Good Times: From Renewal to Displacement
Mapping, Politics, Health, and Community
by Melissa R. Daniel
As a kid, you don’t fully understand why your neighborhood is the way it is. You just know there’s a specific path you take home from school because the other way is dangerous. You know your home isn’t like the Huxtables’ on The Cosby Show or the Tanners’ on Full House because you live in an apartment building—but not like the Jeffersons’, more like the Evans’ on Good Times.
It wasn’t until a summer program at the Howard University School of Architecture that I realized that architecture could change, even solve, these circumstances for other kids. This realization led me to start a podcast called Architecture is Political. It’s an investigation into the spaces where people live.
This syllabus takes you through my investigations to date, piecing together why my living conditions as a kid were the way they were.
Course Description:
This course explores contemporary issues surrounding urban renewal, displacement, and housing in Washington, D.C. through storytelling and personal narrative. Through a series of podcast episodes featuring interviews with historians, activists, architects, and urban planners, the audience will engage with various perspectives on the impacts of urban renewal projects, public housing, and gentrification. The course will also examine public health implications, community responses, and policy initiatives aimed at addressing housing inequities.
To listen to all podcast episodes, you can visit Architecture is Political Podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on this YouTube playlist.
Introduction to Urban Renewal and Displacement
Watch: Walking Tour of Southwest DC, Chloethiel Woodard Smith
Listen: Southwest One
Description: Take a virtual YouTube tour through Southwest D.C. with Carolyn Crouch of Washington Walks, discussing the impact of urban renewal on this historic neighborhood and its present effects, as well as the architectural legacy of Chloethiel Woodard Smith.
Reading List: This is from Unit #2 of the syllabus FutureRama-Drama by Johannah Herr and Cara Marsh Sheffler. Do a compare and contrast of DC and NYC urban renwal.
- Dorsey v Stuytown Corp. – The text of the court case that kept Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village (Mitchell-Lama developments in Manhattan intended for WWII veterans on the GI Bill) segregated to whites-only.
- “How Lincoln Center Was Built (It Wasn’t Pretty),” The New York Times, Keith Williams – A short, illustrative article on the “slum clearance” of the West Side of Manhattan around what is today Lincoln Center (and what previously had been the setting for West Side Story).
- The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein – A gripping read that thoroughly explains the rise of redlining and other legal and economic tactics to enforce urban segregation.
- The Life and Death of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs – The most famous book by Robert Moses’ greatest foe, Jane Jacobs. A resident of the West Village, Jacobs stood down Moses’ plans for a highway intended to bisect Lower Manhattan (and raze Soho), organizing her community into an oppositional force.
Week 2: Mapping Segregation and Public Housing
Listen: The Transformation of Public Housing: Displacement and Segregation (excerpt)
Listen: Architecture & Mapping Segregation in DC
Activity: Explore the Mapping Segregation website and visit the convent maps tab.
Questions to consider:
- How did urban renewal policies impact African American communities?
- What are the long-term effects of these policies?
- How can modern urban planning address these historical injustices?
Reading list:
“Barry Farm’s historic landmark designation was pitted against affordable housing,” The Washington Post, Feb. 21, 2020.
“The history and evolution of Anacostia’s Barry Farm,” D.C. Policy Center, July 9, 2019.
“Open Data Meets History: Mapping Segregation in American Cities, Then and Now,” Open Cities: Open Data: Collaborative Cities in the Information Era (Palgrave Mamillan, 2019).
“Mapping segregation in D.C.,” D.C. Policy Center, April 23, 2019.
“Race and real estate in mid-century D.C.,” D.C. Policy Center, April 16, 2019.
“Don’t let development push out low-income residents,” The Washington Post, March 23, 2018.
Review: Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City, by Derek S. Hyra, Washington History, Spring 2018.
“How segregation shaped DC’s northernmost ward,” Greater Greater Washington, Sep 14, 2017.
“DC’s Comprehensive Plan, a document we use today, preserves the racial segregation of our past,” Greater Greater Washington, Jun 13, 2017.
“‘A Strictly White Residential Section’: The Rise and Demise of Racially Restrictive Covenants in Bloomingdale,” Washington History, Spring 2017.
Review, Just Another Southern Town: Mary Church Terrell and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Nation’s Capital, by Joan Quigley, H-AfroAm, Feb 2017.
Week 3: Segregated by Design
Listen: Segregated By Design IG (excerpt)
Listen: Segregated By Design w/ Adam Paul Susaneck
Description: Segregated By Design is a personal project of Adam Paul Susaneck. His Instagram posts visually depict the destruction of black and brown communities due to redlining, urban renewal and freeway construction with aerial photographs and maps. Through various social media channels, Adam is able to bring awareness to the erasure of local black and communities to the forefront.
Activity:
- Engage with Historical Contexts: Understand the historical and political dimensions of urban planning to better advocate for equitable development.
- Support Community-Driven Projects: Advocate for and support urban reclamation projects that prioritize the needs of marginalized communities.
- Utilize Technology and Funding: Leverage technological tools and secure funding to conduct impactful research and raise awareness about the political dimensions of architecture.
Week 4: The Politics of Architecture and Urban Renewal
Listen: Sam Smith conversation (excerpt)
Listen: Conversation with Sam Smith
Description: Journalist Sam Smith discusses urban renewal, the political dimensions of architecture, and his experience as an activist and social critic.
Discussion Topics: Urban renewal policies, political aspects of architecture, and long-term impacts on communities.
Read: This essay will give you a better sense of DC through the eyes of journalist Sam Smith:
Week 5: Housing and Health Disparities
Listen: Unpacking Urban Renewal (excerpt)
Listen: Urban Renewal & Public Health
Description: Carolyn Swope explores the relationship between housing policies and health disparities, with a focus on historical housing inequities.
Discussion Topics: Health impacts of housing, historical policies affecting current disparities, and public health approaches to housing.
Read: The Problematic Role of Public Health in Washington, DC’s, Urban Renewal
Week 6: Displacement and Gentrification in Architecture
Listen: Architects, Displacement and Housing
Listen: The Erosion of Sursum Corda
Description: Podcaster Melissa Daniel Presented at Pyatok’s Skull Session discussing displacement, housing, and gentrification. Pyatok is an architecture and urban design firm in Oakland, California.
Discussion Topics: Architectural practices, emerging innovations, and their effects on displacement and gentrification.
Read: Wikipedia on Sursum Corda
Week 7: Community Engagement and Gentrification
Listen: Northwest One Community (excerpt)
Listen: Tyler House & Gentrification with Reverend Chris Tobias
Description: Reverend Chris Tobias discusses community work with Tyler House and addressing gentrification through social engagement and financial literacy programs.
Discussion Topics: Community responses to gentrification, faith-based initiatives, and empowerment strategies.
Week 8: Cultural Perspectives on Public Housing
Listen: National Public Housing Museum
Listen: Public Housing Museum Inequity for Sale (excerpt)
Description: Program Director Tiff Beatty discusses the National Public Housing Museum’s efforts to preserve and share the stories of public housing residents.
Discussion Topics: Oral histories, cultural preservation, and the role of arts in public housing narratives.
Read: The Plunder of Black Wealth in Chicago (2018) documented more than 100 homes in Englewood alone sold using this practice. Amber Hendley, lead researcher on this report, shared the addresses with a curious Lewis Johnson who quickly discovered many of these homes were still standing.
Week 9: Case Study: Montgomery County, Maryland
Listen: Patterns of Displacement and Low-Income Concentration in Montgomery County, Maryland
Watch: Patterns of Displacement and Low-Income Concentration in Montgomery County, Maryland
Description: Exploration of a study on neighborhood change, focusing on low-income concentration and inclusive economic growth in Montgomery County.
Discussion Topics: Research findings on displacement and low-income concentration, policy implications, and regional planning initiatives.
Good Times: From Renewal to Displacement references FutureRama-Drama, a Syllabus by Johanna Herr and Cara Marsh Sheffler.
