Atlanta Flood Prevention Efforts are Causing ‘Climate Gentrification’ in its Black Communities

Residents in some of Atlanta’s historically Black neighborhoods say they are being displaced by rising costs driven in part by new city efforts to protect these areas from flooding.

As Adam Mahoney explains in an article for Capital B, “A Capital B analysis of ZIP‑code‑level data shows that in three historically Black ZIP codes, flood‑fix projects have produced a “triple burden”: a loss of Black residents, soaring living costs, and aggressive buyouts and use of eminent domain.”

According to the analysis, one in five Black residents in these zip codes have left since flood control projects began. Some are working to create community land trusts and other mechanisms that would prevent displacement and bring flood mitigation to the areas that need it most. 

As environmental scientist Darryl Haddock explains, infrastructure in Atlanta is tied to race and class. “The water infrastructure went first to white business districts and surrounding white areas before going to where Black people traditionally lived in low‑lying, swampy areas.” 

Now, efforts to improve that infrastructure must address historic inequities or risk reinforcing them, Haddock says. When the city supported the construction of Centennial Yards in an area formerly known as the Gulch, there was no money earmarked for mitigating the stormwater that would subsequently flow into nearby residential neighborhoods.