The Last House on the Block
Open to Everyone
In the minds of many, Detroit is undergoing a renaissance thanks to gentrifying urbanites who’ve been drawn to the city with the promise of cheap housing and thriving culture. But what happens when gentrification attempts to come to one of the most depopulated neighborhoods in the country—a place where every other property in the neighborhood was a vacant lot and every third house stood empty? To find out, Sharon Cornelissen moved to the Brightmoor neighborhood of Detroit for three years and became the owner of a $7,000 house.
About the Speakers
Sharon Cornelissen is a sociologist and national housing expert. As director of housing at the Consumer Federation of America, she leads research and advocacy to help end our housing crisis. She received her doctorate in sociology from Princeton University and previously worked at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Originally from the Netherlands, she now lives in Washington DC.
Mo Torres is a sociologist interested in urban political economy, inequality, the sociology of race/racism, and the politics of knowledge production. He is a postdoctoral fellow in the Michigan Society of Fellows and with the Center for Racial Justice and an assistant professor of sociology and public policy. He is a U-M (MPP ’15) and Fulbright (Brazil ’19) alumnus and received his PhD in sociology from Harvard University in 2023. A first-generation college graduate, Mo is a former Detroit Public Schools teacher.