Citing Senior Counsel Demelza Baer’s report, Bridging the Two Americas, Irvin David writes for Planetizen on the need to make sure that Newark does not become the next Brooklyn:
Fast forward to today, and the city still has its socio-economic problems.
“Poverty in Newark remains at a rate well above the national average, and only 18 percent of the people who hold jobs in Newark live here, according to a report from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice; in other large cities that figure is often between 30 and 50 percent.”
For example, “[i]n New Orleans, local residents hold 46 percent of jobs; in Detroit, local residents hold 25 percent of jobs,” according to the institute’s report, “Bridging the Two Americas: Employment & Economic Opportunity in Newark & Beyond,” released last April.
The major tools to avoid gentrification include a local hiring program and inclusionary zoning for larger developments that Baraka is trying to get the city council to approve.