I read this interesting article that brought up the topic that if Atlanta’s Jesus Sidewalk AKA the BeltLine, continues to grow without much regulation, then it will effectively re-segregate the city, due to the aggressive gentrification that’s it’s bringing in spades as it churns merrily along.
The funny thing is that this isn’t the first nor will it be the last time articles like this emerge, but it is admittedly one of the more data-driven articles, as it links to a 60+ page case study about the effects and repercussions of the gentrification which is a pretty good read in its own right.
The harsh reality about all this information is that just about everyone paying attention knows this is going on, and no amount of awareness of the situation is going to change the fact that it is happening, will continue to happen, and be a potential reality, because in spite of all of the information, nothing is happening to stop it.
But that sounds about right as far as the objectives of the BeltLine are concerned – beautify, gentrify, and then profit; repercussions of any failed promises of affordable housing or the guerilla eviction of existing residents can be suppressed and brushed under the rug later, preferably one that exists in the lobby or the ornate dining area of one of the expensive buildings built along it at a later date.
And anyone surprised by this kind of information has to be naïve and/or delusional to think that this wasn’t going to happen. At the root of everything, there’s still businesses to be done, and with business comes the pursuit of profit, and with the pursuit of profit comes the pursuit for more and more profit, and when there’s lots of money to be had by few, then no amount of unethical treatment towards the many who don’t have a lot is out of bounds.
You can cut one head off of the hydra, but they’ll just cash out their six-figure severance pay, and the next crooked crony will take right over until they’ll be needed to sacrifice themselves to quell the disgruntled pleebs.
Regardless of how many predominantly African-American communities that get displaced and/or forced from their existing properties, there are land owners and property owners who stand to make buttloads of money in the process of allowing the Jesus Sidewalk to continue to expand, grow, and eventually join itself in the purported 23-mile circle around the Metropolitan area.
It will effectively turn into a metaphorical dividing wall of the city, where within the BeltLine exists the rich, affluent upper-middle-to-high class, with six-figure plus salaries, exclusivity and pretention dripping from all orifices of the businesses that exist within and the best impression of the 1%. And just outside the boundaries of the BeltLine, beyond all the bougie apartment buildings and mixed-use businesses that sprout along it, begins all the property living delusional existences, hoping their proximity near the BeltLine will benefit them but ultimately won’t. And then we get back to the original metaphorical wall of segregation known as Interstate 285, that divides the arrogant city folks who live ITP (Inside the perimeter), from those pathetic suburban sprawlers who reside OTP (outside).
The funny thing is that with the segregation that the BeltLine is bringing, that it’s effectively creating an ironically stranded sub-class of people that exist Outside The Beltline, yet still Inside The Perimeter. Those who live ITB will perceive themselves as the de facto upper crust of Atlanta society, privileged to the absolute max. They will turn their noses up not just those who live OTP, but also those who live OTB.
The irony is that those who live OTB will still feel like they’ve got a leg up on those who live OTP, but the reality is that most people who live OTP don’t give two shits about those who live ITP, much less ITB.
So in the end, the completion of the BeltLine only creates something of a vagabond sub-class of people who will be rendered miserable for living OTB, despite the fact that they’re still ITP. Owned.
But ultimately, this is all stuff that those involved with the creation of the BeltLine had to have known was going to become the case, but they simply don’t care. Why should they, when there’s money to be made, ethics be damned?
Gentrification is all part of the American way, and no matter of talking about it and stating facts, and bemoaning the ethical shortcomings of it is ever going to do a damn thing, unless actual, legitimate action is taken to suppress it, and attempt to regulate it. But in doing so, the potential for profit is hindered, and America will be damned to get in the way of making money.
Now, I can’t wait for the Jesus Sidewalk to be completed, just so I can watch the futile development of the OTB class, and see how defensive they’ll become when people start trying to shame them for not living inside of the right circle for a change.
