Time is running out for Parramore residents

-

Parramore is doomed.




While most residents of Orlando’s historically black Parramore community were complying with the coronavirus stay-at-home order, the Orlando Business Journal broke a story reporting that a committee of high-powered downtown developers and sports-business executives are working with City Hall to create a “neighborhood improvement district” “that would develop a more attractive neighborhood; form a community advisory board; improve communication between businesses; support new development projects, and create community-based revenue opportunities to support programs and initiatives.

The committee of 16 executives includes only 2 black people and no longtime Parramore residents.

This news is the latest and boldest move to complete the gentrification of Parramore, which will surely force out the remaining black residents and anyone else who can’t afford the rents which have skyrocketed from $500 three years ago to more than $1,200 for a shabby apartment.

The push to eradicate Parramore has been underway since the mid-1980s when Orlando razed dozens of homes and apartments to build the Orlando Arena. The bulldozers have been busy since then leveling houses and apartments. During the past 30 years Parramore’s population has crash from 20,000 to 4,500.

When current Buddy Dyer was originally elected Orlando mayor 17 years ago he told citizens to judge him by what he did to improve Parramore.

Most people assumed that Dyer planned to make things better for the longtime residents, but that’s not what happened.

Instead the gentrification went into hyperdrive with even more people being forced out. City Hall cynically used demographic and poverty measurements to get grant and special taxing district money to help fuel new development and gentrification.

Last summer the newest mega development to open in Parramore was the downtown campus for the University of Central Florida and Valencia College. Parramore residents weren’t even invited to tour the campus that opened in their front yard.

The development district being sought by the committee would target 130 acres, but so far, they have not publicly identified which parcels they are targeting.

For more on this breaking news listen to the “32805 Spotlight” podcast by clicking here.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Girl gets body slammed, now cops want to arrest her

-
Image
  Believe it or not, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office is considering filing criminal charges against the teen-age black girl shown in a viral video being body slammed by a deputy last Tuesday (Jan. 26). During a news conference on Saturday (Jan. 30) civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Natalie Jackson revealed that sheriff’s office detectives called Taylor Bracey’s home and asked her parents to let them interview her as they considered filing assault and resisting arrest charges against the girl. This tactic is intended to take legal heat off the deputy who hurt Taylor. Ms. Jackson said they advised their client to exercise her 5 th Amendment right not to answer questions because the responses could be used against her in a criminal court. Crump, who is known for representing black people and families who have been victimized by racism and police violence, said the deputy should be facing criminal charges for brutally assaulting 16-year-old Taylor. Taylor was knocked unco...
Read more

Orlando ignored environmental racism, so women stepped up

-
Image
  Orlando responded to requests to study pollution and the health of residents in Parramore and other historically black neighborhoods by dragging its feet for years. That’s why the Coalition of Black Women – Central Florida applied for and received a $120,000 federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to study these long-standing problems. “People’s health and lives were at risk,” said Project Manager Lawanna Gelzer. “We were tired waiting on the city. We had to act.” The grant work begins this Thursday (Dec. 3) 6:30 p.m. when the Coalition of 100 Black Women holds an online community forum to begin the fact-finding process. Residents are encouraged to attend this forum by clicking: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqceippjIiGtHDymQPlxPKN5asozf1qXCV (After you click, check your email for access to the meeting.) The dangerous pollution in Orlando’s historically black Parramore community was spotlighted almost 2 years ago in a national article pub...
Read more

Recruiting 'citizen scientists' in urban Orlando

-
Image
    Do you know anyone who ever wanted to be a scientist? Now they have a chance to make that dream reality right here in Orlando. The Coalition of 100 Black Women – Central Florida is looking for “citizen scientist” candidates to work under the $120,000 federal grant the organization received recently from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to study air pollution in the Parramore, Holden Heights and Mercy Drive communities.  (For more information on this grant, and the project, click here.) That’s right…WORK! The people selected as citizen scientists will be paid a stipend. To be a citizen scientist you don’t need a fancy degree. “We’re looking for people who are reliable, motivated and intellectually curious,” said Project Manager Lawanna Gelzer. This could be a great opportunity for a student, a retired person, an activist, or anyone who wants to work on a project that can help protect the health of thousands of people who live in and near downtown Orlando. Th...
Read more