{"id":5892,"date":"2022-06-17T17:02:34","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T21:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=5892"},"modified":"2022-06-17T17:02:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T21:02:35","slug":"divided-detroit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=5892","title":{"rendered":"Divided Detroit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1st Place, In-Depth Feature<\/strong>
2021-22, Division 2, News Writing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Eleni Tecos & Meghan Wysocki<\/strong>
The Tower
Grosse Pointe South HS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toyia Watts calls it a tsunami.

A lifetime Detroit resident of the Islandview neighbor-hood and president of the Charlevoix Village Association (CVA), Watts has witnessed the effects of gentrification steadily increase over the past 20 years. She felt it necessary for her survival to take action.
\u201cI came up with CVA in the early 2000s,\u201d Watts said. \u201cWe educate people on what\u2019s going on in the neighborhood. Detroit told us we were part of the \u2018urban transformation\u2019 framework, but we\u2019re not. So we speak out, otherwise we don\u2019t get a seat at the table– no way, shape or form.\u201d

Per definition, gentrification is a term for the arrival of wealthier people in an existing urban district, its related in-crease in rent and property values, and changes in the district\u2019s character and culture. It is negatively associated with the social and economic marginalization of existing residents.

Impact
<\/strong>Wayne State University Coordinator for Digital Publishing Joshua Neds-Fox said the rate of gentrification in Detroit is relatively low, pointing to evidence from a 2019 University of Chicago paper which states that two of 276 neighborhoods were found to be gentrifying between 2000 and 2010. However, the research cited precedes Detroit\u2019s bankruptcy, Mayor Mike Duggan\u2019s election and the impact of businessman Dan Gilbert\u2019s billion-dollar investments in Detroit over the past decade.

\u201cThe issue is polarizing because it touches on deep emotional responses to issues of race and class,\u201d Neds-Fox said. \u201cIt would be hard to argue that white suburbanites aren\u2019t moving into the city, or that property values aren\u2019t rising in Downtown and Midtown, but determining whether this gentrification is harmful or restorative is an area of fierce debate that hinges on subjective ideas of what constitutes harm and what constitutes restoration.\u201d

When the City of Detroit began the planning process to revitalize the Islandview neighborhood in 2017, CVA developed a list of 11 demands, designed \u201cso that long-term residents (could) benefit from redevelopment in Detroit.\u201d One of them pushes for investing in schools, libraries and tech centers to bring back young families.

\u201cThe young generation isn\u2019t in the inner city of Detroit anymore,\u201d Watts said. \u201cI have a school right down the street– Marcus Garvey Academy– and they have to bus the kids in from Warren, Roseville and Eastpointe. I don\u2019t have kids running up and down the street. And I have a school right here. Something\u2019s missing.\u201d

Intended to fill such gaps are private organizations like Little Free Libraries\u00ae, the nonprofit dedicated to \u201cexpanding book access for all\u201d through individually-purchased tiny book boxes. While at first these companies may seem laudable in their efforts to help neighborhoods attract families, Neds-Fox warns of their underlying performative nature.

\u201cThere is a lot of analysis available that casts a skeptical eye on the project,\u201d Neds-Fox said. \u201c(Little Free Libraries\u00ae) are not technically libraries. In their unstructured privatization and individualization of the cooperative good, they work against community enhancement.\u201d

Former Detroit resident Kayla Moxley \u201922 has also recognized changes within the city. According to her, gentrification \u201caffects the culture of the city because (new people move in) with no type of cultural awareness or sensitivity, causing other problems within the community.\u201d

\u201cWhen I was Downtown a week ago, there was so much going on, and the city looked so beautiful at the moment be-cause of all of the Christmas lights,\u201d Moxley said. \u201cBut when I was driving home, the lights started to fade and the city started to get darker and all I saw were abandoned buildings, streets that had no houses at all and people just struggling to survive. Those people are the heart of Detroit– not Downtown.\u201d

Beyond the Borders
<\/strong>Outside of the city, gentrification also impacts relation-ships amongst Metro Detroit residencies, according to sociology teacher Kendra Caralis. Notably, she said fear-mongering within Grosse Pointe fuels the ideology that certain areas of Detroit, typically un-gentrified areas, are unsafe– furthering the divide between the two cities.

\u201cBecause Grosse Pointe is predominantly white, and Detroit is predominantly Black, (there is) a huge wedge between them,\u201d Caralis said. \u201cThe racial prejudice that can exist within

To her point, Caralis said white saviorism doesn\u2019t appear to be contributing to the gentrification of Detroit, \u201cbecause if the Pointes (is a result) of the assumptions that are made, which are not accurate.\u201dthat were the case, (people) would be trying to stay and help (the city).\u201d Moxley agreed with this sentiment, pointing to the lack of empathy people seem to hold for the residents of the city.

\u201cThe biggest contributor to the gentrification of the city is most definitely greed,\u201d Moxley said. \u201cOne little section of the city gets to thrive because outsiders can afford to live in nice, newly-constructed buildings – buildings built by people living in decaying ones.\u201d

Wayne State postdoctoral fellow and CVA volunteer Allison Laskey studies how working class Black residents assert demands for equitable development and racial justice in Detroit. She noted there are key mechanisms siphoning resources out of neighborhoods like Islandview and into communities like Grosse Pointe.

\u201cSegregation is a conscious policy,\u201d Laskey said. \u201cThe dividing line between Detroit and Grosse Pointe– that\u2019s a really strong boundary. It seems kind of arbitrary, but it was put into place through conscious policies that are consciously maintained. It\u2019s a question of power.\u201d

Moving Forward
<\/strong>Although there is such a stark divide between the cities, Caralis believes Grosse Pointers have a unique opportunity to use their privilege to uplift their neighbors in Detroit.

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough thing to be in an area of privilege, and not see privilege as a dirty word,\u201d Caralis said. \u201c(You want) to lift up other people without looking or feeling like you\u2019re the bad person, like there\u2019s something wrong. There\u2019s nothing wrong with the privilege we have (in Grosse Pointe), but it needs to be used to help those that don\u2019t have that.\u201d

Detroit resident and South counselor Nicholas Bernbeck, who has experienced gentrification firsthand with the Ambassador Bridge, agreed with Caralis. He said it is fundamental to be a considerate citizen in order to preserve the culture of the area and limit any potential gentrification.

\u201cIt\u2019s fine to move somewhere, but if you\u2019re not trying to understand your neighbors, you\u2019re not being a great neighbor or community member,\u201d Bernbeck said. \u201cI would encourage (anyone moving to Detroit) to get an understanding of where they\u2019re living. How did it get the way that it is? Why does the city look the way that it does?\u201d

Laskey said a critical part of understanding and preventing gentrification is taking residents\u2019 needs into account. Many are open to the idea of revitalization, she said, but they often end up being the most impacted with the least amount of information about such plans.

\u201cThis conversation often turns into a question of pro-development or not, but the residents have been asking for development in the neighborhood for years,\u201d Laskey said. \u201cIt\u2019s just that when resources finally arrived, they didn\u2019t meet the needs of what people were asking for. A basis of this neighborhood is their generosity, but it\u2019s difficult to be generous when you\u2019re being forced out in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NW-11. In-Depth Feature<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The entry should be a single story. Judges will not consider sidebars, infographics or other elements packaged with the story. The story must stand on its own. Entries should concern subjects of a substantive and contemporary nature and go beyond the surface facts, give the reader detailed background information with interpretation based upon the facts and background information and often (but not necessarily) an analysis as to its meaning. It is an elaboration of the WHY. Multiple sources are necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judging Criteria<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  • Lead captures attention, arouses curiosity<\/li>
  • Topic relevant to interests and\/or welfare of school or students<\/li>
  • Extensive, intensive and thorough investigation<\/li>
  • Effectively combines basics of good news and feature writing<\/li>
  • Effectively organized with smooth transitions; carefully outlined<\/li>
  • Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely and vividly<\/li>
  • Proper diction\/grammar<\/li>
  • Balanced and fair presentation<\/li>
  • Story relies on information from primary sources gathered\/interviewed directly by the journalist(s); general Internet sources and secondary media reports are used sparingly<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    1st Place, In-Depth Feature2021-22, Division 2, News Writing By Eleni Tecos & Meghan WysockiThe TowerGrosse Pointe South HS Toyia Watts calls it a tsunami. A lifetime Detroit resident of the Islandview neighbor-hood and president of the Charlevoix Village Association (CVA), Watts has witnessed the effects of gentrification steadily increase over the past 20 years. She […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[59,4],"tags":[182,21],"class_list":["post-5892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indepthfeature","category-nw","tag-2021-22","tag-division2","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/In-Depth-feature-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/In-Depth-feature-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Morgan Womack","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=12"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/In-Depth-feature-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-1x2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}