While most Atlanta residents remember the late Jovita Moore for her work in front of the camera as the long-standing news anchor on WSB-TV, Grant Park resident Atiba Mbiwan remembers her most for her work behind the scenes. Mbiwan said he met Moore in the early 2000s as the nonprofits that they both were affiliated […]
gentrification
Posted inCity Politics, Politics & Policy
Atlanta Lost Its Black Majority in 2020. Post 3 Candidates Discuss Solutions.
Battling gentrification was a key topic of discussion Tuesday night for the two runoff race candidates vying to fill Atlanta City Council’s Post 3 at-large vacancy, a race likely to impact affordability standards for Black Atlanta residents. Business owner Nicole Evans Jones, a former Atlanta Public Schools principal, and civil rights attorney Eshé Collins, who […]
Posted inHousing
Why Grove Park Residents Say This Housing Nonprofit Is Hurting Their Neighborhood
Grove Park residents are accusing a faith-based, affordable housing nonprofit of hindering Black homeownership in their community by buying up houses, refusing to sell them, and turning them into substandard apartments for rent. Grove Park Renewal’s stated mission is to “empower neighbors through quality, dignified housing.” Helping renters from the majority-Black, northwest Atlanta neighborhood become […]
Posted inHousing, Money
Can This Community Activist Get Rent Control on the Ballot?
Community activist Margie McLeod spent years watching gentrification spread across Atlanta before deciding to do something about it last year. The 75-year-old retired bus driver grew tired of seeing her neighbors in Cascade kicked out of their homes after landlords dramatically raised their rents. Rates in South Atlanta soared during the first half of 2022 […]
Posted inHousing, Money
The Next Chapter in the Battle Over Historically Black Peoplestown
The former home of Summerhill and Peoplestown legend Mattie King Ansley Jackson, who died two years ago at the age of 98, is like a museum now — full of pictures and memories that put a smile on the face of her adoring daughter, Sheryl Calhoun. Calhoun inherited the house in 2020, the year her […]
Posted inClimate, Environmental Justice
For Westside Residents, Fear of Gentrification Turns Lead Remediation Into ‘Two-Edged Sword’
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. Shade’ Jones did not want the Environmental Protection Agency to test for lead contamination in the soil under her rented home in Atlanta’s English Avenue community. To her, the cleanup cuts both ways: it makes the area a […]
Posted inClimate, Environmental Justice
In Atlanta, Work on a New EPA Superfund Site Leaves Black Neighborhoods Wary, Fearing Gentrification
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. As a little boy, Byron Amos often played with dark, volcanic-like rocks that he found among the lush greenery that drapes the houses and yards in Vine City and that makes the historically Black neighborhood worthy of its […]
Posted inHousing, Money
After Mayor’s Promise, Peoplestown Residents Still Not Sure Where They Stand
It’s been three months since Mayor Andre Dickens met with Black homeowners in Peoplestown and committed to resolving their years-long eminent domain saga within the first 100 days of his administration. That self-imposed deadline expired two weeks ago with Dickens reportedly telling members of the media that discussions are still ongoing. This week, two of […]
Posted inHousing, Money
A Renewed Hope for the Embattled Residents of Peoplestown
In the past decade, Robert and Bertha Darden have had numerous knocks on the door of their Peoplestown home by city officials. It usually meant bad news. But a recent knock at the door by one city official proved fruitful. It was Mayor Andre Dickens. He came alone. No entourage. No gaggle of media. Dickens […]