Post and Courier and WYFF turn to Furman’s Kolb to explain Sterling’s gentrification

A study commissioned by Habitat for Humanity and the Urban League of the Upstate reveals the historically Black Sterling Community in Greenville, South Carolina, is losing many properties to LLCs and corporate entities. Longtime residents, nearly half of them renters, are at risk of losing their homes due to spiraling rent prices, said one of the study’s authors, Ken Kolb, chair and professor of the Sociology Department at Furman University.

Kolb, who worked on the study through the Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities at Furman, was quoted in an article appearing in The Post and Courier Greenville, and in an interview with WYFF News 4. Kolb said the presence of community centers, places of worship and homes built by Habitat for Humanity and Homes of Hope can act as a buffer against further losses to corporate entities.