ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a historical case study of the Chicanx neighborhood of Menlo Park in Tucson, Arizona, which due to its proximity to downtown is experiencing the effects of decades of redevelopment projects, including the ongoing project known as “Rio Nuevo.” This project has directly funded infrastructure projects as well as attracted private developers into the neighborhood and adjacent vacant properties. Using a critical race theory perspective, the chapter outlines the history of the neighborhood, past demographic trends, the ongoing revitalization process, as well as the change in the neighborhood since the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District was established by state law and later voter ratification. Ultimately, it argues that it does not matter if gentrification and the displacement it causes are intended consequences because adverse consequences are an inevitable byproduct of increased investment under the current redevelopment paradigm that planners and policy makers rely upon. Therefore, it is critical that local governmental actors, including planners and their private sector development partners, shift their focus and priorities to the legacy folk who provide a barrio its culture, language, and history along with the familial, social, and political networks that transform a neighborhood into a barrio with a distinct identity. It is only in adopting this new paradigm that different desired outcomes will occur. So long as redevelopment occurs with funding for and by the wealthy, the asset poor will be on the losing end, forced out and their history eradicated.
