Nestled between Patterson Avenue, Willow Lawn Drive, and Libbie Avenue is an incredible neighborhood that represents Richmond's history since the end of the Civil War. The Westwood Community was the first freed African American neighborhood in Richmond, created in 1872 and anchored by its historic Westwood Baptist Church. Since the neighborhood's establishment, Westwood residents have had to combat many attempts to erase its existence. Through their tenacity and resilience, Black residents fought back numerous attempts to raze the neighborhood to make way for a park. Despite their success, the City of Richmond refused the installation of basic infrastructure like water, sewer, and garbage collection for decades. In the face of these pointedly racist decisions, the neighborhood persevered. Perseverance culminated in a successful fight against segregation within Richmond Public Schools. In 1961, Daisy Jane Cooper proudly walked from her home in Westwood and up the Westhampton School steps and Thomas Jefferson High School in 1962. Westwood's story is part of Richmond's story, one of African American tenacity and resilience in the face of oppression.
The Westwood Community is where many families built generational wealth with their children and neighbors. Many houses have been part of generations of families calling this area home and carrying stories of overcoming adversity together. Humble and modest, each home represents the character of the families that call it home—mostly one-story cape cod style homes with a few one-story row houses mixed in. Despite the strength of the community, a handful of newer homes have replaced the original ones where economic hardship has driven families out. Regardless, the Westwood neighbors today remember their history, proudly celebrate it, and retell their stories.
As the near West End neighborhood sees increasing investment in home renovations, new home construction, and other developments, Westwood has recently become a target for real estate investment. Understandably, this causes many residents flashbacks of fear of being forced out by new investments. As the City Council representative for the First District and the Westwood Community, I have seen the impact of these investment pressures on families and neighborhoods across the city. While Westwood is historic, an Old and Historic Neighborhood designation might create more financial pressures on existing residents and homeowners when making repairs or improvements that comply with the requirements. As a city, we want to see better investment and infrastructure, and we also must give historically Black communities across the city a chance to take advantage of that investment on their terms. It starts by rethinking how we tax land, and it must be accompanied by housing preservation tools like home repair programs and expanding Richmond's community land trust.
Our current tax structure taxes the building, or "improvement value," the same as the land it sits on. If a homeowner makes an improvement, like adding a new porch to their home, they'll also see an increase in their real estate tax. Meanwhile, a large commercial property owner who lets their building collapse on a valuable parcel downtown sees their tax bill decrease. Currently, we penalize homeowners for improving their property while rewarding folks who let buildings fall into disrepair or raze the building for a parking lot downtown. In 2019, I advocated at the General Assembly to allow Richmond to change how it calculates real estate taxes. I want to lower the tax rate on the building and raise the tax rate on the land. This reform is called a land value tax (LVT) and is currently used to incentivize individual new developments. In practice, LVT typically slows the growth of tax bills for homeowners or even lowers them.
On the other hand, it raises tax bills for large developers sitting on valuable vacant land or derelict property in areas for growth like downtown. Recent increases in our City's revenues have been dependent on market demand for home values. However, a land value tax would put pressure on new development and infill on neglected parcels, placing our revenue growth on new developments and removing the burden on our residents.
In the Westwood Community and across the city, many of the homes were purchased decades ago for under $100,000 and are now seeing tax bills beyond what their incomes can sustain. For many households with fixed- or low- incomes, the pressures of increased property taxes are often compounded by significant home repairs. Those without enough cash flow may be forced to sell their home, sometimes even below the market value, due to the need to pay off debts.
Real estate investor Damon Harris of Teal House Company told me how he is helping families pressured to sell their homes to satisfy their debts and other burdens. His goal is to improve their home to a modern, livable space that can attract an interested new homeowner rather than an investor. This can preserve an existing affordable home and allow for the wealth to be retained by the owner. The City of Philadelphia created a fund to support homeowners making below 100% of the area median income to have access to funds to assist with basic home repairs and improvements for air conditioning, water, gas, and sewer. It is imperative that Richmond creates a similar program to keep families in their homes as long as they choose.
We can strengthen communities like Westwood even further by encouraging homeownership through a community land trust model. A community land trust is an entity that makes a home affordable in perpetuity by retaining ownership of the land while the resident maintains ownership of the home itself. When a resident decides to sell their home, the new owner only has to take on a mortgage for the building, which reduces the necessary down payment and monthly mortgage expenses. That cycle continues with each transfer of the home. Each family has the opportunity to build wealth with a lower barrier to entry.
A land value tax, home repair programs and community land trusts can help families build wealth and preserve affordable homeownership opportunities for the next generation in places like Westwood. These are the communities that represent the wealthiest parts of Richmond's story despite its government's racist history. The City of Richmond can begin to atone for its past and honor Richmond's historically Black neighborhoods by giving its residents stability and opportunities for generational wealth building.
Andreas D. Addison is a member of the Richmond City Council in Virginia, representing West End 1st Voter District since 2017. Andreas has spent most of his career serving Richmond. Before running for Richmond City Council in 2016, he worked in City Hall for eight years, where he improved City Hall as a member of the performance management team and led special projects. He helped create the Office of Community Wealth Building, which has lifted many Richmonders out of poverty.
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