 Although many of the structures in the neighborhood were rented to the mostly black community by white property owners, more than a quarter of the homes and business properties were black owned.Most Vinegar Hill residents lived without basic amenities like running water, plumbing, or electric.The city of Charlottesville's health council did not feel they had adequate power to enforce the standing city code that required each home to have these amenities in every home, including those in Vinegar Hill.