Lift All Boats: An Argument for Progress without Displacement

Atlanta’s Westside community is the “final frontier” of revitalization at the core of the city. Collectively, English Avenue, Vine City, and the Washington Park neighborhoods are rich in single-family housing, public transit options, school buildings, and boast a strong African-American and civil rights history. These factors, coupled with its proximity to downtown and easy access to the upcoming BeltLine Westside Trail, make the west side an area ripe for development. Despite all of the assets, however, these communities face significant challenges such as high rates of vacant properties, unemployment, poverty, crime, and school closures. The history that created these circumstances is largely unknown but continues to define life for Westside residents in their struggles with development.

This area has been flooded with investments from the City of Atlanta, Invest Atlanta, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Atlanta BeltLine Inc., the Westside Future Fund and venture philanthropists. The contemporary question is the same as the query that was posed 50 years ago when Martin Luther King, Jr. was staging anti-poverty demonstrations there: Will investment be focused on projects that benefit existing residents or launch a new wave of urban renewal that ushers displacement and further marginalization? Will this wave of investment wash away generations of existing residents to make way for new communities? What can we learn from local history to inform current praxis?

In this critical moment the City of Atlanta has an opportunity to embrace challenged communities and promote progress coupled with good solid jobs, decent affordable housing, and quality education--genuine equality. In these historic neighborhoods, activists seek solutions that allow the tide of investment and development lift all boats.