Latino revitalization as “blight”

Latinos are revitalizing rural towns throughout the United States. In Woodburn Oregon, we analyze: (1) how Latino small businesses are transforming downtown via their generative placemaking practices; (2) critique the views of blight via historic preservation versus Latino placemaking; and (3) uncover how the towns racialized context hampers Latino small business owner’s revitalization efforts. We find that in Woodburn, Latinos’ ethnic resilience is manifested through establishing successful small businesses that have helped revitalize its downtown, in spite of the towns’ government characterizing the downtown as blight.