Climate Gentrification in Miami
Along the coasts of Miami’s beach front properties rising sea levels are becoming a flood risk to homeowners, influencing wealthy residents and land developers to look more inland at higher elevation to escape the rising seas, consequently displacing the low income residents who live in these high elevation neighborhoods. This type of gentrification is called, “climate gentrification” and it is especially pronounced in a low-income immigrant neighborhood called Little Haiti, where a billion dollar development project called “Magic City Innovation District — Little Haiti” is underway to transform the neighborhood into a luxury public space filled with residential and commercial complexes, art centers, cafes and more. The project has faced pushback from Little Haiti’s residents who claim that they will be displaced, and the project will erase the Haitian culture the neighborhood has become known for. While development is positive thing the underserved neighborhood needs, Magic City developers have not done enough to prevent the displacement of these low-income residents, consequently widening racial and income inequalities.
Climate gentrification in Miami is a clear example of how climate change is changing the housing market, consequently widening already prevalent racial inequalities. Historically Miami has used segregation and redlining to relegate low-income black residents inland onto higher elevation, while wealthier white residents lived on beach front properties (Structural Racism In Miami). In an article by Aparna Nathan, “Climate is the Newest Gentrifying Force, and its Effects are Already Re-Shaping Cities,” he argues how this geography is changing as climate change is largely influencing where people live, citing how low-income neighborhoods on high elevation have historically been undesirable in Miami, until the seas started to rise, and wealthy residents and investors moved inland, subsequently spiking the price of homes and gentrifying the area. They show this by pointing to a study titled “Climate gentrification: from theory to empiricism in Miami-Dade County, Florida,” by Jesse M Keenan, who found that homes on higher elevation are increasing in value while homes on lower elevation are decreasing in value. Magic City developers themselves deny that Little Haiti’s elevation had anything to do with their decision in choosing the location, but they do recognize the value of that elevation in an era of climate change, claiming on their website that “Magic City Innovation District’s® elevation…provides the basis for achieving long term urban resiliency in South Florida” (Magic City). As developers like Magic City raise housing prices in low-income neighborhoods like Little Haiti, homes that are safe from rising seas become unaffordable for low-income groups, consequently displacing residents into areas vulnerable to flooding and widening inequalities.
Magic City development is displacing Little Haiti’s residents by raising rent prices and excessively fining business to drive them out. Rollin Virgile, owner of a tuxedo shop, says that “he couldn’t afford to stay in Little Haiti, and his business had lost more than half its clients after being priced out of the neighborhood he served” (“High ground, high prices”). Another article titled “Will Magic City Innovation District improve or damage Little Haiti?,” by Gabriela Enamorado and Edvina Paul, also found that development is displacing business by excessively fining them in an attempt to drive them away. In an interview with Ore Nelson, owner of Tripod Collision and Repair Shop, he says that “Miami City Hall is helping developers by citing business for code violations and imposing fines.” The authors also found that “many restaurant owners in Little Haiti are at their wits’ end with the fines and constant offers.” While revitalizing the neighborhood is a benefit that will bring more businesses and economy, development is also making it impossible for resident to live there anymore.
When Magic City displaces residents, they also rupture the social and cultural connections that residents have built in the neighborhood. In an article by Diana Olick, she observes how Little Haiti’s business have been removed to make way for new infrastructure catered to a wealthier clientele, writing how “an entire row of formerly Haitian-owned businesses are empty and being gutted. On one side of the street, a sleek and trendy high-end coffee company has already moved in, in stark contrast to the ethnic stores.” In an article by Maria Raudez, titled “Climate gentrification in Little Haiti” she also finds that shops that are centers of Haitian culture are being removed and residents are fearful of that because it is the culture that connects this immigrant neighborhood. The article points to Jean-Luc Adrien, from The Community Justice Project, a group of lawyers who advocate for racial justice, who claims that Little Haiti is “the only area, the fabric of the community that [residents have] known. Connections to their friends, families and work [are] kind of broken.” Activist Nadege Green also emphasizes this point claiming that gentrification “has frayed tight-knit social bonds in the community, where locals who only speak Creole rely on neighbors to help them navigate government bureaucracies.” (“High ground, high prices”). Displacement fractures those support systems for Haitian immigrants and erases the vibrant cultural the neighborhood is known for.
Rising rents and fines are causing displacement, but underlying factors such as Little Haiti’s cost-burdened renters and Miami’s low wages accelerates that displacement because residents were already struggling to afford rent even before developers came in. In an article by Patrick Sisson, he points out how Little Haiti’s residents can easily be displaced because most of them are cost-burdened renters, meaning they pay more than a third of their income on rent, and Miami’s “city’s tourist-driven economy keeps wages low.” Mario Alejandro Ariza also emphasizes this in his article, “As Miami Keeps Building, Rising Seas Deepen Its Social Divide,” claiming that because most of Little Haiti’s residents are cost-burdened renters, they “could easily be displaced onto lower ground.” With no protection from rising rent costs, residents are stuck in a state of vulnerability where rising rents can easily displace them, and there is no support for residents to find another affordable home.
In fact, Miami’s housing crisis has only exacerbated the consequences of displacement because of the limited amount of affordable homes available. In an article titled “In Miami, rising seas threatening the few affordable neighborhoods” by Alex Hariri and Yadira Lopez, they find that the amount of affordable housing in Miami is small and the few affordable houses that are available are usually vulnerable to flooding and hurricanes. In fact, a report on Miami’s housing crisis, titled “Miami’s Housing Affordability Crisis” found that “Greater Miami ranks as the seventh least-affordable large metro (with more than 5 million people) in the world” and that unaffordability usually hits black residents the hardest who “have, on average, less than $4,000 in income left over after paying for their housing each year” (Florida et. al). Not only is affordable housing scarce, but a study by Earth Economics also found that even if Little Haiti’s displaced residents find affordable housing, which will likely be in an area prone to flooding, they also face significant relocation, commute, and flooding costs. This means climate change is magnifying inequalities between socioeconomic classes and this highlights just how important it is for Magic City developers to prevent displacement and avoid placing this already vulnerable community in more climate vulnerable areas.
While the project is doing more harm than good for Little Haiti’s residents, Magic City developers continue to claim that the project will benefit Little Haiti by creating an economy and jobs while preserving Little Haiti’s culture. Tony Cho, cofounder of the Magic City Innovation District, claims that his mission is to “really celebrate Little Haiti” and the plan will “do something really positive for this community” (“Little Haiti residents forced from home again as climate change upends Miami real estate”). Magic City developers have taken steps to help the neighborhood by offering a $31 million fund for affordable housing and even renamed the district to “Magic City Innovation District — Little Haiti” to acknowledge the culture. Though this fund has not protected residents who are already priced out of their homes and businesses and has not helped them afford homes in a city that “has the eighth-highest rental prices in the nation” (Florida et al.). Furthermore, while the new name is a nod towards the culture, developers have not protected the Haitian residents who keep that culture alive. If Magic City developers plan to develop in Little Haiti, they need to do so in a way that protects vulnerable residents from displacement and the ensuing costly burdens, because otherwise Magic City will only aid in widening already prevalent racial and income inequalities.
In an opinion article titled “Climate gentrification and affordable housing policies,” authors David L. Kelly and Renato Molina highlight some solutions that could curb climate gentrification. Specifically, they argue that combining resilience investments with the removal of zoning restrictions is the solution to curbing climate gentrification. This means building infrastructure that is resistant to climate disasters along the coasts and removing zoning restrictions, which would allow developers to build more housing which curbs rising rent prices. The problem with resilience investments is that not only are they expensive and there are limited funds, but they are also only a temporary solution to protect Miami’s coasts. Miami’s coastal homes are sitting on porous limestone where water can rise up from the ground, and climate infrastructure like walls can do nothing to prevent it. Additionally, building pumps that drain floodwater only contributes to climate change because they release large amounts of carbon emissions (Highwaterline). Furthermore, removing zoning restrictions to build more housing does not guarantee that affordable housing will be built, because essentially the “housing market is structured to maximize profit” (Budds).
Instead, the implementation of inclusionary housing policies is an effective solution that will help prevent displacement in Little Haiti. Inclusionary housing policies will require developers to reserve 10–20% of new residential units to residents in the neighborhood at affordable prices. An article from the National Housing Conference (NHC) found that inclusionary housing policies curb displacement of residents and allow low-income residents to benefit from “amenity-rich neighborhoods.” In other words, affordable housing will allow residents to live in the neighborhood and actually benefit from the new development that is being built. A research report on Miami’s housing crisis, titled “The Dynamics of Housing Affordability in Miami-Dade County” also found that with dwindling state and federal housing programs, inclusionary housing will be at little cost to the public, who are already living on low wages in Miami. (Greiner et. al). Of course, inclusionary housing alone will not alone solve climate gentrification in Miami and should be implemented with other policies, such as raising wages, to provide a long-term solution. Though for now it will provide relief to the current displacement by reserving homes that developers are already building.
With the current course of climate change, it is inevitable that homeowners will start to move inland as sea levels rise. Though there should also be protections for low-income and minority groups because systematic factors already make them vulnerable to displacement and climate disasters. Miami’s climate gentrification is just a part of a larger problem of social inequalities around the world that are being magnified by climate change disasters. Hopefully, as developers and governments recognize the factors that make minorities and low income groups vulnerable to climate change disasters, policies will be implemented to make sure they are not left behind in the wake of climate change.
Sources:
https://archive.curbed.com/2020/1/30/21115351/upzoning-definition-affordable-housing-gentrification
https://highwaterline.org/sea-level-rise-faqs/
https://archive.curbed.com/2020/2/10/21128496/miami-real-estate-climate-change-gentrification
https://nhc.org/policy-guide/inclusionary-housing-the-basics/
https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-miami-keeps-building-rising-seas-deepen-its-social-divide
https://urbanandracialequity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Structural-Racism-in-Miami-.pdf
https://magiccitydistrict.com/neighborhood/
https://nhc.org/policy-guide/inclusionary-housing-the-basics/
