A storm is raging between townsfolk over a development that could soon rise on Lackawanna Plaza.
for our historically Black neighborhood. Should we approve it or instead demand a more sustainable development in line with the UN’s clarion call and Montclair’s progressive traditions?
Montclair, just 12 miles west of Manhattan, markets itself as the place “where the city meets the suburbs.” We take a certain delight in having once beenby Gov. Chris Christie. We pride ourselves on our economic and racial diversity and are home to many noted media figures and Wall Street heavy hitters. But, a storm is raging between townsfolk over a development that could soon rise on Lackawanna Plaza.
The developer is loved by many for his donations to most of the town’s non-profits. The developer and his supporters promise the project will bring tax revenues and affordable housing. Others like myself see the plan as the final death knell to our fragile diversity, causing catastrophic gentrification, as well as being an environmental disaster. The small amount of affordable housing offered is too high a price to pay for the damage it will do.
Don’t miss an issue of our Opinion newsletter! Get it delivered each Wednesday right into your inbox by adding your email below and hitting"subscribe."Montclair has real liberal credentials. It has fully integrated magnet public schools, it has a thriving LGBTQ community and strong NAACP and ACLU chapters. The environment is also important here; many residents drive electric cars and have native plants and pesticide-free lawn signs.But all is not rosy in this Garden State jewel.
Lackawanna is in the Fourth Ward, Montclair’s historically Black and most diverse neighborhood, where families have lived and enjoyed block parties together for generations. People here celebrated the recent purchase and preservation of Howe House, Montclair’s first home owned by a freed enslaved person.that opened in 1913 as the gateway to Montclair. Trains no longer run here, but the station remains under historic preservation.
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