How ‘Opportunity Hoarding’ Harms Communities

In a piece for Bloomberg CityLab, Luisa Godinez-Puig and Brian D. Smedley outline the results of their research on the secession of often wealthy, white communities from larger municipalities, such as the secession of the new city of St. George from East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana last month. “What we’ve found is that these secessions perpetuate modern-day segregation and limit opportunity for left-behind communities, a form of opportunity hoarding that we call ‘white fortressing.’”

According to the authors, ‘opportunity hoarding’ concentrates public resources in already advantaged areas and limits access to opportunities for other residents. “In Louisiana, it is estimated that St. George’s secession would take away $48.3 million in annual tax revenue from East Baton Rouge Parish — nearly 8% of the parish’s total tax revenue.”

Research also shows that having more governments in a certain geographic area has negative health impacts on Black, but not white, Americans. Meanwhile, “In both Louisiana and Georgia, only citizens inside the boundary of the proposed new city get to vote by referendum, even if the incorporation would decimate the tax revenue for the surrounding community.”