>>AND MANY CASES URBAN RENEWAL IN ROANOKE MEN SPLINTERING THE AFRICAN
AMERICAN COMMUNITY.
IT CERTAINLY MEANT
MOVING IT.
TODAY WE ENJOY THE CIVIC CENTER
AND ACCESS TO DOWNTOWN ALONG
INTERSTATE
5.81.
INTERSTATE 5.81. BUT AS 10 NEWS ANCHOR JOHN
CARLIN SHOWS US TONIGHT.
MANY PEOPLE
LIVE TODAY STILL FEEL THE PAIN
OF BEING UPROOTED BY THOSE
PROJECTS.
>>FIREFIGHTERS IN THIS OLD FOOTAGE. A PRACTICING.
I’M LEARNING TO FIGHT FLAMES
AND ONE OF THE HUNDREDS OF
HOMES CONDEMNED BY THE CITY TO
MAKE WAY FOR
URBAN RENEWAL, THE PROCESS OF
CREATING COMMERCIAL SPACE NEAR
DOWNTOWN’S ACROSS AMERICA,
INCLUDING ROLAND A.
>>I WROTE FOR HER.
>>BUT THE BEST USE WAS NOT OR MOSTLY BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS
THEY PRODUCED LITTLE TAX
REVENUE FOR THE CITY AND MANY
FELT RUNDOWN HOUSES THEY DON’T
FOR WELCOME MAT
THE VISITORS IN SOME CASES
HOUSES WERE MOVED
IN ROANOKE AN
ENTIRE CEMETERY WITH MORE THAN
A 1000 BODIES WAS MOVED AND
MOST OFTEN THE CITY USING
EMINENT DOMAIN FORCED
HOMEOWNERS TO SOUTH.
LEVELING ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOODS.
>>AND WE KNOW JUST GAVE HIM A LITTLE BIT OF SLEET HIM. >>REGINALD SHARIF GREW UP IN
ROANOKE
AND LATER RESEARCH THE IMPACT
OF ROANOKE’S URBAN RENEWAL
PROJECTS.
>>SHARIF
>>SHARIF >>SAYS THE CITY PAID UNDER MARKET VALUE FOR THE HOMES
MAKING IT DIFFICULT
AND EXPENSIVE FOR PEOPLE TO
MOVE TO NEW ONES.
OTHERS WERE EVEN MORE DIRECT WITH THEIR DISPLEASURE.
CLAUDIA WENTWORTH AT 93 YEARS OLD STILL PUBLISHES THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PAPER THE
ROANOKE TRIBUNE. BUT YEARS AGO THE PAPER’S HEADQUARTERS WERE BULLDOZED
WITHOUT NOTICE. >>THAT PHONE RANG AT 8 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING AND
SAY YOU KNOW THEY BONO’S AND
THAT REVIEW AND THAT WENT BY
AND THEN
EVERYTHING LOOKING IN AWE AT
THE WHOLE BILL AND IT TO BE ON
AND OFF.
I LOST AND GREET.
>>TODAY WE SEE THE ROANOKE
CIVIC CENTER.
THE MAIN POST OFFICE INTERSTATE
5.81 AND EVEN THE EXPANDED COCA
COLA PLANT BUT WE DON’T SEE THE
PENT-UP FRUSTRATION CREATED WHEN THOSE PROJECTS WERE UNDERTAKEN.
>>YOU ARE
NOT NEW.
I MEAN THEY THINK THEY ARE
REALLY REALLY GOOD.
>>PROJECTS THAT ARE STILL
BURNING INTO PEOPLE’S MEMORY.
>>WE JUST
AND WITHIN A NIGHTMARE.
>>AND
MEMBERS THAT FLARED UP BRIGHTLY
IN 2020.
INDEED BY THE DEATH OF GEORGE
FLOYD.
ARE REBORN PUSHED
FOR EQUALITY.
>>AND PERHAPS THOSE VOICES HAVE
BEEN HEARD AND IN ROANOKE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN RELEASED THIS MONTH.
THE CITY IS LOOKING AHEAD TO
THE YEAR
2040 INCLUDED IN THE PLAN IS
ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT THE CITY
STILL DEALS WITH NEGATIVE
CONSEQUENCES OF ROANOKE’S URBAN
RENEWAL PROGRAMS OF THE 1950’S
AND 60’S.
THE
PLAN SAYS CONSEQUENCES ARE
MANIFESTED IN MATTERS THAT SHOW
WORK IT’S HEALTH OUTCOMES, LESS
ECONOMIC MOBILITY.