Charlottesville’s Starr Hill area landscape today is dominated by the City’s Public Works Department storage yard and the Vinegar Hill Shopping Center (once part of a thriving Black neighborhood that was destroyed under 1960s urban renewal).
In 2017, then Councilor Kathleen Galvin and Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy championed the formation and selection of the African American-owned New Hill Development Corporation (NHDC) to lead an effort with the community to craft a “vision” plan for redevelopment with the expressed goal of growing Black business and home ownership within an inclusive, healthy, equitable and walkable neighborhood.
“In July of 2017, a group of public servants, educators, artists, and entrepreneurs were convened by then Councilor Kathy Galvin and Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy to begin discussing the ever-changing economic landscape of Charlottesville, and where the African American community fit into the picture. A series of solution-oriented meetings ensued and then persevered through one of Charlottesville’s darkest moments in history, August 12, 2017.”
(Starr Hill Plan, November 2019)
Images Courtesy of New Hill Development Corporation
