Student Corner: Community Ownership as a Tool for Preservation and Wealth Creation

<p>See: Dog-Friendly Beer Garden to Open Near U Street This Summer | BorderstanReal estate ownership is one of the primary vehicles for wealth creation in the United States, and consequently one of the core drivers of the racial wealth gap after generations of disinvestment in and displacement of BIPOC communities. Andre Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Institution and author of Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities, has conducted research showing that homes in majority-Black communities are, on average, valued at 23% less than the same home would be in a white community, even when controlled for crime levels, school districts, walkability, and the like. This represents a gap of $156 billion in lost equity within Black communities that could serve to send 8.1 million students to a four-year college, launch 4.4 minority-owned businesses, or resolve the Flint water crisis 3,000 times over.</p> <p>As the nation prepares for greater investment in infrastructure and real estate development, it is critical to prioritize innovative models that enable more inclusive, local ownership opportunities that promote residential and business preservation as a wealth creation strategy. One of the ways communities can address this is through implementing Community Ownership models. This post will discuss what Community Ownership is, how it works, and a variety of existing case studies.</p> <p>What is Community Ownership?</p> <p>A recent Brookings article, Helping Residents ‘Buy Back the Block’ with American Rescue Plan Funds, points to community ownership models as a way to steward community assets in an effort to cultivate shared and individual wealth [...]</p>