If You Build It, Will They Come? [Eater]
“On the far end of Braddock Avenue, Pittsburgh chef Kevin Sousa will open his new restaurant Superior Motors across from the (still barely operational) steel mill. He’s doing this with a lot of help: there’s John Fetterman, of course, but there’s also the support of more than two thousand friends and strangers who collectively donated over $300,000 on Kickstarter. And Superior Motors will be more than a restaurant: Sousa’s plans include a community discount, free lodging for employees, and a culinary job training program for Braddock residents.”
A Hip-Hip Crew’s Take On Old Detroit vs. the So-Called New Detroit [Mother Jones]
” I was down in Midtown when it was not as bustling as it is now. I was able to see firsthand some of the renewal efforts.” He’s talking about a neighborhood within the 7.2 square miles targeted for redevelopment. “So you kind of learn the terms for it: gentrification, urban renewal. Sometimes you don’t have the terms, you just have a feeling and it goes from, ‘Oh wow, look at all these cool places that I can go to!’ to hearing stories that feel a little bit darker, like about people getting evicted, either formally or just priced out because it was becoming *that type of place*.”
The Myth of Gentrification [Slate]
“Economists found no evidence that poor people moved out of gentrifying neighborhoods at a higher than normal rate.”
Toni Morrison: Segregation and Racism in Lorain, Ohio [VisionaryProject]
A video from 2010 linked in honor of Morrison receiving the Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle
