Gentrification

A couple of weeks ago we received two fliers in our mailbox presumably left by the same individual. The fliers were both for the same event – a neighborhood meeting discussing plans for the future of the northwest quadrant of the historic district – but the fliers had opposing tones. One was the official announcement/invitation. The other had cheap clip art of an angry broom sweeping dirt under an equally cheap but unrelated clip art of a rug with the title “Don’t Let the Truth About Gentrification Be Swept Under the Rug!” followed by requests to not let them change our neighborhood and let your voice be heard. I’m not sure how much any of you know about the subject of gentrification and whether or not you are pro or con. My personal feelings on the subject are mixed. Gentrification is inevitable. It also comes at a cost.

I suppose I should give you a little background of our neighborhood and how we fit in this story. Beaufort is about as old as dirt. It’s as old as Charleston, but never experienced the same growth. Beaufort was officially settled in 1711. When slavery was abolished in 1865, the freed slaves stayed right here. They settled in the northwest quadrant and built smaller homes just a block away from the huge mansions of their former masters. Most of these homes have stayed in the same families since that time. When we moved to Beaufort (a very expensive area), we were starting our own business and were looking for a small home with a low mortgage that we could turn around for a profit in a short amount of time. (We didn’t expect to be here three years 🙂 ) When we bought this house it never occurred to us why this neighborhood bore historical significance. We just assumed it was because it was old, which is true, but it is more so because it was settled by slaves. As it turned out we were the only white people in this neighborhood. Still are. Our neighbor told us we were “the rice in the gravy bowl” and mentioned that everyone was shocked when we moved in. We assured him we would be great neighbors, stay quiet, and fix up the ugly mess we just bought (which he informed us was used as a crack house the entire year before we moved in… nice). I won’t lie. There were many times we were convinced we had made a mistake. Most houses around us were in tear down shape. The neighbor on the other side of us was actually a squatter. (He was also a drug dealer. But he was nice. We hired him to do some odds and ends jobs around the property. We missed him when he went to jail.) We witnessed countless drug deals as well as users heading into an abandoned house around the corner. A few weeks after we moved in we had a strung out naked man try to break in through the front and back doors. Crazy!  We also had one of the workers we hired try to sell us drugs. He apologized when he found out we were christian. We know with out a doubt that our Heavenly Father has protected us while we’ve been here. We have thought on many occasions that we made a mistake, but we know that it never was. We’ve always been guided by Him and when you look back on things it’s amazing to see. We bought our house when the market was high and we are selling when it is low, but the timing is still amazing. There is no way the house we have bought on Hilton Head would have ever been something we could afford, but with the sluggish market it came within reach. I believe it’s an answer to prayer. There are so many other amazing blessing I could share, but it would be a novel.

Back to the subject: gentrification. The city has put things in motion to solve the issue of the empty lots and abandoned houses. Last year Habitat for Humanity spent over a million fixing up neglected homes in our neighborhood. Once dilapidated crack shacks are now beautiful homes for deserving families. (Oh and the house that neighbor was squatting in was sold and torn down.) The neighborhood looks great and is so much safer. There are a few more abandoned homes that need taken care of, but that is what the city is working to resolve. Gentrification is inevitable and in my view, more good than bad. The goal isn’t to displace anyone, but rather to encourage residence to take pride in ownership: keep the property clean and tidy and make repairs as needed. This is a beautiful place. If a home can be kept in a family and passed down from one generation to the next it makes the area that much more special and unique.