New NC housing development offers a safe space to ‘freedom-loving patriots’ | Opinion

On the outskirts of Gastonia, half an hour outside of uptown Charlotte, builders and bulldozers have been breaking ground on yet another housing development for retirees.

But 1776 Gastonia won’t be your typical 55-plus community. According to the developer, it’s where freedom and patriotism live.

1776 Gastonia is a project launched by Great American Homes, an offshoot of local developer NewStyle Communities. Its website says it is intended to blend “American patriotism, the American dream of home ownership and the founding ideals of this great nation: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Even the streets bear patriotic names — future residents could live on Betsy Ross Drive, Paul Revere Drive or Constitution Lane. One of the floorplans appropriately begins at 1,776 square feet. 1776 Gastonia’s “all-American grand opening” event was held Saturday.

While the development brands itself as an “America First community for freedom-loving Patriots,” it’s not clear what exactly that means. I asked Casey Kupper, a spokesperson for the company, to elaborate.

Kupper told me that 1776 Gastonia is governed by a set of community standards that “specifically compel [homeowners] to promote, affirm, and pledge their support for The United States of America, the Constitution, and to the nation’s motto of E Pluribus Unum.” Homeowners are also required to fly the American flag on their front porch throughout the year — but don’t worry, a flag is included in the purchase of every home.

Those “community standards” will be defined in the rules set by the homeowners’ association, Kupper told me. She stopped responding when I asked for a copy of the standards and did not respond to my request for an interview with the founder.

1776 Gastonia prides itself on being a one-of-a-kind community, but Great American Homes says it hopes to soon expand the 1776 brand to other states. A similar development in Greenville, S.C, is expected to open in 2024.

Perhaps the most important question, though, is why a development like this is necessary in the first place? 1776 Gastonia is marketed toward a certain kind of audience — not just retirees, but retirees who value a certain vision of the United States so much they would move to a neighborhood that claims to embody it. It presents them with the option to live alongside people who “share patriotic values,” lest they move to another community filled with America haters who refuse to even celebrate the Fourth of July. What happened to making fun of “snowflakes” for wanting safe spaces?

And while there’s nothing wrong with seeking out cultural ties, 1776 Gastonia seems to exemplify the silos we create for ourselves these days - and the growing fear of the “other.” Rather than embracing differences, this community seems designed to encourage homogeneity.

For many, the words “America First” are intertwined with former President Donald Trump, who uses that phrase to describe his nationalist, anti-immigrant agenda. Though 1776 Gastonia’s website makes no reference to politics, its founder, Brock Fankhauser, made multiple donations to Trump’s 2020 campaign, according to federal filings.

It should also be noted that the “American dream” of home ownership has eluded many — and the dream promised by 1776 Gastonia certainly doesn’t come cheap. The 43 homes in the development begin at $450,000 — just above the median listing price in the Charlotte metro area.

Real estate developers, like any other business, are free to market their product to eager audiences, of course. But in an area famously struggling with housing affordability, is this really what we need?That’s not just true of Great American Homes — which does say that each 1776 community will donate a home to a disabled veteran — but of every developer seeking to build oxymoronic “affordable luxury” communities in areas where many people can hardly even afford rentals or starter homes.

1776 Gastonia markets its patriot’s paradise as an “exclusive concept,” and exclusive might be the best word to describe it. A community like this isn’t for everyone — and that’s probably the point.