The Eagle-Market Street neighborhood in downtown Asheville, colloquially referred to as “the Block,” has served as one of the city’s major African-American areas, from the time of emancipation to the modern day. Though it once hosted a booming community of black businesses and social gathering sites, today it seems almost abandoned, loosely tethered by the YMI Cultural Center and the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, two institutions representative of the African-American history of the neighborhood. Now, the city, partnering with Mountain Housing Opportunities, a local non-profit dedicated to creating affordable housing, and the Eagle-Market Streets Development Corporation, a local non-profit formed by African-American leaders to promote the development of stable independent businesses, has begun redevelopment of the neighborhood. Through the construction of affordable housing spaces and the opening of new commercial spaces, the city hopes to revitalize the area and make it more a part of downtown Asheville while still maintaining its African-American heritage. The latter is paramount, for urban renewal plans in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s meant to similarly rejuvenate the neighborhood instead tore it apart, displacing many residents and driving out local businesses. Many substandard homes were demolished, and residents were moved to project housing intended to be temporary at the time. For the city’s new plan to be successful, the departments involved must assess the mistakes of the past in order to refrain from repeating them. Local community leaders also must prepare to adapt to the changes the renewal will bring, and both sides must keep an eye out for the possibility of gentrification as the area becomes more commercially desirable. A series of articles investigates the multifaceted issue of revitalizing the Eagle-Market Street neighborhood.
