This is the latest installment in our Main Street NC series from the 瓜神app Politics Podcast. We're visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face, from storm damage to gentrification.
In College Park and other southeast Raleigh neighborhoods, modern-looking, multi-story homes are going up next to much smaller homes that have been here for nearly a century. They often sell for more than a half-million dollars, while the older homes can be valued at around $100,000.
The homeowners who remain are facing constant offers to sell their property to developers 鈥� or get stuck with higher property taxes as land values rise quickly.
Longtime resident and community activist Octavia Rainey sees those newly built homes and fences as symbolic of gentrification in the historically Black neighborhood she鈥檚 called home for 70 years.
You don鈥檛 have to live here to quickly notice the shift. There's construction on nearly every block and the newer homes surround their remaining older neighbors.
But Rainey says she鈥檚 not going anywhere.
"This is my beloved community," she said. "I will always consider College Park as my home. As a matter of fact, I plan to die here. I have no intentions of moving, and that's why I'm so upset because they don't even try to preserve Black communities."
Rainey is concerned that the rapid change is erasing Southeast Raleigh鈥檚 history.
For much of the 20th century, it was one of the few areas of Raleigh where Black families could own or rent homes. Many of the houses here have been in the same families for generations, giving rise to the city鈥檚 Black middle class.
"You've got to pay Black people back," she said. "You can't just take and take and take and take from them, and you don't do nothing to replace what you took."
Rainey is also worried that affordable housing is a shrinking resource in Southeast Raleigh. City government and nonprofit groups have been working to build new affordable complexes, but they fill up quickly and the cost is still out of reach for some.
One of those residents is Dianne Lee. She and her family have rented a modest house on Jones Street for the past 50 years, but now her landlord has told her she's ending their lease.
"Her husband died, then she came back and she said, 'well, you need to be looking for somewhere, because I'm putting the house up for sale,'" Lee said. "She said, 'I got to take care of myself. I can't afford the taxes and all this stuff on this house.'"
Lee and her daughter are working with Rainey to find rental housing nearby where the family can move. But many of the apartments deemed affordable by city government still cost too much for Lee.
While some families priced out of Southeast Raleigh have moved to outlying suburbs, Lee says that鈥檚 not an option for her.
"I need to be close to a grocery store, a drug store, and with my husband being sick, we got to stay close to the hospital," she said. "We can't go that far that we can't get to a hospital."
Rainey wants the city to rethink how it defines affordable housing. She says the current benchmarks based on a percentage of the area鈥檚 average median income are too high, leading to the construction of new housing that鈥檚 too expensive for Raleigh鈥檚 poorest residents.
But she says Southeast Raleigh community leaders don鈥檛 have as much political influence as they used to.
"When you lose your political power structure, oh my God, that means you have to settle for what these candidates said they are going to do, and they don't have to appeal to you as Blacks," she said. "A long time ago, when southeast Raleigh was completely Black, we were a force to reckon with."
Still, affordable housing was a key issue in last year鈥檚 election for Raleigh mayor and city council. And gentrification is a hot topic wherever you go in Southeast Raleigh.
At the Barber Kingz barbershop in the South Park neighborhood about a mile from downtown, all the chairs were full on a recent Friday. Barber Alex Walton says the gentrification here brings positives as well as negatives.
"I think the people in the neighborhood, they just want to be a part of gentrification," he said. "They don't want to be forced out. They want nice things, and they want coffee shops like everybody else."
Walton and the other barbers here say they鈥檝e cut hair for longtime residents and newcomers alike. And they understand why the area is so appealing.
"You really can't ask for a better location, like to live in these four or five blocks: You've got four parks over here, a YMCA right here, basketball court right down the street," barber Reggie Lewis said. "I guess it's an ideal location."
Directly behind Barber Kingz, another Black-owned business is off to a strong start. Chef Antoine Spates opened Raleigh Soul Kitchen last fall from a simple takeout window inside a convenience store. It's already attracting attention on social media for menu items like fried catfish, wings and oxtail tacos.
He says he wants to provide affordable food for a neighborhood that has few options for a quick bite.
"There's no grocery store, there's no nothing in the vicinity of this area," he said. "You got to get on the bus to go somewhere, to get some food, or walk all the way downtown."
To hear a city leader鈥檚 perspective on Southeast Raleigh鈥檚 gentrification and affordable housing challenges, 瓜神app spoke with Raleigh City Councilman Corey Branch. He鈥檚 represented District C 鈥� areas to the south and east of downtown 鈥� for the past decade and has also served as mayor pro tem.
NOTE: This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Is the demand for housing here caused by the area鈥檚 proximity to downtown and the region's overall growth, or are there some other factors that play into why this part of Raleigh has become so hot from a real-estate standpoint?
"I think historically, there wasn't the investment in the community as much. Also, in southeast Raleigh we don't have a lot of HOAs, where a lot of communities have HOAs that determine and control the change and what can happen. Here, people learn to live and grow as they please, as long as within city code and guidelines."
You mentioned the investment on this side of town. Has that changed over the last generation? I know for a while, Raleigh didn't put as many resources into Chavis Park, the large park on this side of town, as Pullen Park on the other side of town.
"I know from growing up in the community, and the things that were promised that didn't happen, and I've tried to help fulfill some of those promises 鈥� finally getting Chavis moving forward, getting some of our roads improved, working to get two more grocery stores in the district. It鈥檚 taken too long, but hopefully within the next year, I can announce two new grocery stores that are coming to the area."
What do you think the role of city government is in helping longtime residents avoid getting priced out?
"Definitely working with them, doing what we can to control property taxes. I think the biggest impact is (property) valuation, and valuation impacts the rate tremendously. We always talk about net neutral, and when you go net neutral, that means the amount of taxes the city is collecting remains the same, even though your valuation has gone up 鈥� so we lower our rates. This past year, we didn't go completely net neutral, because we have to pay our employees. People want quality services."
Affordable housing has been a hot topic for the Raleigh City Council, and it was a hot topic in the election that just happened last year. What do you see the city government's role in that, and how does that translate down on the ground in your district?
"One is getting some housing down that may be market rate, but kind of on the lower end, to help those that don't qualify for a voucher, or they don't qualify for a tax credit project.
"So, we have to find ways to meet people at multiple incomes, definitely helping those on the low end, working with our nonprofits, from the Raleigh Housing Authority, Passage Home, DHIC, Habitat for Humanity, working with those organizations 鈥� as well as looking at programs that keep people in their home through the home rehab program that the city has."
Is there any way to maintain neighborhoods like South Park鈥檚 historic character, with so many new homes going in to replace older homes on those streets?
"When you see those single lots, we never change the zoning. Someone purchased it, and then they decided they wanted to make a change with the home that is there. And that's something that, unfortunately, we can't control.
"But one of the things we've done is the , working with the residents in South Park, and converting the Top Greene Center, to a community center, a resource center, so we can keep some of that historic value, that historic information, and tell that story from generations to come."
What other investments would you like to see the city make in southeast Raleigh in the years to come? What else is needed for this portion of the city?
"The biggest thing I would like to see is just jobs. We lost over 300 jobs when DMV moved (its headquarters to Rocky Mount). When people can live and work and not have to travel 30 minutes or an hour to work, I think that helps bring a sense of community."
Hear more from Branch and 瓜神app's visit to southeast Raleigh on the 瓜神app Politics Podcast.
