Healing Charlottesville
Partisan venting over Garrett renewal and loss of history.A Democratic city council made a mistake when they tore down Vinegar Hill. We lost private property, business, and history. Crime went up. Westhaven was so dangerous that it was not patrolled. You could not get a cab or pizza delivery. In the 1970s, a Democratic city council repeated that mistake on a larger scale. Garrett Square is not the site of an old graveyard. That is a myth. There is no historical marker to indicate any part of the two hundred year history of south downtown. The Historical Society, the public library, and Alderman library have no record of this history. The Garrett Street neighborhood was a mixed use, racially integrated, pedestrian-friendly, sustainable neighborhood of owner-occupied historic houses next to affordable rentals. Substandard houses were being replaced with new houses. Mr. Ix financed loans for his employees to buy property. This was a blue collar neighborhood of industry. The Garrett Street business district had two grocery stores, a restaurant and beer joint, a church, a school, Yellow Cab, the Salvation Army Thrift, shops, offices, and other stores. During renewal, entire hills were leveled. A tributary of the Rivanna river was buried, originating at Water St. flowing into Moore's creek. The biodiversity and biomass were greater in south downtown than in all of downtown today. A grove of rare "huck orange" trees was taken to the landfill. Only two of those trees remain in the city. The people hurt most were children. Young people saw families and friends lose their property and long-term security. Affordable property was converted to temporary housing with fluctuating rent. The war on poverty is a war to keep poor people poor. That neighborhood was safer than its replacement, Garrett Square, a high density rental. The Democrats destroyed an ideal neighborhood and then erased it from history. If you live in Fifeville or any neighborhood targeted for revitalization, whether you own or rent, get a camera. Take pictures of your house and neighborhood. Safeguard documents that show your address so that, in twenty years, you can prove you existed. And the city will be a more dangerous place to live. The Democrats are cleansing the city of its labor force, boasting about its labor shortage, and wondering why working class people are moving away. If labor leaves town, management is sure to follow. These two ingredients are necessary for the creation of wealth. With role models like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, a rich property owner and a common man who became rich, I, for one, will not stand idly by while the Democrats destroy this community, its economy, its history and environment.
Blair Hawkins Monday 5 June 2000
At the city council meeting to discuss the naming of the Tenth Street Connector after Sally Hemings, I gave a copy of this pamphlet to each member of city council, city manager and city attorney. Copies also went to the press box. I no longer give them copies. The two speeches I delivered that night will come to you through email this week.
No media outlet reported any part of the history I created that night. You still wonder why nobody participates in politics? The media should to explain why they exclude individuals from participation in history. I need help to preserve the history you are right now witnessing. Urban Renewal of south downtown was controversial as it happened, contested in court, widely reported and documented. Photojournalists came to town. Books were written. I have been to the local libraries and Historical Society. Where is that history? At the city assessor's office is a three-inch-thick folder of Garrett renewal containing deeds, eviction notices, building permits, assessments, addresses on streets that no longer exist, names of property owners, newspaper clippings, real estate classifieds. Or should I say, the folder was there last year. The people who invested in the neighborhood in the '60s had no idea destruction was right around the corner. Unlike today, The Daily Progress covered the story. Reading the paper from the '50s and '60s shows how sharp the decline in education and civic pride has been. Urban Renewal is a malignant cancer that has spread throughout the body politic. Is anyone surprised at my righteous indignation? I am sorry to be so negative. But we can't fix problems if we don't talk about them. If you feel bad about what I'm saying, then get off your butt and do something about it. A vote for a Democrat is approval of the destruction of Charlottesville.
Blair Hawkins Posted
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