The 713 Ft Bridge

Economic & Racial Disparity in Small Town America

In the southwestern corner of Michigan there are two small towns (90 miles from Chicago) perfectly situated on the beautiful beaches of Lake Michigan - St. Joseph and Benton Harbor.

My story is one of two cities, separated only by a river. One quite affluent where many corporate executives and much of its 88% white residents live in well combed, lakeside mansions. enjoying a medium household income that is 4xs as high as that of their less fortunate neighbors whose 87% black residents live in poverty.

All one needs to do is look for a grocery store in Benton Harbor offering fresh produce – there is only one. This is only one example of the socioeconomic gap that exists between the two.

Benton Harbor with its deserted store fronts, boarded up homes, burned out buildings, and homeless, stands only a few hundred yards from the bridge with a marina full of fancy yachts to the left and a Jack Nicklaus Designed PGA Championship golf course to the right.

This acute economic distress has made Benton Harbor eligible for state tax credits that its wealthier neighbor could not access. In order to build Harbor Shores, the border between these 2 small towns was temporarily altered, a line that is in all other ways is impermeable. The St. Joseph land became part of Benton Harbor, making this development eligible for state and federal tax credits.

The juxtaposition between an impoverished population set against two rising monuments of wealth - Whirlpool World HQ & Harbor Shores PGA Golf Club — all wedged into little more than four square miles — makes this small US town a textbook example of economic and racial disparity in America.