Capstone: Curry

Capstone: Sarah Curry

Strawberry Necessities: a Study of Methods By Which Residents Can Keep Community

Strawberry Mansion is a neighborhood beloved. Proof of this exists in the stories told and the residents who return to give this community their all despite city disinvestment. This bright culture is probably what attracts the looming cloud of new developers, out of town landlords, and threats of gentrification.

Gentrification and displacement from a housing perspective is well-documented, but the turnover and pricing out of businesses is less discussed, even in economic development courses. The city planner’s toolbox for helping neighborhoods maintain their identity and retain their population includes leaning into what community elements are essential: places to gather – a community center; places to get food – restaurants and grocery stores; access to mobility – bus and trolley routes; and affordable places to live. That which is deemed essential is prioritized.

Similarly, this Capstone class began with a historic marker outside of the Tanner House. The meaning behind the metal sign inspired and continues to catalyze movements, memories, action, and protection. That which is deemed historic is preserved.

Side One of the map highlights some of those essential businesses that residents can patron intentionally rather than spending money outside of the neighborhood (Sarah Curry, 2025).

Side Two of the map is intended to spotlight those local institutions that set the scene for what truly shapes a community (Sarah Curry, 2025).
But who decides what is historic? Who decides what is essential? Still missing from this dichotomy of community elements is a public agency and a greater weight given to the core memories that are shared by a neighborhood’s residents and the built environment in which they take place. The spot where folks go for birthday parties, the daycare where they spent formative years, the park where horses roam, the location of someone’s first job, a grandmother’s house, or a convenience store that hasn’t increased its prices in thirty years are all pieces of a complete community. These places are vital to residents’ lives, yet they are often the first to go when big money starts to target a previously disadvantaged area. How do we hang on to these important places, not only those that are “historic” and “essential,” when the neighborhood starts changing?

There is much that city leadership can do to help strengthen a hyper-local economy, including running programs that lend money to small business owners, contribute to storefront improvements, and commit to running basic services (like trash pickup, reliable mail, and routine street maintenance) to areas where private industry is not abundant. Residents can support their neighbors in business with their dollars – money spent in the community stays in the community and contributes to a better quality of life for everyone. The deliverable for this project is a map because maps are powerful and lend agency to what they mark. This map is intended to illustrate what is determined important by the residents of Strawberry Mansion in an effort to make clear where there is room to bring in what is missing and to highlight the not-yet-lost elements of community that must be kept.
This project began with a house and a sign. The Tanner House stands wizened with age and damaged with use, but never forgotten (Sarah Curry, 2025).

Ridge Avenue as a commercial corridor once and still does support an immense number of small businesses (Sarah Curry, 2025).