Indianapolis Reporter, July 23, 2020: ‘We’ve been gentrified’
Don’t tell Pearl Carter she lives in the Monon16 neighborhood. That’s a ploy, she said, to attract new — mostly white — people and businesses.
Carter, 77, lives in Martindale-Brightwood, she’ll tell you.
“This is my block,” she said with a laugh.
Increasingly, though, it hasn’t been Carter’s block. It started when the Monon Lofts apartment buildings went up a few years ago. They stand tall on the other side of her backyard. Then there’s a newer Mexican restaurant and a coffee shop. White people love the trendy feel of the area, Carter said, plus the Monon Trail is right there.
Carter said she gets a letter in the mail at least once a week from developers offering to pay top dollar for her home. The same is true for her 103-year-old mother who lives across the street, along with other long time residents.
“We feel like we’re being smothered out,” she said.
