A new ordinance is aiming to protect the historically Black neighborhoods of Louisville, Kentucky.
According to WHAS11, community members are pushing for the Historically Black Neighborhoods Law, an ordinance sponsored by Jecorey Arthur of District 4. The ordinance was prompted by a 2019 Louisville Housing Needs Assessment that found residents of historically Black neighborhoods had the highest risk of displacement and gentrification.
Smoketown native Rhonda Mathies said community members only have memories of what their neighborhood used to be.
“They have lost the cultural, the heritage,” Mathies said. “That's a byproduct for what's going on now. We have so many developers, gentrification going on in these neighborhoods, and they push them out. Those who live there can no longer afford to live there, because of the price gouging.”
Mathies' brother, Ronald Washington, noted that businesses have also been pushed out of the neighborhood.
“The grocery stores, they took all them out. The ball field, that's gone,” Washington said. “So, when they bring some new, they take something away.”
Under the ordinance, developers who want to use Metro Government-owned land, funding, or other metro resources will be required to go through a displacement assessment to determine if residents are at risk.
"For homes and apartments that won't be rented, the development must be deemed affordable housing. If the development is for retail, the income demographic of its targeted customers must be compared to the area and poverty estimates," WHAS11 reports.
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