I-70 Highway Update May Exacerbate Segregation

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is revamping the section of I-70 that runs through Denver, and some worry it will further divide the community. "The CDOT’s plan would condemn 56 homes and 17 businesses—a more extensive use of eminent domain than was required for the construction of the highway in the first place," Caroline Tracey reports for The Nation. Activists opposing the project point out that there were other possible reroutes that would have left more homes undisturbed.

"The resurgence of urban highway expansion comes at a moment of demographic transition. After decades of exodus, affluent white residents are returning to city centers," Tracey writes. The article points out that in many cities with increasing property values, there's been a rush to create improvements.

Tracey argues that these improvements cater to the desires of newer, richer, whiter residents. Saying that those whose homes are not taken by eminent domain may lose their homes to increasing property values.