Why Is It So Hard for Neighborhoods to Recover from Riots?

Broken glass.  Looted stores.  Burned out cars.

They aren't pretty.  But, cleaning them up shouldn't be that hard, right?  Sweep the sidewalk.  Clean the store and install better security.  Call the tow truck.  It certainly sounds easier than cleaning up after an earthquake, where collapsed buildings create toxic piles of concrete, bodies, and burst sewage pipes, streets are littered with downed (and sometimes) live power lines, and clean water is hard to find.   

In truth, though, riots can sometimes take almost as long to 'clean up' as natural disasters.

Why is that?  Why do some areas hit by riots take decades to turn around when the physical damage is, in the wider scheme of things, quite small? 

Riots precipitate disinvestment.  The events themselves don't (always) create that much dammage.  But, they encourage people to disinvest from an area.  People move away.  Others close their businesses.  Squatters fill the empty spaces.  In turn, these decisions encourage people who might come to the area, and invest in it, to look elsewhere.

Let's use a hypothetical example--Jane Doe, who owns a laundromat on a street hit by riots.  She owns her business but rents the storefront from Max Money, a local landlord.  Ms. Doe's store is set on fire by looters throwing Molotov cocktails at police.  A few cocktails miss the mark and land in the laundromat.  Some of Ms. Doe's dryers are damaged in the fire.  The building's facade is also dammaged.  The wood frame around the door and front window caught fire and the glass windows shattered.  The linoleum floor at the front of the store also melted, leaving an acrid, chemical smell in the building.   

Fortunately for Ms. Doe and Mr. Money, the building and the business in it weren't engulfed in flames.  But, there was enough damage that reopening the next day isn't possible.

So, what does Jane Doe do?

Her first decision--should she reopen the business--hinges on several factors.  She needs to find out, for example, if her insurance company will cover the cost of her damaged equipment.  She also needs to know if her insurance will cover fixed costs--e.g. rent--while repairs are being made.  If those costs aren't covered, Jane Doe may have to consult a banker to see if she can get a short term loan.

What Max Money decides to do is also an important factor in Jane Doe's decision.  Jane needs to know if Mr. Max will fix the window, entrance, and floor.  She also needs to know his timeline.  Will he do it quickly?  She may also ask Mr. Max to suspend rent while repairs are made.  And, to cut her some slack while the business gets back on its feet.  Mr. Max, though, may depend on his steady rental income and demand payment. 

Finally, Jane has to want to reopen.  She may be angry at the rioters.  She may also feel threatened/unwelcome in the neighborhood.  She may not know, for example, that the fire was unintentional.  And, as a result, she may wonder if she was targeted by rioters.

Not surprisingly, lots of Jane Does don't reopen businesses in these circumstances.

Then, a bad reputation settles in.  People point and say "That's the place where the riots happened."  Others say, "The people here are prone to riot."  Or "'Those people' can't be trusted." 

The narrative that emerges isn't usually fair.  Collective blame for individual actions.  Amnesia about the actual events that set off the riots.

But, the narrative sticks nonetheless.  20 years later, the neighborhood often looks a lot like it did when Jane Doe left.

I wish a different fate for you Baltimore.  Justice for Freddie Gray, and reinvestment for Baltimore's forgotten neighborhoods.