3 VALVERDE MOVEMENT PROJECT: REGENERATIVE MAPPING IN ACTION To illustrate the practical application of these tools in struggles against gentrification, we offer a case study from the Valverde Movement Project (VMP)iv in Denver, CO. VMP is a collaboration between more than 25 partners including neighborhood leaders from the Valverde Neighborhood Association (VNA), advocacy organizations, university researchers, and staff from city and regional governments united in a quest to undo redlining by re-imagining mobility investments to advance equitable, community-rooted health and wealth. Motivation for VMP is three-fold: 1. Past transportation investments in many urban neighborhoods have eroded structures of health and wealth by contributing to infrastructural racism and forced displacement (Fullilove, 2004; Fullilove & Wallace, 2011); 2. Historically redlined neighborhoods often lack safe, integrated access to dense, frequent and reliable transportation options (thereby limiting access to jobs, education, goods, and services needed to support health, wealth, and resistance to gentrification); moreover, growth in new mobility investments (e.g., bicycle lanes, light rail, and Bus Rapid Transit) in these neighborhoods often triggers gentrification (Zuk et al., 2017); and 3. The Valverde Neighborhood – a historically redlined neighborhood located less than 4 miles west of the Colorado State Capitol and Denver’s Central Business District, but cut off on all sides by major arterial roads and highways (see Figure 1) – not only represents these general challenges, but also benefits from neighborhood leaders and a host of academic, public, civic, and private sectors partners who are motivated to collaborate on research, design, action, evaluation, and adaptation.
Figure 1 Context Map & Demographics: Valverde Neighborhood, West Denver Valverde
Valverde Latino population Under 18 population One parent households Attended college High school drop-out 2019 Income <40,000 Median income Median home value
Denver
Latino population Under 18 population One parent households Attended college High school drop-out 2019 Income <40,000 Median income Median home value
Ratio
77.3%
29.0%
267%
30.0%
20.0%
150%
28.0%
13.9%
201%
25.0%
71.0%
35%
34.0%
12.0%
283%
43.8%
29.3%
149%
$ 46,736
$68,592
68%
$190,400
$ 390,600
49%
Source: ACS 2019 (5-Year Est.); U.S. Census Bureau
Denver
77.3%
29.0%
267%
30.0%
20.0%
150%
28.0%
13.9%
201%
25.0%
71.0%
35%
34.0%
12.0%
283%
43.8%
29.3%
149%
$ 46,736
$68,592
68%
$190,400
$ 390,600
49%
Source: ACS 2019 (5-Year Est.); U.S. Census Bureau
8
Ratio
