Community remodeling
photos by dylan marzke
Bright lights from Coca-Cola billboards and luxury automobiles danced across the pavement of Main Street as residents and visitors alike flooded out of the State Theater and into the bustling heart of downtown Benton Harbor. The city, rich with industry and the most popular stopping ground between Detroit and Chicago, boasted an abundance of retail stores, luxury hotels, and castle-like mansions as well as an opera house which hosted the likes of Al Capone and Frank Sinatra.
Then, two factors changed it all: the death of manufacturing and the birth of I-94. Suffering the same fate as many rustbelt cities in the US, the days of manufacturing fighter jets, car parts, and washing machines began their decline in the 1960s. As industry left the city, the residents who stayed behind began facing poverty, racism, and civil unrest. The construction of I-94 also heightened this problem, as visitor traffic through downtown Benton Harbor declined exponentially—forcing many businesses to close their doors for good.
In the years since, the city of Benton Harbor has become further accustomed to civil struggles and a fear of being forced out by neighboring cities. Now, the threat of a school closure looms above the city and its residents.
In a visit to the city’s school district to better understand its needs and shortcomings, Mr. Michael Rice, the State Superintendent, concluded that a community without a high school isn’t a community, and a school without the support of the community isn’t a school. This is becoming the message that the city of Benton Harbor is rallying behind—if the community supports its youth, then the quality of education they receive will increase dramatically. The mission to gain that community support is now underway.
That said, the school closure is only a branch of the deeper-rooted worry for the residents: gentrification forcing them out of their community. This worry, and subsequent distrust of the city government, is largely as a result of the appointment of an emergency manager in April of 2010.
Emergency managers are given power through the state to take complete control of a local governing body—without needing the consent of elected officials to make decisions for the community's financials. For example, it was an emergency manager in the city of Flint that decided to change its water supply to the Flint river to save money. This decision resulted in the Flint water crisis.
The emergency manager in Benton Harbor, early in his role, sold off a large plot of lakefront property formerly owned by the city. This property is now Harbor Shores and its related real estate developments. Although the city saw the financial benefits from this sale, many saw it as an attempt by the government to take land from their community and give it to the wealthy, primarily white, residents of Saint Joseph. It’s likely that Benton Harbor residents now worry that the school closure is another effort by the state to gentrify their town.
That said, the strength and diversity of downtown Benton Harbor and the Arts District are showing large flickers of hope for a cultural gentrification—not a “white flight” style one. The difference between the two: the community remodels, not rebuilds.
“For those who see Benton Harbor as hopeless, helpless, mismanaged, poor, failed leadership, on a dead-end course, it’s easy for them to say, ‘Shut it down,’”
Historically, Benton Harbor has been considered a microcosm of larger rustbelt cities such as Chicago, Cinnicinati, and Detroit. These cities can now be used as predictors for the future of Benton Harbor. For example, the city of Detroit also suffered a long recession after industry left—leaving the city ridden with poverty, vacant properties, and crime. In recent years, however, the city has experienced a cultural revitalization largely through art and food. This new culture sparked the regrowth of the city. Downtown Benton Harbor is now in the early phases of this process as well.
“Artists are typically the first gentrifiers,” Mr. Steve Zieverink, professional artist and owner of Emma’s Hearth and Market in downtown Benton Harbor, said.
As can be seen in the Arts District, the introduction of art and food brings to light the culture of a city—and with culture comes appeal. It’s this appeal that has drawn more people into the Benton Harbor community and begun a period of economic development in the area. The remodeling process has been mere sparks for the past decade, but recently developers have brought these sparks to a flame, lighting the way for others to join in a modern restoration of the historical downtown.
What makes the gentrification of downtown Benton Harbor different from that of other urban restorations is that many of the businesses which root themselves in the community have also pledged support—some silently and others publicly—to not leave behind its native residents.
For example, Steve’s restaurant, Emma’s Hearth and Market, hosts events such as “Food Truck Fridays” which encourage a diverse crowd to share meals in downtown Benton Harbor while sitting at communal tables, which invites conversation between these diverse groups. It’s around these tables that discussions about how to improve the city for its youth and how to keep the residents involved in the community often occur. Events like Food Truck Fridays also give residents the opportunity to explore healthier food options which aren’t readily available otherwise.
"Our goal is to educate people about current food issues [and] to create a dialogue towards better health and happiness, as well as make it easy to access the best organic food possible,” Ms. Wendy Uhlman, co-owner of Emma’s Hearth and Market and Steve’s wife, said in an interview with Moody on the Market.
Other local organizations and businesses, such as Water Street Glassworks and ARS Gallery and Culture Center, offer after-school programs for Benton Harbor youth to become immersed in the growing art and culture in Benton Harbor, as well as helping those students to find a passion which can potentially support the community in their future.
Unfortunately, not all developers entering downtown Benton Harbor have the same mindset of the organizations and businesses previously mentioned; that’s where this idea of gentrification becomes much less black and white. As these individuals displace Benton Harbor residents from their homes and turn them into profit and heightened property values, the battle to keep residents from being forced out of their city grows. Although there is no simple solution to this problem, the community still holds one powerful weapon: the city’s youth.
“For those who see Benton Harbor as hopeless, helpless, mismanaged, poor, failed leadership, on a dead-end course, it’s easy for them to say, ‘Shut it down,’” Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad, who graduated from Benton Harbor High School and later taught there, said. “But for somebody, as myself, who was a great beneficiary of the greatness of Benton Harbor, I can look at the faults, look at the areas that need improvement and say, ‘I’m willing to work on them.’”
And that’s just what the city is doing.
