The US city where ‘desert palaces’ are sprouting as affordable homes dwindle

Durham, North Carolina, is one of the US's fastest-growing cities. As house prices boom, can the city prevent the displacement of lower-income residents?

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William Downey has had an unwanted front-row seat to the astronomical - but in many ways typical - transformation of the real estate market in one US city. A decade ago, as his neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina, was just beginning to gentrify, his landlord sold the apartment Downey had occupied for more than 30 years.

Downey, a Black man now retired from his job as a supervisor in a chemical plant, had to move. But he landed on his feet, winding up across town on East Geer Street. Located near downtown, the area had a history of gun violence and was less desirable to outsiders, and Downey was able to afford his own home. I love it here," he said.