Freeways force out residents in communities of color -- again
HOUSTON — Modesti Cooper first spotted the patch of land from 8,000 miles away.
The tree-studded lot with a “For sale” sign zoomed into focus on Google Earth seven years ago as Cooper sat at a computer inside her U.S. Air Force office in Afghanistan.
After six overseas deployments, the civilian IT worker was finally ready to settle down and had been scouring for properties in her hometown of Houston. She bought the land and built a four-story home with a pool, the letter “M” engraved in the tile.
Today, the house is slated for destruction to make way for a planned widening of Interstate 10.
Fifty years ago, Cooper’s predominantly Black neighborhood in Houston’s Fifth Ward was devastated to build the freeway. Now, another cycle of dislocation looms.
https://www.latimes.com/projects/us-freeway-highway-expansion-black-latino-communities/#nt=00000175-c749-da42-a377-ff5f38920001-liA7promoSmall-7030col1-main