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Community Revitalization: Prichard, Alabama |
The Community
From 1970 to 1980, population in the city of Prichard declined by almost 5 percent compared with a growth rate of 12.9 percent for the State of Alabama. This decline was a continuation of a trend that saw Prichard lose approximately 17 percent of its population from 1960 to 1970. While Prichard's black population declined by 6 percent between 1960 and 1970, the white population declined by 22 percent during the same period. By 1980, nearly three quarters of Prichard's population was black. Prosperity in Prichard was almost an unknown commodity. The crime rate was high. There was allegedly active drug trade.
During the 1980s, Prichard was among the five poorest communities in the United States according to local officials. According to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for I-210 (1984), Prichard had the lowest median family income, the lowest per capita income, and the second highest proportion of families living below the official poverty level in the State of Alabama. Prichard also had the lowest median years of school completed for residents 25 years and older.
The community of Prichard was characterized by its struggle against socio-economic disadvantage. When leaders saw the opportunity to improve the city's economic standing with a new highway, they quickly embraced it. To the residents of Prichard, the specific environmental impacts of the highway were not at important as the prospect of economic development that the highway might bring.
According to 1994 statistics, Prichard had a population of only 33,806 80 percent of whom were black. Median family income was $13,785, the lowest in Alabama, where the median family income of $28,688 was more than double of Prichard's. In addition, 40 percent of Prichard's families were below the poverty level (the highest in Alabama) compared to the State average of 14 percent. Prichard also led the State in the percentage of its households receiving public assistance (21.4 percent) as opposed to the statewide figure of 8.7 percent.