there goes the neighborhood

just thoughts...

i remember when i first moved to dc, we drove past all the row homes on 13th street, crossed over what u street was at the time, and finally made it to our new neighborhood - mount pleasant/columbia heights. what a change from good ole' down south atlanta; we had just graduated college, we loved new things - and we wanted chocolate city. we lived near lowest price gas station (that did not accept credit cards, that i swear i almost got robbed at once), georges carryout, and several liquor stores. we were walking distance from kennedy street, the 14th street haps and the diverse adams morgan neighborhood. what a vibrant neighborhood. ice cream trucks, kids playing in the streets, mom and pop shops.

fast forward 4 years

still living in dc, only a bit more aware of the economic changes that have taken place here. 14th street is not the same street where you could safely ride a bike or take a jog - [during the day of course, some things just don't change] - but it is now lined with new housing developments. $400K+ condos, shopping centers, restaurants, and tons of traffic at all times. there's even a new target there. then i remember the taboo of SE dc; a neighborhood that everyone told us to stay away from. how green we were. now, i visit several friends who live in that very neighborhood. projects torn down; condos and townhouses built up. lower class families moved out, middle/upper class families moved in. mom and pops stores shut down, chain retail stores pop up. what's happened here? gentrification? um yeah.

hindsight is 20/20. coming from the south, i see how slow the process of gentrification affected us. the neighborhoods didn't become labeled "up and coming" as they do here in dc. it was a slow process- we didn't realize what was happening. however over the past 4 years, dc has transformed its lower income areas into "up and coming areas" that attract people who once did not dare walk through that neighborhood - god forbid live there.. until now.

gentrification draws in taxes, thus increasing property tax and increasing rents; therefore, former tenants no longer can afford their newly luxurious neighborhoods. they leave or stay to work twice as hard just to make it work. they are not happy neighbors. let's talk tension.

the tensions between the new neighbors and the legacy neighbors is real. it's normally not a welcoming gesture when we move into neighborhoods with our noses in the air. it's usually not good community practice when you are afraid of neighbors who have lived there for years. it really doesn't help to think that about how your $400k condo is not priceless like the home across the street who sheltered 4 generations. it typically doesn't generate the "unity" that we all want so badly. it rests on the dynamics of two black americas that dj black adam wrote of in his blog. this changes the dynamics of the city as well as the dynamics between that bridge of two black americas. any resolutions? of course, it's not that easy.

race matters, class matters - especially when it comes to the unity of a race that shares the same oppressions and history. there is no point here.. just thoughts; possibly sparked due to confusion or guilt during my home-buying process. just finish this post with your own thoughts. hopefully, you've considered some of these thoughts. attached are photos around dc.