In 2022, people lived here—under blue tarps, in a grove of trees, near my house in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2025, those trees are landscaping. In their place: “luxury apartments.” None of the original residents can return. This isn’t revitalization. It’s erasure.
I didn’t think I was witnessing a parable. I was just walking. A little clump of trees, wedged between a service road and a shrug from the city. Tent city. Blue tarps like bruises in the branches…
This happened in broad daylight, in full view of the neighborhood. But most of us looked away. Here's what I saw when I decided to pay attention - and why we all should.