re: Historically black neighborhoods in lafayette fear gentrification pushing them out.

White flight= bad / racist

Gentrification = bad / racist

Edit: Displaced beat me to it...

they're talking about the neighborhoods between Willow and Pinhook

but remember:

State/Feds paying top dollar for their dilapidated properties to build the I49 connector = OK

White people paying fair market value and renovating or rebuilding = Racist

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Here's a novel idea: if you're poor and can't afford repairs or are in danger of losing your house due to tax liens and/or foreclosure, why not take advantage of a hot housing market and increase in property values to sell your house for a higher value than you previously could have. Then use the equity to pay off debts and improve your financial situation?

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Then where they gonna live?

It’s not just Lafayette it’s all over Louisiana, these are the same issues that have prevented some of the sections of I-49 from being completed in Shreveport. One of the biggest slum areas in a town full of slum areas has got up in arms every time highway officials try to find a route that is acceptable.
They refuse to allow progress for all because a few scream, “ these shacks are our homes” of course you always have a “good reverend” leading the pack and these folks haven’t figured out yet that those people use the community group to yell and holler so that some one will eventually offer the “good reverend” some under the table payment to shut the group up. It’s minorities using other minorities to take advantage of all minorities.

This drives me insane. on the one hand, you have groups of people who are engaged in improving the shithole that is Northside Lafayette. The UPPER LAFAYETTE Economic Development Foundation was started in '05 with this purpose. They didn't want to refer to it as Northside because of negative connotations, so they re-branded it as 'Upper' Lafayette. They've made some headway....some. And then you have those such as this ‘bishop’, presumably some sort of leader in his community (at a minimum a guy who has a small congregation of decent citizens) who undermines any progress made by the foundation. Meanwhile, most of the money just says “frick it…….I’m investing in Youngsville, Broussard, Scott, etc.”

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Need to invest in it by plowing it down with 8 lanes of Interstate 49 through there.

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With nice high sound barrier walls so i dont have to look at the trash

Wish I was black so I can blame all my problems today on crap that happened decades ago before I was born

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Fair enough to look at the Black community and say "What culture?" But never forget that culture actually exists. Do you not think Europe has culture? They have buildings up today that were first created in the 1300s. If you don't think people trying to make a quick buck here in the US rather than thinking about the long term has a negative effect on the overall quality of life of the average American than you are wrong.

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We are talking about dilapidated shacks, not some great architectural accomplishment that should be preserved

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The UPPER LAFAYETTE Economic Development Foundation was started in '05 with this purpose. They didn't want to refer to it as Northside because of negative connotations, so they re-branded it as 'Upper' Lafayette.

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What? It was called Northside before the blacks were predominate there. Go Vikings!

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Then where they gonna live?

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Use proceeds from selling their house in the revitalized neighborhood to buy/rent another house in a different neighborhood thats more affordable and not pricing people out via gentrification?