ROANOKE, Va – Community members gathered tonight to discuss the history of gentrification in Roanoke.
Gentrification is when a poor, underdeveloped urban area is rapidly developed in a way that attracts wealthy residents, which in turn displaces other residents through higher costs of living.
Here in Roanoke, neighborhoods like Gainsboro were erased to make way for projects like the Berglund Center, displacing many families and historically black businesses.
“I would like to see more of events like this throughout the city that would help the younger generation to know the history of the city in which they live,” said Ronald Marsh, a panelist and the President and Chancellor of Bethlehem Bible College. " Because now we are getting very diverse and we need to know our history to know our future."
The panels will continue each Thursday at Bethlehem Bible College at 6:30 P.M. during Black History Month.
