Urban Issues and Actions

Yesterday, Russ and I drove for at least two and a half hours through Jackson Ward and around the city of Richmond using both small neighborhood roads and big highways. In the process of getting some much needed filming done I was amazed with Jackson Ward and the surrounding area of the city. There are two specific points of interest that I have learned during the filming of this documentary: 

1. When driving through Gilpin Court it is not wise to stop in a parking lot and walk around with a video camera. This point is pretty loaded with implications. It’s not that Gilpin Court is an extremely dangerous, but I was really uncomfortable with what DuBois calls the “car window sociology” of driving through an area. I was legitimately scared a few times when there was a dead end or when we were driving in between groups of people. I’m not sure if it’s some abstract racism or just a legitimate concern for the lives of two well-meaning guys driving around in an Accord with a video camera, but I cannot deny my unease as we entered what Mufasa called the “shadowland.” To make matters worse, while Russ was walking around getting footage of the area, a police officer drove up to my car and started talking to me. When I told him we were doing a documentary on Jackson Ward he said something to the extent of “Be careful, this is a very dangerous area.” I said he was thinking,” Stupid white boy” but Russ just thought he was being over cautious. Russ got into the car and we proceeded to finish our drive through the area and left with no bullet wounds or any other stereotypical dangers some people attribute to public housing such as Gilpin Court.
2. At one point, while Russ was filming the Highway that displaced ten percent of the black population and ruined what was once a thriving community, I was driving on the more “posh’ side of historic Jackson Ward. While there, I drove in between two rows of newly renovated row houses and saw a BMW parked out front. A few seconds later, I saw a trendy, young couple parking their SUV and walking towards the row houses. Then I thought to myself, “How weird is it that only 100 yards separate these new residents from the public housing nearby. Do they realize they are so close to the people their parents may have run away from just a few decades earlier? At any rate, I’m sure they were confident in the Highway as an effective form of segregation. Jim Crow is no longer a system of laws and violent crimes of hate. Now, Jim Crow is the legacy we can see in the highway system that separates the societal outcasts with the affluent

 There is no easy way to talk about Jackson Ward, Gilpin Court or the Highway that divides the two. There is no easy way to place a value on the benefit of the highway versus the value of the houses destroyed. Because of this difficulty, our group cannot deny the history of the place or the current state of the area. Either way, the history should be told and hopefully a documentary will prove to be the best way to do so.

There are many different approaches to public art. From these I have noticed that the contrast between urban art and suburban art is most striking. While the older urban spaces often have varying building types and interesting cultural influences, the newer suburbs are planned to look clean and nice and, therefore, usually conform to a more predictable mold. Even still, as urban spaces are once more being inhabited by the wealthy, the art and diversity in building type is being enjoyed but without the willingness for more innovation.
In the city proper, Richmond is a very intriguing place with murals, colorful buildings and well designed store fronts. I believe this art is a result of the history of the city that has led to this present day. During much of the last half of the twentieth century, urban sprawl was increasingly common and city centers gradually lost most of the affluence that built them up. In Richmond, many neighborhoods and even what is called Carytown were not the wealthy areas that they are now. During this time of economic difficulty, there were more renting and fewer wealthy landowners who feared the decreasing property values. Public art, then, was not shunned in the same way that it is now. As a result, this difficult time was also a time of artistic expression. This expression is evident in the diversity of restaurants, proliferation of art galleries, but most importantly the presence of murals and other public art.  In contrast, the  newer neighborhoods around the city of Richmond are more sanctioned, planned and protected. There are zoning laws that prevent the mixed-use properties seen in the city buildings and neighborhoods. Also, there is an intangible notion that nothing should be out of place in these neighborhoods. Beautiful though they are, there is not the same visible culture that can be seen in the city. I equate this lack of art to the affluence (or relative affluence) of the suburbs and personal property ownership. The combination of these two characteristics create an environment geared to wealth growth and real estate values rather than bohemian expression and inclusivity.
While this is certainly a characteristic of the suburbs, I believe it is more a characteristic of class divisions.  In a recent issue of Style Weekly there was an article about public art in Richmond and particularly in the Fan area. The author spelled out the difficulty of public art in an area that has become increasingly wealthy in the past years. One artist who desired to paint a tribute to a deceased fellow artist was told by the neighborhood that it looked too much like graffiti. As a result, he compromised and had the art on something else and hung onto the outer wall of the building so as to not appear unplanned or out of place.I think it is unfortunate that usually when people see an area that they think is really interesting they do not realize the hardship that created the art and nuance of the neighborhood. Even more unfortunate is that I this art is part of what creates interesting neighborhoods and invites gentrification and new investment.
At the end of a neighborhoods transition of gentrification, the new inhabitants are very pleased with the area, but no longer believe that there is a need to accept the culture that made the area interesting in the first place. As a result, neighborhoods are transformed and cities reborn, but the culture is never quite reborn. In it’s place is a pseudo-inclusive culture that has the appearance of inner city renaissance but the heart of suburban fear of expression and desire for conformity.

My group traveled to Jackson Ward Richmond in order to gain footage for our documentary. Jackson Ward was once known as “The Harlem of The South” with thriving residential and commercial areas. Unfortunately, over the past few decades, Jackson Ward has suffered social and economic hardships as well as population loss.  As soon as we arrived, I noticed that so many houses were vacant. Some were for sale, but others were simply rundown homes that needed to be fixed up. A few of homes had beautiful architecture features on the outside, but no occupants. It was interesting to walk up and down the streets. There were a set of newly built homes right in the middle of an area with rundown homes. The new homes seemed out of place in that particular area. We also observed some open land that looked as if houses were previously built, but then torn down.  In addition, the highway literally split Jackson Ward in half and displaced numerous individuals when it was originally built.  Nonetheless,  we found some parts of Jackson Ward to quite beautiful. There were some historic buildings that were maintained and homes that were breathtaking. We even walked to an area right off of Second Street that had small little shops and a pleasant neighborhood of family houses.  Despite some of the poor areas, it was quite evident to us that Jackson Ward was once a thriving neighborhood for African-Americans.

 A couple of people in my group also had the opportunity to be introduced to the smell and taste of food from Croaker’s Spot restaurant located in the Jackson Ward area. Croaker’s Spot is known for their fried fish, corn bread, and limeade. After placing a food order, our group ran into one of the restaurant’s managers. We asked her about the new theatre called the Hippodrome that will be remodeled right next door to the restaurant. She stated that live entertainment in the Hippodrome will soon be one of the highlights of the newly revitalized Jackson Ward. Croaker’s Spot is actually funding the reconstruction of a hotel directly across the street.   She also explained how many people in the neighborhood are excited about Jackson Ward being revitalized because there will finally be hope that Jackson Ward can be a thriving district once again. The restaurant is excited to see changes in Jackson ward and hopefully those changes will be positive overall.    

         It was also great for our group to have the opportunity to talk with Sheila Sheppard from Partnership for Smarter Growth about how Jackson Ward fits into Richmond’s master plan. Jackson Ward will end up being an entertainment district along with newly built housing complexes. The new section of housing complexes is called Jackson Commons. These houses will be built in place of old occupied houses or on unoccupied land.  They will be single family homes with turn of the century architecture.  The housing complex will also feature tree lined streets. These plans seem amazing, but what about the people who may lose their homes in the process? Unfortunately, there are no current plans available to the public that discuss where some low-income families are going to go if they are forced to leave.  There are plans to rebuild the Gilpin Court Housing project as well over the next couple of years, but no plans for provision of families that cannot come back to the new redeveloped housing. Hopefully the overall master plan for Jackson ward will benefit as many people as possible. Only time will tell.