WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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A local group voiced concerns this weekend that Bloomington’s planned technology park will cause major problems for working class residents of the city. The Bloomington Solidarity Network hosted an event at the public library on Saturday. Members argue the plans to build a tech park north of city hall will drive up housing costs in the Maple Heights neighborhood and surrounding areas. That area is currently home to some of the cheapest housing near downtown.
An organizer with the Solidarity Network, Adam Scouten, says that could change if tech companies move into the area: “Property values of all the surrounding area will go up as well. So what that means for people that own their homes is higher property values, higher property taxes; and for renters, that means higher rents.”
The city currently owns the 12-acre piece of land that officials hope to be the core of the tech park. The plan is to move technology companies into the space. Mayor John Hamilton has already announced he would like to give one acre of the land to the Tsuchiya Group, which is a subsidiary of the multinational Tasus corporation.
Scouten says he doubts the tech park will employ many of the people who stand to be displaced by higher housing costs: “We’ve been told that one of the incentives of the tech park is jobs. More jobs. We think about this from the perspective of low-income renters, or people who are working for minimum wage. These folks are not going to be getting jobs in the tech park.”
Scouten spoke to a group of several dozen people in a meeting room at the library. One of the attendees, who identified himself as an employee at a local tech company, spoke up during the discussion. He described some potential tenants as being small, financially-strained companies, which drew a response from the audience.
Tech employee: “The main reason why they need a tax break is because these organizations don’t have enough money to buy the property outright. And so just to list a couple of startups that are wanting and pushing to…build the tech park and have new jobs go in there is…”
Audience member: “Jobs for who?”
Tech employee: “Jobs for who? Jobs for me. I mean, I almost left (Bloomington)…”
Audience member: “What kind of a degree do you have?”
Tech employee: “I have a couple degrees.”
Audience member: “Exactly. Most people that we are talking about that is this going to affect don’t (have degrees). They don’t have the opportunities that you have.”
Members of the Solidarity Network said they would rather see nothing built on the land, which is currently undeveloped, than see a tech park there. Scouten compared the project to development efforts in other parts of the country, which have hurt working class residents.
“We want to cut across this narrative that growth of corporations and increase in profits is good for everyone. And it’s not. We don’t subscribe to neoliberal trickle-down economics that says the more money in the people at the top’s pockets, the more money for everybody. We know that’s not the case. We can say whatever we want about what nurturing startups or a nascent tech industry will do for Bloomington — it’s already happening everywhere else. There’s no reason on earth to think it will be different here.”
One audience member was City Council member, Steve Volan, who said he was at the meeting just to listen. Volan was asked whether any Council members opposed development of the tech park, and Volan said he didn’t think so.
