Construction erased busy streets and widened others. As urban renewal continued, Brooklyn became unrecognizable. Sterile government buildings, hotels, and new office buildings replaced the heart of Black Charlotte. Displaced by the project, more than 7,000 people found themselves scattered across the city trying to reclaim some semblance of the life and community they had.
Most people who were displaced relocated to predominantly Black neighborhoods in west and northwest Charlotte some on their own and others with assistance from the Redevelopment Commission. Former residents who found better housing experienced increased rents, while others landed in living conditions similar to Brooklyn. Many moved into public housing communities, like Piedmont Courts and Earle Village. Business owners faced financial difficulties relocating, and many never reopened. In 1968, the last people left Brooklyn for places like Double Oaks, University Park, Piedmont Courts, and Earle Village.
No matter where former residents found themselves, most people felt they had lost much more than they gained. People lost their homes, neighbors, and their sense of belonging. A tight-knit community had been dissolved into other predominantly Black parts of Charlotte, which exacerbated housing segregation and destroyed a social capital network decades in the making.
