Officials of the Unity Group said the Westside Evolves project that includes tearing down the College Hill Courts and providing a mix of housing types will bring a further decline in the number of black residents downtown.
Officials said, "The proposed One Westside Plan, like most Chattanooga plans, sounds great. It will provide affordable housing, parks, and it promises to allow all existing residents to remain in Westside. Yet, in most urban neighborhoods in and around downtown Chattanooga, the African American population has continuously declined between 2000 and 2021.
"The data demonstrates that when major development projects are undertaken in Chattanooga, the African American community is disproportionately displaced. In 2000, most census tracts surrounding downtown were majority African American. The pattern was similar in 2010 with a few tracts switching to majority and a few switching to non-majority African American.
"The biggest changes happened between 2010 and 2021 as Chattanooga continued to grow and attract artists, tech workers, and other creatives. The map shows that Northeast Chattanooga and Avon Park remain African American majority communities. Most of downtown and the southeast corridor of the analysis geography are no longer African American majority. The last remaining high concentration of African Americans downtown is Westside.
"The non-Hispanic African American population totals for each of the tracts in the geographic focus area were tabulated. The numbers are sobering and strongly suggest that displacement has been the norm for the last 21 years.
"The total African American population in the analysis neighborhoods are as follows:
? African American Population 2000: 31,824
? African American Population 2010: 28,375
? African American Population 2021: 23,131
"Between 2000 and 2010, the African American population dropped from 31,824 to 28,375 (loss of 3,449). Between 2010 and 2021, the population decreased by 5,244. In total, the African American population declined by 8,693 from 2000 to 2021. Roughly 27 percent of the African American population in 2000 no longer live in these neighborhoods.
"In Hamilton County, the African American population increased from 61,750 in 2010 to 66,323 in 2010. The 2021 African American population was stable at 66,726. At the county level, the African American population has not experienced dramatic shifts or declines. Yet, in and around downtown Chattanooga, the African American population has experienced a sharp decline.
"Whether by design or market forces, redevelopment in the urban core and surrounding neighborhoods has not boded well for African American residents. Thousands of them have been displaced by the destruction of public housing, market rents, and higher earning workers in the innovative economy.
"The Unity Group is especially concerned about this cycle of new development and African American displacement. At times, it seems like a Charlie Brown cartoon. Lucy promises Charlie to hold the football so he can kick it, but she always pulls it away and Charlie lands on his rear end. Charlie, for whatever reason, always takes Lucy at her word.
"At a minimum, Chattanooga leaders and One Westside supporters need to be honest. African Americans will be displaced. The pattern is clear and indisputable. Safeguards have not been in place to give African Americans opportunities to remain in and around downtown Chattanooga. The market forces unleashed by hyper-gentrification radically change local culture, housing prices, and community networks. It has happened throughout Chattanooga for the last 20+ years."