their interests. The residents are Overtown are not against economic development of their neighborhood- they just want to be a part of that vision for a global city of the South and they want that development to serve their needs.