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Show MyWeberMedia.com | April 18, 2019 | 7 Concrete wall, one half mile long, Detroit, Michigan. This wall was erected in August 1941 to separate the Negro section from a new suburban housing development for whites. DESPITE NEW-AGE INTEGRATION can families, and they would try to move outside of that area, and there would be petitions from the neighborhood,” Singh said. “They would be denied bank loans, and (some houses) were tarred and feathered. This was the ‘60s and ‘70s, so not too far long ago.” “Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 19121999” by Jorge Iber describes the disadvantages Hispanics and Latinos faced when it came to segregation along the Wasatch Front. “In Ogden, Spanish speakers tended to live near the Union Pacific depot, between the Weber River and Adams Avenue and 25th Street south to the city limit,” Iber wrote. In 1968, the Fair Housing Act was put into place, which made it “unlawful to discriminate in the terms, conditions or privileges of sale of a dwelling because of race or national origin.” However, Ogden’s neighborhoods continue to be separated by race, with more white people living on the east end and more people of color living in the west. “I always laugh that they say Harrison is this barrier, that if you live above Harrison, you’re in the richer upper-class, lowcrime area,” Singh said. “Harrison is not this invisible force field that keeps crime and everything out, but I think they purposely have higher house values, and it makes it more difficult for people to live (there).” The rise of housing could be one of the biggest factors regarding the integration of people of color in more commonly known white neighborhoods in Ogden. Lower-income families oftentimes don’t qualify for these homes. Housing prices in Utah have gone up, especially within the last decade. According to movoto.com, a real estate website for homeowners, just five years ago, the median cost of a home in Ogden was approximately $135,000. As of April 2019, the median list price is $249,000. “In Ogden, you still see a lot of areas that are more affordable, but usually, they are also areas that people are more hesitant to move into for probably some of the demographic reasons,” said Ogden Realtor Kristi Eversole. “I truly believe there is a spot for everyone.” Eversole says realtors have strict guidelines and a code of ethics they must follow, set by the Fair Housing Act and the office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Potential buyers are safeguarded against protected classes: race, religion, sex, national origin, color, familial status and disability. Eversole and her colleagues almost never give direct answers to questions like “Is this a good family neighborhood?” The same cannot be said for home sellers who use websites like Facebook and Craigslist to rent or sell their property. Laws put in place to stop housing seg- regation are sometimes ignored by real estate companies and private sellers using social media, often looking for a specific seller. On March 28, the Department of Housing and Urban Development charged Facebook with violating the Fair Housing Act by letting real estate companies choose who could view their ads based on several of the protected classes listed above. “When I list a house for (a client), I always let them know up front: ‘I am not allowed to discriminate,’” Eversole said. “Even if they were to tell me, ‘I don’t want anyone to buy my house who isn’t of this race or anyone to look at my house who has this color.’ I can’t discriminate like that.” More homes and proposed redevelopments have been put in place to bring more ownership downtown, especially within the last year. These new developments have the potential to give grants to new buyers, but according to Eversole, many of the applicants who would want to apply for the grants wouldn’t qualify because their income would be too high. Utah and its surrounding states have been experiencing a massive population growth within the last decade. According to worldpopulationreview.com, Utah’s population growth is “expected to continue over the next few decades, and by 2060, the state should have a population of 6.84 million people.” This makes the real estate market turn around more quickly than usual, which could be the answer to diversifying the city. Homes listed in other areas usually stay up on websites for approximately six months. In Ogden, they last less than one. “Boise, Salt Lake, Ogden, Denver, Colorado Springs — all of those areas — the population growth they’re experiencing I think is unprecedented,” Eversole said. “Everyone is playing catch up and doing the best they can.” Newcomers from out of state with little to no knowledge of the preconceived stereotypes of Ogden, as well as a new generation of homebuyers, have the ability to change the long-standing effects of Ogden’s racial divide. This new migration and population growth within the city echo the migrant booms of the 1800s and after World War II. Instead of jobs, however, people are looking for homes. “We’re in the midst of it,” Singh said. “We’re getting so many people moving in here and people of all different ethnicities who are putting down roots, and they’re establishing businesses.” Comment on this story at signpost.mywebermedia.com |