Hardsville

Also like many large midwestem cities, New Prosperity suffers from long-standing patterns of housing segregation: most of the thirty percent of New Prosperity's population that is black resides in an impoverished enclave - known as Hardsville - on the west side of town.

Sweetness & Light 2008

Also like many large midwestem cities, New Prosperity suffers from long-standing patterns of housing segregation: most of the thirty percent of New Prosperity's population that is black resides in an impoverished enclave - known as Hardsville - on the west side of town.

Sweetness & Light 2008

Also like many large midwestem cities, New Prosperity suffers from long-standing patterns of housing segregation: most of the thirty percent of New Prosperity's population that is black resides in an impoverished enclave - known as Hardsville - on the west side of town.

Sweetness & Light 2008

Indeed, only one main transportation artery exists between Hardsville and the city's center - the six-lane Division Parkway, which runs east-west from one end of the city to the other, and carries not only vehicular traffic, but the city's primary east-west bus line.

Sweetness & Light 2008

Nevertheless, patterns of segregation and black poverty remain deeply entrenched, and many Hardsville residents harbor a lingering suspicion that they are not welcome in the city's more prosperous east side.

Sweetness & Light 2008

In support of this allegation, plaintiffs point out that the bus for passengers coming from Hardsville heading east stops on the south side of Division Parkway - that is, on the side away from the mall.

Sweetness & Light 2008

Six month ago, a community organization called Hardsville Neighbors United filed suit in United States District Court, alleging that the city, in concert with Mogul, has engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination against black residents of Hardsville in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Sweetness & Light 2008

First, the complaint alleges that in designing the mall, the city, in concert with Mogul, deliberately failed to provide any safe and convenient access route for Hardsville residents who seek to travel by bus to the mall, and that the city and Mogul did so because they wanted to limit the number of blacks generally, and poor blacks in particular, who would patronize the mall.

Sweetness & Light 2008

First, the complaint alleges that in designing the mall, the city, in concert with Mogul, deliberately failed to provide any safe and convenient access route for Hardsville residents who seek to travel by bus to the mall, and that the city and Mogul did so because they wanted to limit the number of blacks generally, and poor blacks in particular, who would patronize the mall.

Sweetness & Light 2008

The current mayor, James Pleasant, is considered a liberal who has won over black voters by fairly distributing city services, hiring blacks to prominent administration posts, and financing affordable housing and commercial strip development in Hardsville.

Sweetness & Light 2008