Developments on the Metropole?

Since I have been following the story of 3CDC's acquisition of the Metropole Apartments, few real developments have surfaced in the media. Though the project appears to be moving forward, I have noticed that 3CDC has removed any mention of the project from their website. Has something happened to the project that hasn't yet reached the media, or is 3CDC tired of defending its position on the highly-contentious issue? Given 3CDC's notorious secrecy it is difficult to discern what this means. Perhaps time will tell.

Cincinnati's streetcar a precursor of gentrification?

Today in my Urban Sustainability class, two gentlemen from the City of Cincinnati gave a presentation promoting plans for the proposed streetcar joining downtown, uptown, and OTR. I was surprised to hear substantial criticism from my classmates and professor, as mass transit is generally considered to be a step in the right direction for sustainability. My professor and teacher's-assistant both raised questions about the streetcar's potential for gentrification.

Without question, the streetcar would promote economic development around proposed rail lines. Should we then oppose the streetcar because it has the potential to raise property value and thus taxes for the lower income people that currently live along proposed lines?

Probably not.

The streetcar is an example of a neighborhood improvement that can raise the quality of life for both inner city residents and the middle-class individuals that may chose to visit or even move to the inner city. Aside from improving mobility, the streetcar could also court beneficial developments such as grocery stores to the inner city. Rather than to oppose the streetcar, it should be promoted, with the provision that safeguards be put in place to protect lower-income groups that live in areas with potential for gentrification.

The Cincinnati Enquirer: Gentrification Advocates?

On December 24, 2009, the Enquirer ran a story entitled “The Metropole Needs Work,” focusing on the building’s poor condition and history of crime. One of the protagonists of this story is Eddie Beamon, a former resident of the Metropole that is content with relocation. He states, “I appreciate everything (Brickstone) is doing for me. I've made a lot of friends here, but I'm going to a place with people more my age. I'll have a one-bedroom apartment of my own. That's going to give me a lot of peace of mind.” The article also features Cincinnati police chief Tom Streicher who calls the Metropole “an epicenter for the problems we have downtown.”

This article is clearly intended to undermine the efforts of the Homeless Coalition and the Metropole Tenant Association, by portraying the building as a deplorable residence. The Enquirer does not mention in this story that it has a vested interest in Cincinnati’s gentrification, as its president, Margaret E. Buchanan sits on the board of directors of 3CDC. The portrayal of the Metropole as an ‘epicenter of crime’ seems to fulfill Neil Smith’s ‘revanchist city’ thesis by suggesting that the space needs to be cleansed and returned to its rightful owners, the middle-class.

The Metropole Apartments: Gentrification Battleground

One of the most highly-publicized battlegrounds of gentrification today is certainly the Metropole Apartments. Located at 609 Walnut Street downtown, this historically significant building is directly adjacent to the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art and across the street from the Aronoff Center for the Arts. This area, now known as the Backstage District, has received extensive investment from its cultural institutions and from 3CDC. First built as a luxury hotel in 1912, the Metropole was converted into 225 federally-subsidized low-income rental units in 1971. Since this time, the Metropole Apartments have constituted a substantial portion of the project-based Section 8 units available downtown. On November 3, 2009, 3CDC purchased the Metropole Apartments from Showe Builders, Inc. for $6.25 million. The next day, a $48 million renovation was unveiled, transferring the Metropole to a world-class boutique hotel, a spin-off of the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville.

The residents of the Metropole have been given 12 months to relocate, and 3CDC has offered relocation services through Brickstone Properties. This grace period, required by federal law, is the tenants’ only legal claim to the building, as Showe’s contract with HUD expired in 1991. At the urging of Josh Spring and the Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, residents filed a fair housing complaint to HUD. Tensions peaked at a November 5^th confrontation between the Homeless Coalition and 3CDC at a scheduled tenant meeting.

A look at policy in Cincinnati

I recently read an article in Environment and Planning A about gentrification in Over-the-Rhine. I don't necessarily recommend the article - it's pretty dense - but I will outline its main point. The author, Jean-Paul Addie of York University (Toronto) claims that neoliberal urban policy favors businesses and property values over people, and encourages the displacement of urban poor through gentrification. He states

"Whilst the rhetoric of neoliberal doctrine presents an emancipatory urban imaginary based upon individual freedom and the beneficent role of free markets, the embedding of the policies discussed accentuates the political and economical disenfranchisement of the most marginalised neighbourhood inhabitants."

In English: we have policies in Cincinnati that claim to help the urban poor through free market capitalism, but these policies actually disadvantage/disenfranchise them. I find some of Addie's arguments debatable, but you can be the judge. This table (click on table to enlarge) outlines 3 policies that Addie attributes to gentrification/displacement in Over-the-Rhine:

Source:

Addie, Jean-Paul D. "The Rhetoric and Reality of Urban Policy in the Neoliberal City: Implications for Social Struggle in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati." Environment and Planning A, 2008: 2674-2692.

There Goes the 'Hood

Before publishing There Goes the 'Hood: Views of Gentrification from the Ground Up, Lance Freeman's most notable contribution to the field was an intriguing study debunking established belief that gentrification necessarily displaces disadvantaged households (Freeman and Braconi, 2004). Following this study, the mainstream media began to tout the benefits of gentrification: ie. USA Today's article "Studies: Gentrification A Boost for Everyone." Though the article provides a meaningful discussion on gentrification, it may allow people to flippantly conclude that gentrification is always good.

There Goes the 'Hood seeks to bring the discussion back to the oft-overlooked players in gentrification, the long-standing members of gentrifying communities. Through a series of informal but insightful interviews, Freeman tells the story of the 'incumbent residents.' His findings indicate that these groups are at once dubious and optimistic of the process; appreciative of the improvements but wary of looming displacement. Freeman suggests that gentrification can be beneficial if appropriate safeguards are put in place.

For more from Lance Freeman, check out this short interview on NPR.

What's in a Word?

Some of the disagreement about gentrification stems from a disagreement about its meaning. Here are a few alternate definitions from various sources:

Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard in a 2001 report for the Brookings Institution (a nonprofit, bipartisan Washington think tank):

the process of neighborhood change that results in the replacement of lower income residents with higher income ones (emphasis added)

Loretta Lees, Tom Slater, and Elvin Wyly in Gentrification (Routledge, 2008):

the transformation of a working-class or vacant area of the central city into middle-class residential and/or commercial use

Neil Smith, one of gentrification's foremost scholars and critics, in the Dictionary of Human Geography (2000):

the reinvestment of CAPITAL at the urban center, which is designed to produce space for a more affluent class of people than currently occupies that space (emphasis in original)

While these definitions are indeed very similar, there is an important difference. Kennedy and Leonard (Brookings Inst.) define gentrification as the 'replacement' (read 'displacement') of lower-income residents. On the other hand, the other definitions do not explicitly equate gentrification with displacement. Instead, displacement is seen as a frequent byproduct of gentrification.

It is difficult to take a stand on an issue that is defined so ambiguously. Therefore, further discussion on the topic will concentrate on the issue of equitable development, defined by Kennedy and Leonard as

the creation and maintenance of economically and socially diverse communities that are stable over the long term, through means that generate a minimum of transition costs that fall unfairly on lower income residents

This is certainly a concept that I can get behind, and I think most would agree, despite your political persuasions. This begs the question: is development in Cincinnati equitable? I will be revisiting this question through further posts. Stay tuned.