{"id":1355,"date":"2017-04-26T18:36:35","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T22:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/?p=1355"},"modified":"2017-04-30T12:07:37","modified_gmt":"2017-04-30T16:07:37","slug":"dont-bank-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/2017\/04\/26\/dont-bank-on-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Bank On It"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maggie Latimer<\/em><\/p>\n

On the corner of East Brookland Park Boulevard and 2nd Avenue, nestled between Six Points Express Mart and a dry cleaner’s shop, stands a large, sandy brick building.\u00a0 Look closely and you may see the faint imprint of lettering left on the front door, detailing the bank’s hours of operation. Those hours are now obsolete.<\/p>\n

As of March 31, this Bank of America, the last bank in Highland Park, was permanently closed.\u00a0 All that\u2019s left is a small front vestibule with just enough space for an ATM.\u00a0 There’s no word yet on whether this ATM will remain, although people are hoping.<\/p>\n

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It’s a familiar story.\u00a0 As many other major U.S. banks have done in recent years, Bank of America is closing hundreds of locations, citing the increase in online banking and implementation of ATMs that can process deposits.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year<\/a>, Highland Park resident and 6th district Richmond City Councilwoman Ellen Robertson rallied with local businesses, called an emergency neighborhood meeting, and even met with Bank of America executives to discuss keeping the branch open, but to no avail.\u00a0 In the end, the bank offered to keep an ATM at the location – a compromise of sorts.\u00a0 No machine, however, can offer the same serves that a fully staffed financial center could, including cashing paychecks, opening savings accounts, making loans, dispensing financial advice, and generally assisting customers.<\/p>\n

Highland Park has become a kind of financial desert, leaving the gate open for payday lenders or check cashing centers to come in.\u00a0 These kinds of services, which often prey on low-income communities and carry high interest rates, can suck customers into debt cycles and destabilize communities. With some struggling to raise their families on less than $37,000 a year<\/a>, this shutdown could spell trouble for the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Jess, Kevin, and I sit across the street on the sidewalk and observe nearly a dozen people walk into the bank over the course of about 20 minutes.\u00a0 They bypass ribbons of broken yellow caution tape to swipe into the secure storefront with bank cards.\u00a0 We stop a man as he walks out and ask him what he knows about the closure.\u00a0 He’s lived in Highland Park for nearly two decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were supposed to stay open until September, but they closed early,\u201d he says. \u201cI guess they weren\u2019t making enough money.\u201d\u00a0 This excuse seems a bit hard to believe as we watch yet another customer swipe in to use the ATM.<\/p>\n

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