Building More Than Housing: Development as Community Healing

Standing on the vacant lot, I listened as the elder told me what used to be there. "That was Mr. Johnson's barbershop. Saturday mornings, this whole block was alive. Kids getting haircuts, men talking politics, music playing. When urban renewal came through in '71, they gave him pennies on the dollar. Broke his heart. He died the next year."

This wasn't just empty land. It was a wound – one of countless similar wounds in Black and brown communities across America, where "development" has historically meant displacement, destruction, and loss.

As development professionals, we rarely acknowledge this reality: for many communities, our industry represents trauma, not progress. The data tells this painful story. In Portland alone, urban renewal displaced over 1,500 Black households in the 1960s and 70s. Nationwide, the Federal Reserve Bank estimates that urban renewal programs destroyed over 300,000 homes in predominantly minority neighborhoods during this period.

The legacy continues today, with gentrification displacing over 135,000 residents from historically Black neighborhoods between 2000 and 2017, according to National Community Reinvestment Coalition research. Housing values in gentrifying neighborhoods have increased by an average of 150% during this period, with virtually none of this wealth accumulating to longtime residents.

Given this history, we must ask a profound question: Can development – the very process responsible for these harms – become a vehicle for healing?

I believe it can, but only through a fundamental shift in how we approach development in historically harmed communities. Through my work with communities across the Pacific Northwest, I've seen three approaches that transform development from extraction to restoration:

1. Development as Reparation True community healing begins with acknowledging historical harms and designing projects specifically to address them. This means more than token community benefits – it requires structural approaches to wealth building and ownership.

In one project, we helped structure a community investment trust that enables residents to purchase shares in a commercial development for as little as $10 per month. As property values increase, wealth builds in the community rather than flowing to outside investors. This model has created first-time investment opportunities for over 300 families, with average household wealth increases of $2,400 in just three years.

2. Development as Cultural Reclamation Physical spaces carry cultural memory. Development that honors and amplifies cultural significance creates healing in ways that transcend economic metrics.

For a faith-based client, we redesigned their housing development to incorporate a cultural heritage plaza showcasing neighborhood history. What began as a standard affordable housing project evolved into a living museum that celebrates community resilience and educates residents about their neighborhood's significance. Longtime residents report feeling "seen" in ways that conventional development never accomplished.

3. Development as Capacity Building Perhaps the most powerful healing occurs when development processes themselves build community capacity rather than extracting value.

We recently helped structure a apprenticeship program within a major affordable housing project, where neighborhood residents received construction training, certifications, and guaranteed employment. Twenty-seven residents completed the program, averaging wage increases of 180%. More importantly, these individuals gained skills that will generate family income long after the development is complete.

These approaches require more than good intentions. They demand different financial models, longer timelines, and more nuanced success metrics. They're challenging to implement in systems designed for conventional development. But their impact extends far beyond housing production numbers.

A development project lasts a few years. A building might last decades. But healing the wounds of discriminatory development can create positive effects for generations. This isn't just about housing – it's about restoring community wholeness.

What would development look like if we measured success not just in units produced or returns generated, but in historical wounds healed? How might our approaches change if we saw ourselves not just as developers, but as potential agents of restoration?

If you're working to create development that heals rather than harms, I'd welcome a conversation about approaches that center community restoration while meeting financial requirements.

#REALImpact #CommunityHealing #EquitableDevelopment #AffordableHousing #CommunityWealth