Mary Anna is a junior studying english.
We often think of Hillsborough Street, an area that connects NC State with downtown Raleigh, as a place where new meets old, where students on campus may go to experience the quirks and unashamed tenacity of the city without having to venture too far. The much-beloved culture of the area is being eaten away by capitalist dreams. Small businesses like Reader’s Corner and Mitch’s Tavern that students gravitate toward will gradually be consumed by condominium complexes and chain restaurants.
A document published in October 1999, “A New Vision for Hillsborough Street: Walkability and Redevelopment Study,” detailed additions to the street, which mostly concerned improved means of transportation. However, the plans for development as they exist now focus less on parking and roundabouts and more on new establishments. On the current redevelopment initiatives, City Councilor Russ Stephenson said, “It’s a very heartening reaffirmation of the original 1999 vision for revitalizing Hillsborough Street,” according to Raleigh Public Record.
But what do developers mean when they indicate that they want to change Hillsborough Street for the better, to “continue to create a place for a lot of people, that will attract as much investment and interest as possible”? These words stem from Stanford Harvey, a design firm representative who spoke at a meeting in early April addressing the “revitalization” of Hillsborough Street.
City leaders and eager architects view Hillsborough Street as an opportunity, an object of change that may be erased and redrawn as many times as necessary, tabula rasa. They desire to make Hillsborough Street an area that precisely represents what the whole of the United States’ society desperately wants to become the default: a region populated by aesthetically pleasing buildings, immaculate storefronts and the right kinds of people.
These ideas of a “better” Hillsborough Street are congruent with those of a classist society. This transition that so many desire represents the systematic eradication of “lower class” establishments. Hillsborough Street should be cleaner, more with the times, bigger, more in line with “middle class” standards. Hillsborough Street should be wealthier, whiter.
This is not to say that supporters of Hillsborough Street’s vast restructuring outwardly, or even knowingly, advocate for this. We so frequently and automatically categorize the old as “bad” and the new as “good.” We fail to account for the culture that we force out and consequently lose.
The independent businesses that have established themselves on Hillsborough Street will suffer as the plans for revitalization follow through. Leon Capetanos, owner of a block of buildings on the street, told Indy Week, “How are my tenants going to survive … I don’t think [the developers] really understand the effect that squeezing the street is going to have on the neighborhood.”
We destroy an urban environment without consideration for the people we may be discarding with it. Hillsborough Street in its rejuvenation will be converted into an oasis for only those who can afford it, and the demographics of its visitors will demonstrate this. We cater upward and privilege the wealthy—we punish those who used to have a place to belong.