Two years ago, when the U.S. Treasury Department outlined how its new “Opportunity Zones” program would work, many experts were skeptical. Touted as a tax incentive designed to spur investment in low-income communities and help remedy the unequal pace of regional economic development, the program looked to some like another tax break for the wealthy; others feared it would just underwrite big projects in gentrifying neighborhoods rather than lift up disinvested ones.
