For the past year, residents of Bloomington, a rural community in inland Southern California, have watched as neighborhood homes standing for over 40 years are demolished to make way for the Bloomington Business Park, a 2.1-million-square-foot warehouse development approved in 2022.
The region, known as the Inland Empire, begins about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Historically, the area is known for its lower cost of living and land. Families who settled here generations ago did not anticipate the impact of e-commerce—which begins overseas, travels through the ports of Los Angeles, and then moves across the country—and the proliferation of warehouses it brings to the region.
Journalist Aryana Noroozi reports and photographs the social, cultural, economic, and health impacts of the warehouse industry on the region, with a hyperlocal focus on Bloomington. Her coverage includes the community division surrounding the Bloomington Business Park, its eventual approval, and the recent demolition of homes to make way for the project.
This reporting project examines the mental toll of watching one’s community and world shift as neighboring homes are razed and developers approach residents to purchase the ones still standing.
