Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2016 Expansion and Exclusion: A Case Study of Gentrification in Church Hill Kathryn S. Parkhurst Virginia Commonwealth University, parkhurstks@vcu.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarscompass.edu/etd Part of the Oral History Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons © The Author Downloaded from This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact libcompass@vcu.
Expansion and Exclusion: A Case Study of Gentrification in Church Hill A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. By Kathryn Schumann Parkhurst Bachelor of Arts, University of Virginia, 2009 Master of Teaching, University of Virginia, 2010 Director: Dr. Kneebone Associate Professor and Chair, Virginia Commonwealth University Department of History Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia May 2016 Table of Contents Abstract.4 Chapter 1: Renewal in Church Hill .9 Chapter 2: Revitalization in Church Hill .39 Chapter 3: Gentrification in Church Hill .94 2 Abstract EXPANSION AND EXCLUSION: A CASE STUDY OF GENTRIFICATION IN CHURCH HILL By Kathryn Schumann Parkhurst Bachelor of Arts, University of Virginia, 2009 Master of Teaching, University of Virginia, 2010 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2016 Major Director: Dr.
Kneebone Associate Professor and Chair, Virginia Commonwealth University Department of History This thesis explores the gentrification process in Church Hill, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia. After World War II, Richmond residents knew Church Hill mostly for its crime rate and dilapidated housing. The white, middle-class flight to the suburbs left the remaining residents, mostly African American, to experience decades of disinvestment. Church Hill was considered a neighborhood to avoid for much of the late twentieth century.
Yet, Church Hill is currently one of the most desired neighborhoods in Richmond, particularly for young professionals. This thesis seeks to explain the reasons why there has been such a dramatic change in the perception of Church Hill and whether revitalization can occur without causing gentrification. Chapter 1 explores the top-down efforts of the Historic Richmond Foundation, a non-profit organization, and the Model Neighborhood Program, a federal program. Chapter 2 explores revitalization efforts by various non-profits organizations as each tried to work with community members.
Chapter 3 explores the reasons why young professionals are moving into Church Hill and the impact of gentrification on the neighborhood. 3 Introduction A young, white person looking for a house in Richmond will almost certainly look in the neighborhood Church Hill in the eastern portion of Richmond. The namesake of the neighborhood is the iconic St. John’s Church where Patrick Henry gave his rousing “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech.
Gas street lamps line cobblestone streets that overlook the skyline of Richmond as well as the James River. Church Hill boasts one of the most scenic views in the entire city. In addition to history and scenery, some of the most popular restaurants in Richmond are at the fingertips of residents in Church Hill. In November 2014, the New York Times featured an article on several Church Hill restaurants; new bakeries, coffee shops, and restaurants are regularly springing up in the neighborhood.
Today, Church Hill is a largely desirable neighborhood to live in for its commercial businesses, walkability, history, and scenery; yet, these amenities are concentrated in the southern portion of the neighborhood. When white Richmonders use the term Church Hill they are likely picturing this portion of the neighborhood. Additionally, many white Richmonders use the terms Church Hill North, Upper Church Hill, or name the letter streets to designate a different part of Church Hill. Florine Allen recalled the demarcation all the way back to the early twentieth century: “Well, see white people lived after you cross M Street.
You hardly found any blacks. From M to Broad was all white.” 1 Almost one hundred years later, a young white couple looking to buy a house in Church Hill received warnings not to go past M street. 2 It would be easy to assume from this that the neighborhood has simply not changed over time; however, upon closer examination, Church Hill residents experienced a series of population shifts, beginning during the 1950s that permanently affected the shape of the neighborhood today. Allen, interviewed by Linda McGowen, n., transcript, Church Hill Oral History Collection, James Cabell Branch Library Special Collections, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
2 Stefan Kling, interviewed by Kathryn Parkhurst, February 22, 2016, Richmond, VA. 4 After World War II, Church Hill experienced a large out-migration as residents with resources, most of them whites, moved to suburban communities. As a result, Church Hill became a neighborhood with almost entirely low-income, African American residents. In 1956, a non-profit organization, the Historic Richmond Foundation, formed to restore the neighborhood surrounding St.
The word restore typically conveys a favorable connotation; yet, in this context restore also meant pushing out one group of people to allow room for another group. The Historic Richmond Foundation intentionally sought the removal of African American renters so that white renters could move into the restored houses on East Grace Street. The creation of a white, middle-class enclave within a blighted neighborhood is often referred to as gentrification. The expectation in a gentrified neighborhood is that over time more and more white middle-class residents will move into the neighborhood, causing all property values to rise.
Additionally, new amenities and services accompany the white residents, altering the native culture of the neighborhood. The Historic Richmond Foundation initially restored only one block; nevertheless, the HRF’s actions had multiple, lasting effects on the neighborhood. Rather than work on the entire Church Hill neighborhood, the Historic Richmond Foundation set its own boundary of what defined Church Hill, operated within that framework, and encouraged everyone else to adopt its boundary. To this day, the local geographic vernacular of Church Hill versus Church Hill North signifies a neighborhood divided by race, a division that can be traced to the Historic Richmond Foundation.
The first attempt by the city of Richmond to renew the “other” Church Hill was the Model Neighborhood Program in 1968. Church Hill received millions of dollars in funding from the federal government through President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty program. The Model Neighborhood Program tried to combat the many social ills in Church Hill at the time; 5 including, crime, unemployment, and dilapidated housing.
By 1974, when President Nixon ended the Model Neighborhood Program, Church Hill had virtually no improvements. The withdrawal of federal funds reinforced the steady decline of this part of Church Hill. Top-down urban renewal efforts gave way to a new revitalization movement that struggled to combat the growing stigma of the neighborhood. The shift from renewal by political elites in the 1950s and 1960s to community-driven revitalization efforts in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s promised improvements for more neighborhood residents through inclusive revitalization; yet, Church Hill did not experience a dramatic transformation.
In fact, conditions worsened to such an extent that the City sold some dilapidated houses for just one dollar. Various non-profit organizations proliferated each with a different angle on how to bring about change but ultimately all centered on restoring houses. The Church Hill Area Revitalization Team, Upper Church Hill Restoration Society, and the Better Housing Coalition all sought to ameliorate the blighted conditions of Church Hill. Each organization worked to help all residents of Church Hill, regardless of race.
Despite the good intentions of these non-profit organizations, Church Hill saw only slow improvements. Today though, Church Hill is considered a prime residential neighborhood for young professional. Is Church Hill now the ultimate neighborhood comeback story? After decades of crime, drugs, and dilapidated homes, how did such a dramatic transformation occur in Church Hill? Property values are up in the neighborhood, drugs and crime are down, and businesses are thriving. The dramatic success of Church Hill is due to gentrification, a process that can be traced to the Historic Richmond Foundation in 1956.
In the last decade, Church Hill has dramatically transformed. As crime decreased, the gentrified St. John’s Church area spread northward. The boundary on Broad Street shifted north, 6 first to Marshall Street and now to M Street.
Some predict it will eventually be at Nine Mile Road. Church Hill North is on the precipice of change, and many predict the entire neighborhood will be gentrified within ten years. Property values might rise so high that young professionals can no longer afford to live in Church Hill period. In fact, the Better Housing Coalition, a non- profit organization that builds affordable housing, has said its time in the neighborhood is ending as the property values are too high already.
Church Hill is widely known for Patrick Henry and St. John’s Church; yet, few know it as the home of L. Douglas Wilder, the first African American governor, or the home of Dr. Jean Harris, the first African American to graduate from the Medical College of Virginia.
There is an important history to tell in the neighborhood of Church Hill. There are African American neighborhoods in Richmond, such as Jackson Ward and Fulton that are well-known for the massive destruction done there by those with power. African American residents in Church Hill have not experienced the city completely razing their neighborhood, but they certainly have experienced a historically tight-knit community changed. Church Hill has gone through a dramatic transformation where a neighborhood considered to be extremely dilapidated and dangerous in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s is now a prestigious neighborhood boasting some of the best amenities in the city.
Yet, these amenities cater to the middle-class population in Church Hill and offer little to meet the basic needs of low-income residents in the northern section of Church Hill. 7 Image One: The Historic Richmond Foundation’s “pilot block” where they began initial renovations was between 23rd and 24th on East Grace Street. John’s Church area indicates the portion of Church Hill directly influenced by the Historic Richmond Foundation. “Maps of the Church Hill North Historic District,” Church Hill People’s News, accessed April 27, 2015, http://chpn.net/news/2009/09/03/the-church-hill-north-historic-district_8873/#map 8 Chapter 1: Renewal in Church Hill “Well, I would just like to say that I think that Church Hill is one of the finest places to live, I've never lived any other place, and I lived and grew up and worked, church life and marriage life, all have been right in Church Hill, East End, and I won't live anywhere else now because in my closing years I want to go from Church Hill to Heaven.
Allen’s description of her eighty-two years in Church Hill encapsulates many longtime residents’ sense of the unique, close-knit community of the Richmond neighborhood. She was certainly not alone in her portrayal of Church Hill. Oral histories conducted by Akida T. Mensah in 1982 overflow with affection for the blocks in the eastern portion of Richmond as residents, mainly African Americans, reminisced about their lives in the early twentieth century.
Yet when residents discussed current conditions, their descriptions changed dramatically. No longer did they detail relationships amongst neighbors; rather, many listed the deteriorating physical and social conditions in the neighborhood. Many of the interviewees viewed their neighborhood at its nadir in the 1980s. Yet between the 1950s and 1970s, Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood had received aid first from a private organization and then from a government program.
With such concerted efforts to renew Church Hill, why did residents describe a neighborhood left in ruins? Church Hill is the “oldest intact neighborhood in Richmond.” 4 In 1737, William Mayo surveyed land in what is now Richmond for William Byrd II; the land stretched from the north bank of the James River to the foot of Church Hill.