Bayview, Virginia

Last updated

One side of the Bayview Community Bayview Virginia Community Longshot.jpg
One side of the Bayview Community

Bayview is an unincorporated community in Northampton County, Virginia, United States. [1]

Contents

History

Bayview is an over-300-year-old predominantly African American community located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. After the American Civil War, it became a community populated by formerly enslaved people, principally consisting of farms and a small village with shops, restaurants, and its own post office. In the 20th century, Bayview thrived due to agriculture, by growing white potatoes and establishing the local seafood industry.[ citation needed ] In the late 20th century, Bayview was hit hard when many of the canneries and seafood processing plants closed due to dwindling shellfish populations in the Chesapeake Bay as a result of increased pollution. [2]

In 1998, the community organized the Bayview Citizens for Social Justice and began forming productive partnerships, including the Nature Conservancy, to improve the standard of living for its people. Through a combination of federal, state, and private funds, the community raised $11 million and purchased 160 acres of farmland, including the proposed site for the prison. In the first phase, they built 48 one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, 22 single-family homes, a laundry facility, a Community Enrichment Center, and several other facilities.

Demographics

Bayview is composed of approximately 200 people, 125 of whom are over the age of 18. The community is predominantly African American, but in recent years there has been an increasing number of White and Hispanic people.

No male has graduated or even attended college, and only 7 out of 125 adults have earned a college degree. Less than half (49.6%) have received a high school degree.

Yearly income for a Bayview family ranges from under $10,000 to $40,000. 83% of the population makes less than $10,000 annually, which is below the United States' poverty line. As of September 1, 2012, no individual makes over $40,000 per year. [3]

Bayview Citizens for Social Justice

The BCSJ sign as it stands in Bayview Bayview Citizens for Social Justice Sign.jpg
The BCSJ sign as it stands in Bayview

Overview

Mission & Background

Bayview Citizens for Social Justice, Inc. (BCSJ) is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to eliminate poverty by improving the living conditions of its citizens and to properly educate, unite, and empower the residents of Bayview, Va. BCSJ was formed in 1998 after the successful protest against the proposed construction of a maximum-security prison. [3]

Community Activities

The community works to bring together citizens for cultural and religious celebrations such as Black History Month, Easter, and Christmas. BCSJ also works to improve Bayview's citizens' living standards and self-sufficiency.[ citation needed ]

Duties

The BCSJ received a capacity-building grant from the National Housing Assistance Council (HAC), which has produced and extended board training in Financial Management and Loan Packaging. The management and maintenance of this grant is used on programs such as BCSJ Water and Sewer Program, Lease-to-Purchase HOME Program and the Shared Properties, Developed Lots, Street Lights, Storm-water retention pond, and Community Farm program. [3]

Strengths, Improvements, and Opportunities

Each year, a private firm is hired to conduct a SWOT survey for BCSJ. A strength outlined in particular was Bayview's outstanding land control, with 150 acres of buildable lots and community farmland. BCSJ has worked to develop a Master Plan for new housing, childcare, and a community center and currently owns community buildings for public meetings, workshops, and gatherings. Members of the community demonstrate the powers of Productive Partnerships, Coalitions, and Networking. Previous and current partnerships include the NAACP, the Nature Conservancy, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Old Dominion University, and the Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore. With the help of community leaders who persevere with strong resilience, extensive work has been done to garner media attention, exposure, and support. Yet, the community struggles with a lack of professional skills, including financial management, property management, asset management, and a lack of supportive legal advisors.

Close to Bayview is a tourist attraction area with camping, golfing, bird-watching, fishing, retirement living, etc. The location brings difficulty, as a peninsular toll bridge to the metropolitan mainland and Virginia Beach is difficult to pay for the many low-to-moderate income families living in Bayview. The separation between the affluent beach community and Bayview also provides a stigma and segregation, as predominantly African American, low-income families are just two miles from gated waterfront communities, leading to gentrification. [3]

Notable people

Alice ColesAlice Coles is the executive director of BCSJ. Her leadership led to Bayview's positive redevelopment into a strong community of people with a lifetime commitment to better living. She is a descendant of formerly enslaved people. One of her initial leadership experiences was running Bayview's black chapel. In 1994, the state of Virginia planned a maximum-security prison less than a mile from the neighborhood school. With only a high school education and with a job handpicking meat out of crabs, Coles decided to educate herself about the Department of Corrections and travel to Richmond, VA to fight against the proposal. [4] Coles was able to defeat the proposal for the prison. For the next 14 years, Coles organized a national media campaign to advance her community and called on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Nature Conservancy. BCSJ raised over 11 million dollars to purchase the prison site (104 acres) and 54 additional acres and built a new village of mixed housing and infrastructure. This construction gave many Bayview citizens new amenities. [5]

In the News

Alice Coles and Bayview have been featured on 60 Minutes, [5] NPR, [6] Voice of America, [7] and in a VCU documentary called “This Black Soil.” [8] Alice was commended by the Virginia State legislature in 2006 [9] and was a 2005 winner of the Impact Award, known now as the Inspire Awards. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Edward County, Virginia</span> County in Virginia, United States

Prince Edward County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,849. Its county seat is Farmville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knott County, Kentucky</span> County in Kentucky, United States

Knott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,251. Its county seat is Hindman. The county was formed in 1884 and is named for James Proctor Knott, Governor of Kentucky (1883–1887). as of 2024 the county is now wet. Its county seat is home to the Hindman Settlement School, founded as America's first settlement school. The Knott County town of Pippa Passes is home to Alice Lloyd College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayview, Humboldt County, California</span> Census-designated place in California, United States

Bayview is a census-designated place (CDP) located adjacent to the City of Eureka in Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population is 2,619 as of the 2020 census, up from 2,510 from the 2010 census. Many locals consider this area as part of "Pine Hill."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dune Acres, Indiana</span> Town in Indiana, United States

Dune Acres is a town in Westchester Township, Porter County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 234 as of the 2020 census. Dune Acres is located in the duneland of the south shore of Lake Michigan. Many residents of Dune Acres and surrounding communities helped preserve parts of the Indiana Dunes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porter, Indiana</span> Town in Indiana, United States

Porter is a town in Westchester Township, Porter County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 5,210 as of the 2020 census. Porter is in the Indiana Dunes ecosystem, which played a role in the creation of The Nature Conservancy, and inspired conservation efforts. It is home to Porter Beach, also known as Johnson's Beach, on Lake Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest Acres, South Carolina</span> City in South Carolina, United States

Forest Acres is a city in Richland County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 10,606 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is an enclave of the city of Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saxis, Virginia</span> Town in Virginia, United States

Saxis is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. The population was 241 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tappahannock, Virginia</span> Town in Virginia, United States

Tappahannock is the oldest town in Essex County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,375 at the 2010 census, up from 2,068 at the 2000 census. Located on the Rappahannock River, Tappahannock is the county seat of Essex County. Its name comes from an Algonquian language word lappihanne, meaning "Town on the rise and fall of water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows." The Rappahannock is a tidal estuary from above this point and downriver to its mouth on Chesapeake Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Round Hill, Loudoun County, Virginia</span> Town in Virginia

Round Hill is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. Its population was 693 at the 2020 census. The town is located at the crossroads of Virginia Routes 7 and 719, approximately 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. The town's name refers a hill two miles northeast of a 910-foot (280 m) hill used during the American Civil War as a signal post by both Confederate and Union troops. House of Round Hill was built in 2004. Patsy Cline went to Round Hill Elementary School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Commonwealth University</span> Public university in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia General Assembly merged MCV with the Richmond Professional Institute, founded in 1917, to create Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2022, more than 28,000 students pursued 217 degree and certificate programs through VCU's 11 schools and three colleges. The VCU Health System supports health care education, research, and patient care. It was the only school in the South to have graduated a class every year during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayview–Hunters Point, San Francisco</span> Neighborhood in San Francisco, California

Bayview–Hunters Point is the San Francisco, California, neighborhood combining the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods in the southeastern corner of the city. The decommissioned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is located within its boundaries and Candlestick Park, which was demolished in 2015, was on the southern edge. Due to the South East location, the two neighborhoods are often merged. Bayview–Hunter's Point has been labeled as San Francisco's "Most Isolated Neighborhood".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sussex County, Virginia</span> County in Virginia, United States

Sussex County is a rural county located in the southeast of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,829. Its county seat is Sussex. It was formed in 1754 from Surry County. The county is named after the county of Sussex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davisville Village</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Davisville Village is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the intersection of Davisville Avenue and Yonge Street. There is a subway station named Davisville at this intersection. The area directly abuts Mount Pleasant Cemetery, and has many massive apartment and condominium complexes built between the 1970s and the 2000s, as well as a number of office buildings. The area is within Midtown Toronto between St Clair and Eglinton. Davisville Village is represented at Toronto City Council by Councillor Josh Matlow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Ward</span> United States historic place

Jackson Ward, previously known as Central Wards, is a historically African-American district in Richmond, Virginia, with a long tradition of African-American businesses. It is located less than a mile from the Virginia State Capitol, sitting to the west of Court End and north of Broad Street. It was listed as a National Historic Landmark District in 1978. "Jackson Ward" was originally the name of the area's political district within the city, or ward, from 1871 to 1905, yet has remained in use long after losing its original meaning.

Bayview, or Hopkins-Bayview, is a neighborhood located in the Southeast District of Baltimore between the Pulaski industrial area (East) and Greektown (West).

Bayview is a census-designated place in Contra Costa County, California. Bayview sits at an elevation of 36 feet. The 2010 United States census reported Bayview's population was 1,754. Prior to 2010, Bayview was part of the Bayview-Montalvin CDP and then separated into the two individual communities of Bayview and Montalvin Manor for the census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County</span> Nonprofit organization in California

The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County (LCSLO) is a non-profit land trust organization that has been operating in San Luis Obispo County, California since 1984. The LCSLO is dedicated to voluntary, collaborative preservation, and improvement of lands that hold significant scenic, agricultural, habitat, and cultural values. Their work aims to benefit both local communities and wildlife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard County Housing and Community Development</span>

Howard County Housing is the umbrella organization for the Howard County Department of Housing and Community Development and the Howard County Housing Commission. The Department is Howard County Government’s housing agency, and the Commission is a public housing authority and non-profit. Both have boards that meet monthly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Virginia Legal Aid Society</span>

The Central Virginia Legal Aid Society (CVLAS) is a nonprofit organization that provides free legal assistance in civil matters to low-income and elderly residents in central Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open space accessibility in California</span>

Open spaces in urban environments, such as parks, playgrounds, and natural areas, can provide many health, cultural, recreational, and economic benefits to the communities nearby. However, access to open spaces can be unequal for people of different incomes. In California's two largest metropolitan regions, Los Angeles County in Southern California and the Bay Area in Northern California, access to green space and natural areas varies with the predominant races and classes of the communities. This also holds true in San Diego County in Southern California. Both expanding urbanization and diminishing funding for open space tend to widen these gaps in accessibility. Because open space is associated with various mental and physical benefits, a lack of access to it can pose health consequences. However, more research is needed to determine whether such environmental inequalities translate into long-term health inequalities, and, if so, how.

References

  1. "Bayview". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  2. Raver, Anne (August 21, 2003). "Town of Worn Bootstraps Lifts Itself Up". The New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bayview Citizens for Social Justice Inc. Executive Summary. The SURDNA Foundation. 2012.
  4. 1 2 Redford, Gabrielle (2005). "Inspire Awards 2005 Honorees: Alice Coles, Community Builder". AARP The Magazine. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Leung, Rebecca (February 11, 2009). "Alice Coles of Bayview". 60 Minutes. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  6. Keyes, Allison (January 19, 2004). "Community Activist Alice Coles". The Tavis Smiley Show. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  7. "Unlikely Leader Spearheads Efforts to Rebuild Her Community". Voice of America. October 29, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  8. Frontiero, Mike (February 5, 2001). "VCU Documentary Traces Struggles of Bayview". VCU News. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  9. "House Joint Resolution No. 224". February 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2016.

37°16′36″N75°58′3″W / 37.27667°N 75.96750°W / 37.27667; -75.96750