You’ve heard a lot recently about gentrification and displacement, especially since we have the Community Benefits Agreement in the works at RiverChase. You might be tempted to think this is an “East Nashville problem,” or a “Somebody Else” problem.

It’s NOT someone else’s problem. Just over the past 5 years alone, displacement has touched every corner of the county. 

Here’s a few examples, which you can see on the document we shared with you all:

1. Howe Gardens in East Nashville, 165 units
2. James Robertson Apartments, downtown, 100 units
3. Edmondson Manor in Southeast Nashville, 325 units
4. Prestige Point in South Nashville, 178 units
5. Village West in The Nations, 288 units
6. North Park Village Senior Living in Madison, 40 long term residents

I bet you have either heard, or even said yourself, the phrase “Nashville is a welcoming city.” We like to say that in Nashville.

But how can we call ourselves welcoming to immigrants and refugees, when many of those displaced residents in the list I just mentioned were refugees from places like Somalia and Burma?

How can we call ourselves welcoming to our elders, when we kicked out residents at Madison Senior Center?

How can we say we are creating a welcoming environment to our kids –  OUR FUTURE – when there are hundreds of students being forced to relocate and change schools in the middle of the school year?

And why are we kicking these people out? 

Oh yeah, some corporate developers need to make money.

We know change is going to happen. We aren’t opposed to change, because we know we can’t stop it. What we ARE opposed to is the lack of humanity we’ve seen over the past few years, all done in the name of some OUT OF TOWN corporate developers making money.

It’s past time we started caring about the people who live, work, and build this city.

That’s why these Community Benefits Agreements are so important. And I mean a real Community Benefits Agreement, that’s done with resident input and outside accountability, not whatever the Mayor was doing with the racetrack last year. Giving out donations to charity is not the same as Community Benefits!

Community Benefits create jobs that can support a family. Community Benefits create long-term affordable housing, so that can keep people in their local jobs and children in their schools. 

Community Benefits help residents suffering from displacement get support and get back on their feet quickly. 

Community Benefits help BUILD local small businesses!

We need to commit to spreading Community Benefits Agreements all around the city, and give that the SAME amount of energy as we are putting towards projects like the Titans stadium, River North, and things of that nature.

Nathaniel Carter, Director of Workforce & Employment for Stand Up Nashville