Richmond Heights continues to fail to learn from its mistakes in Hadley Township. Last month, the city began its third attempt in ten years to raze this predominantly black community. Each time the city and private developers (most recently Pace Properties) use the threat of eminent domain to bully property owners into selling their homes that are rightfully theirs. The past two redevelopment attempts failed, leaving people like Alice McGee and her neighbors hanging in limbo.
Alice is 92 years old and has lived in her house in Hadely Township for almost five decades. It was a dream home for her and her husband (now deceased), and it is filled with memories from the hand-made curtains to the spacious and well-kept lawn (which she mowed herself up until two years ago) to the photographs of six generations of her family. Her message to the city and its private developer is clear: I won’t sell, saying, “I keep praying to God for you to leave us alone. I want to live there until God takes me.”
Read more here.