When a business arrives, what does it owe the neighbors?
When a powerful company arrives in a neighborhood to construct a new building or set up shop, what does it owe the community? Can these new investors bring useful amenities rather than merely displacement of the current residents?
In kicking off a panel discussion on the issue at the From Day One conference on Sept. 13, Tucker Reed, co-founder of the real-estate tech and development firm Totem, read from a Washington Post essay making the case that today’s highly charged arguments about gentrification also tend to be oversimplified. “The more useful question isn’t whether ‘gentrification’ is good or bad,” the Post writer asserted, “but what it might look like to have new investment in a community that benefits existing and future residents alike.”
The panel brought together experts from multiple points of view on the issue, including real-estate development, community activism, and government, at the conference co-produced by The Bridge. Among their insights: