“We’re forgotten”: The shaping of place attachment and collective action in Detroit’s 48217 neighborhood

ABSTRACT

Communities that experience severe disinvestment represent unique political spheres in their mobilization against loss of amenities and simultaneous place attachment to such geographies. 48217, a predominantly Black neighborhood of Southwest Detroit (that is called by its ZIP code), is in close proximity to noxious industries like Marathon Petroleum and steel production. In this article, discourse analysis of interviews with residents was done, concluding that a history of industrial zoning that has depleted land values and prompted school closures and loss of basic amenities has resulted in a collective identity around community activism and resistance to such development patterns. This article finds that 48217 uses collective action framing of disinvestment in predominantly Black communities to drive organizing efforts across shrinking cities as a mobilization strategy. Finally, perhaps counterintuitively, the 48217 community developed a sense of collective identity and place attachment around their experiences of disinvestment and stigma.

Notes

1. Emergent (or purposeful) sampling is a sampling technique based on “identifying and selecting individuals or groups of individuals that are especially knowledgeable about or experienced with a phenomenon of interest” (Palinkas et al., 2015).

2. City Council District 6 of Detroit comprises Southwest Detroit (including 48217) and extends east, encompassing about half of Downtown and Midtown.

3. The ZIP code for the Detroit adjacent part of the cities of Ecorse and River Rouge.

4. The ZIP code for a Detroit adjacent part of the city of River Rouge.

5. It should also be mentioned that this particular hearing was weeks after one that was held in the heart of Mexicantown that was highly attended, potentially more so by groups in the area other than 48217 and Downriver communities.

6. Interstate 75 (I-75) runs north and south directly connecting Flint and Detroit.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lisa Berglund

Lisa Berglund is an Instructor in the Urban Planning Department at UCLA. Her research interests focus on community development in the context of the redevelopment of postdisaster cities and the historically demonstrated potential for uneven development favoring certain race and class identities. This research engages with communities to understand the policy obstacles that disenfranchise some groups from the redevelopment process. Focusing on the perspectives of politically marginalized urban populations, especially those experiencing economic, natural, and/or social disasters, her work aims to share narratives of communities that are often left out of planning processes and disproportionately treated as the objects of policy expertise.