GENTRIFIER

A cultural critic recounts what happened after a grant awarded her a “free” house in Detroit.

In a series of eye-opening vignettes, Moore shares her experiences being given a house by an arts organization as part of an urban renewal program. In 2013, in what the author deems a branding project, the organization began accepting applications from low-income writers to participate in a permanent writers’ residency in the vein of Virginia Woolf, the central vision being that writers just need “a room of their own” to be successful. After more than two years of setbacks, Moore was finally able to move into the house. With keen insight and wit, the author examines her position as a “white girl in a Bengali Muslim neighborhood in a majority Black city.” She chronicles the struggles with her role in the gentrification of the neighborhood—even though she was assured that the house had stood empty for the past eight years. Soon, her neighborhood’s ongoing water, sanitation, and educational issues became apparent, as did the city’s lack of empathy for the community’s plight: “Talk of urban renewal and local boosterism masks horrible mismanagement, the violent seizure of resources, and city residents placed in grave physical danger.” When she needed to replace her roof, she discovered that the organization, which had transparency issues from the beginning, would not honor the contract. Moore also candidly shares details of her childhood, the concern of her friends regarding her safety, and the daily challenges of her autoimmune disease. In time, Moore befriended the local youth and emerged with a sense of belonging in her new neighborhood, sharing meals and holidays, despite the seemingly endless bureaucratic obstacles. She also found solace in gardening despite an eccentric neighbor who disrupted her herbs and vegetables. Readers will find a good complementary read in Drew Philps’ A $500 House in Detroit (2017).

A unique, lovely meditation on the power of community.