DEI Collab: Studentification - Is it ethical for UNC students to live in Northside?
Many of us who go to UNC have heard of Northside before. Many only recognize the name, while others know a lot more about the history and culture. For those who don’t know, Northside is a historically Black neighborhood in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. It’s located behind Rosemary Street, goes all the way back to McMasters Street, and stretches west to east from Carr Mill mall all the way to MLK. In the past few decades, Northside has been experiencing loss of homeownership and an increasing demand for student rentals (Town of Chapel Hill).
This increase in students moving into the neighborhood is a type of gentrification known as studentification. Gentrification, according to UrbanDisplacement.org is “a process of neighborhood change that includes economic change in a historically disinvested neighborhood —by means of real estate investment and new higher-income residents moving in - as well as demographic change - not only in terms of income level, but also in terms of changes in the education level or racial make-up of residents.” Gentrification can be seen in cities around the country, but what is happening here in Chapel Hill is studentification. Studentification is a term coined by Phil Hubbard in 2008 and describes when specific neighborhoods become dominated by student residential occupation (Hubbard, 2008).
How does this studentification affect the Northside community? When students move into homes in Northside and developers begin to buy properties for the purpose of renting, property in the neighborhood becomes more valuable. This drives the property value up, which drives property taxes up. Many original neighbors can no longer pay the property taxes and are forced to move out of the neighborhood (Marion Cheek Jackson Center). Residents leaving disrupts the community and often takes away social support from both those who leave and those who stay. Another detriment to studentification is the increase in homes being built with the sole purpose of student rentals. This makes it hard for families to stay in the Northside neighborhood, as many of the homes are built with students in mind; built quickly with an emphasis on bedrooms and bathrooms instead of communal space.
The studentification of Northside has taken a neighborhood full of vitality and history and made its members feel like they no longer belong. While students do bring an economic influx to the area, its benefits are rarely felt by the original residents. Instead, rental companies who now own properties all across Northside benefit from the higher property value.
If you are a student in Chapel Hill, what can you do to help? If you currently live or plan to live in Northside sometime in the future, be cognizant of where you are. Recognize that you are not original to that space and be respectful to those who were here before you. This is their forever home and we are just visitors. You can also support local, Black-owned businesses; Mama Dips, Vegan Flava, and Carolina Car Wash are just a few, with a more comprehensive list found here: http://orangecountync.gov/2566/Black-Owned-Businesses.
Additionally, the Marion Cheek Jackson Center, located on Rosemary Street, works to support the community of Northside. If you want to learn more about their mission, or learn more about the history of Northside, this is their website:https://jacksoncenter.info/ and this is their newly-released oral history website: https://fromtherockwall.org/.
For additional information, check out this blog post written by UNC Partnership in Aging Program: https://partnershipsinaging.unc.edu/2020/11/partner-spotlight-the-marian-cheek-jackson-center-for-saving-and-making-history/.
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