A new Great Migration: the disappearance of the black middle class

After the great recession of 2008, inequality widened along racial lines as people lost their homes, often their only major asset. Earlier this month the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington, D.C. think tank, reported in “Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of US,” that the average white family today has net assets of $141,900, compared with the $11,000 for African American families. This hollowing out of the African American family asset base is a nationwide phenomenon that can be explained by the shrinking African American middle class. It’s even more a factor in “strong market” regions like the Bay Area, where housing costs are soaring.

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Little Free Library movement begins to blossom in Richmond

Little Free Libraries

The concept is simple: a handful of books in a wooden box, mounted in a public space. The books are free. Peruse the selection. Take a book if you’d like. Leave a book in its place if you can. Enjoy. Called the Little Free Library, these informal neighborhood lending libraries have popped up in front…

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North Richmond church grapples with recent killings

Linetta Cooper said she can no longer live in North Richmond, a place she’s called home for 54 years. “You’ve got people riding around with guns,” Cooper said. “I’m ready to move.” Her remarks came during Sunday service on Sept. 29 at North Richmond’s New Hope Missionary Baptist Church following a recent spate of violence in the neighborhood.

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Baseball on a hot afternoon in North Richmond

It’s a hot afternoon at the Lucky A’s field in North Richmond, and the dozen or so kids who showed up for baseball practice today are sticking to a strip of shade next to the chain link fence. A couple boys are playing catch. Three others take up as a pitcher, a batter and a…

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Restoration Hardware moves for bigger horizons

Photo showing outside location of the new Restoration Hardware warehouse.

Upscale luxury furniture retailer Restoration Hardware has outgrown its former Marina Way South location, and now has put down roots in a larger warehouse at 2900 Atlas Road. Plans started last November for the big move, about the same time the national furniture chain went public. The company, headquartered in Corte Madera, signed a 10-year…

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