Community activists in Atlanta are standing up against gentrification and displacement. While there is nowhere in the United States that a minimum wage worker can afford a two bedroom apartment, capitalist society continues to push workers aside, while claiming improvement and growth. This is exemplified by the BeltLine project which is displacing working class Atlantans in the name of progress and development.
Atlanta has a racist, classist history in urban planning and development. In the 1960s and 1970s the development of our public transportation system, MARTA, was restrained due to the bigoted fears of wealthy white Atlantans. To this day it is difficult to get around to all parts of the city on this underdeveloped infrastructure.
The 1960s also brought a so-called “urban renewal” which saw the removal of grocery stores and hospitals from many communities, the echoes of this are felt today in the food deserts this “renewal” left behind. Neighborhoods were cleared to build stadiums unaffordable to the people displaced.
The Clinton era brought the destruction of public housing in Atlanta, which was the first city to build federal public housing in 1936. There is now an outstandingly bad shortage of public housing in the city. This is coupled with the fact that from 2012-2014, of the new rental units built, 95 percent were luxury units. This constitutes a two front attack on the housing of poor and working class Atlantans.
The geographic situation in Atlanta, having sprung up at the intersection of several rail lines instead of a body of water, means that we have a lot of old, unused railroads. The BeltLine is the idea to turn a 22 mile loop of this into a continuous string of connected parks, trails, and green spaces surrounding the center of the city. The idea itself has the potential to be a wonderful thing for all residents, but in reality it has so far played out quite differently.
To direct this project the Atlanta BeltLine Inc. was founded in 2005. It is a public-private partnership, this large presence of private monied interest has led their decisions to mostly benefit high-income individuals and commercial interests. They set a goal for themselves of building 5600 units of affordable housing, but halfway through the 25 year plan fewer than 1000 affordable units have been built. Many more than that have disappeared.
The ABI’s funding depends on rising property values over the development of the BeltLine, a built-in device to encourage gentrification. In the southwest section, where they haven’t yet broken ground on the BeltLine, sale prices for houses rose 68 percent from 2011-2015. Rising property values are causing increased rents for tenants and increased property taxes for homeowners, to the point of displacement. Predatory actors buy homes from people under economic stress and flip them, making the causes of economic stress worse for the rest of the neighborhood.
Tax funding for the BeltLine has been diverted from Atlanta Public Schools, and contrary to the plan, hasn’t been paid back. Not only are families paying the devastating social cost of their of communities being uprooted– their children’s education is suffering.
The Housing Justice League is a group of local activists determined to resist the forces of gentrification and displacement in Atlanta. In this report they describe in detail the issues surrounding the BeltLine and present the relevant data. Alison Johnson, an organizer with Housing Justice League told Liberation “It’s decimating our communities, the thought that nobody and no policies are here to protect folks is unconscionable, and Atlanta has to be conscious that you can’t continue to treat folks like this. If your slogan is the city too busy to hate, you better stop hatin’ and you better put some emphasis on respecting these communities and some better policies that protect folks who help built this city, or else not this city’s going to continue to crumble.”
In their report the Housing Justice League suggests policy changes to alleviate this situation, some of which are listed here.
- The city should reclaim vacant housing and make democratic land trusts to ensure permanently affordable housing
- The city should preserve existing affordable housing and build new ones.
- There needs to be inclusionary zoning such that each new development contains units affordable for the poorest residents.
- The city should fund research into the social impact of forced displacement.
- Repeal the law that makes rent control illegal in Georgia.
- Cap property taxes based on the income of the homeowner.
PSL Atlanta went with HJL on a guided bus tour of the BeltLine. The Atlanta BeltLine Partnership ran a disgusting three hour propaganda pitch wherein they touted the “affordability” of million dollar condos, spoke with pride of pushing out beloved community members and displayed a general lack of empathy for residents who won’t get to benefit from infrastructural improvements.
We must keep in mind that every statistic represents many stories of individual lives. Johnson shared one such story with Liberation: “My parents worked so hard to become homeowners and the thought of us not being able to create some generational wealth off of the hard work that my father put in with the city of Atlanta for over 30 years is unfathomable to me. This fight isn’t just about other folks. It’s about me and my mother, who’s a widow, it’s about me protecting our legacy, it’s about protecting her grandkids in these communities and the policies don’t support folks like my mother, who worked her entire life on minimum wages but managed to send kids to college. The return on her investment should be much more than her worried about when she’s gonna have to leave because of property taxes.”
Homes for All recently had a conference in Atlanta, with an action July 20 at Atlanta city hall. Delegates from the conference joined with local activists and organizers to gather on the steps of city hall, uniting their over 300 voices and demanding that the city of Atlanta live up to its promises to deliver affordable housing to its residents. With the crowd banging on bucket drums and displaying banners that read “Housing is a human right!” and “Development without displacement” as well as the hashtag #Beltline4All, several speakers drew attention to the key aspects of the housing crisis in Atlanta that is being exacerbated by the ongoing Beltline development project. The rally featured speakers from Southerners on New Ground, Housing Justice League, Georgia House District 56 Rep. Mable “Able” Thomas, and several local residents directly affected by the gentrification crisis.
In a statement released in conjunction with the rally, the Atlanta Housing Justice League said, “Atlanta is in crisis. Housing costs are on the rise and we are losing affordable units at a staggering rate. Between 2010 and 2014 Atlanta lost 5,300 low cost rental units. Meanwhile, 32,000 people are on the waiting list for public housing. The BeltLine, and its public sector partners and supporters — particularly the City of Atlanta and Fulton county — promised that 5,600 affordable units would be built as a part of the project. But almost halfway through its completion, fewer than 1,000 units have been built. Meanwhile, experts estimate that there is need for 10,400 affordable units in the Atlanta BeltLine area alone in the next decade. The BeltLine development is nearly half done, and its legacy is still up in the air. We are calling for Development without Displacement. It is unconscionable for a city with resources as great as Atlanta’s to stand by and allow the continued extraction of wealth from historically marginalized communities. The City must prioritize human rights and stop funding destructive mega developments with our tax dollars. Renters and low-income homeowners must receive more legal protections and support.”
After the powerful message delivered by the speakers, a small delegation delivered a list of demands to city representatives inside city hall while the rally outside took to the streets, marching and drumming and chanting around the city hall building, carrying slogans of development without displacement, housing is a human right, and imploring the city of Atlanta to make good on its promises to deliver enough affordable housing for all its residents who need it.
The alienation imposed by capitalism is increased by the destruction of communities due to gentrification. Everyone deserves housing stability. BeltLine for all!
Sign the petition to make the BeltLine for all Atlantans!
