Healthy Homes, Rooted Communities

Environmental justice is not just about protecting the “outdoors” – it’s about making sure the places we live, play, gather, and pray are healthy and safe for all communities. True justice means communities have the power and security to stay and build a life in their neighborhoods. It requires access to clean, affordable housing, renewable energy, economic opportunity, and protection from climate events such as extreme heat and flooding.

Far too often, necessary environmental improvements such as resilience planning for extreme weather events, cleaning up home hazards such as lead and mold, expanding access to greenspace, and deploying renewable energy occur in wealthier, white  neighborhoods .

When communities outside those zip codes – often communities of color and low-income that were redlined – fight for these improvements where they live, it’s a double-edged sword. While long-overdue investments may finally improve safety and well-being, these neighborhoods become appealing to new external interests. This is especially difficult for community members who rent and do not own their homes, pushing out long-time residents while developers or predominantly white, higher-income people move in.

This phenomenon is called environmental  displacement  or  gentrification , and this can happen in a number of ways. As described above, one major way is when residents have successfully fought for environmental improvements themselves, which creates a neighborhood with more greenspace or less pollution, making it more “desirable” and leading to building developers and higher-earning newcomers moving in. Another way is when destructive extreme weather disasters devalue property, which opens the door to speculation, re-development, and rent hikes. Each of these scenarios raise cost of living, reshape the physical and cultural fabric of the neighborhood, and often erase generations-long history, displacing established residents.