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Anyone familiar with the Trinidad neighborhood ?
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Anonymous
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op, you're dumb. i know this because...
a. you asked "Can anyone give any feedback (pos or neg) about living there" and then later said you didn't want people's opinions on the neighborhood. b. you decided to move your family to trinidad knowing full well the dangers associated with the neighborhood. c. you think that the most explicit and crystal clear warnings about crime are inflated. i could see that if someone were talking about a suburb in pg county, it might be inflated. but this is probably the worst neighborhood in all of the dc area. nobody is "bashing" when they talk about statistics. and nobody mentioned race until you. d. you want to talk about how tough and immune you are for being from harlem and you assume the rest of us are from chevy chase. now that's just ignorant. |
Anonymous
| I'm not the OP, but can we please stick to the topic instead of calling each other names ? Grow up folks ! |
Anonymous
I second that op is dumb. I'm AA and live in the "inner city" and am very familiar with the Trinidad area. I'll say it again, now way in hell would I move there. No, it's not a safe neighborhood to raise children in. This is indeed a violent area of DC where gunshots are heard often. How is it racist to say that you should avoid living in a dangerous area of the city especially with your children? Next time to ask for feedback. |
Anonymous
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I agree with the OP, it is indeed quite racist to refer to an area as "not yet gentrified". As for the people assuming this person is 'tough" just because she indicated she is accustomed to inner city environments, you are making the same assumption as she did when she assumed you were snobs based on where you live.
Like she said in a previous post, she didn't ask for people's opinion on moving there, she asked for feedback on "living" there, meaning personal experiences, which some people gave, but most did not. BTW, I happen to be a native Washingtonian, living right on the line between Galludet and Trinidad. Yes, it has it's problems, but to say it is the worst neighborhood in DC and that there are daily shootings is simply false. There hasn't been a single shooting since the police checkpoints and there is a very strong sense of community. I also agree with another PP, these post always seem to go off topic and into "children fighting on a playground" mode. Why can't we just support each other as parents ? |
Anonymous
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crime has a lot to do with "living" there, doesn't it? so people did address her question.
and why should any parent support a stupid decision of another parent to move to a KNOWN dangerous neighborhood with their young children? it is equally stupid to only voice support when there are real points of alarm so the "why can't we just support each other" point is off. |
Anonymous
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16:03 , did the people that responded actually live there ? Doubtful
How can we be supportive ? See post 15:13, give this woman actual resources she can look up. That's how, stupid! |
Anonymous
| Here is a resource: 911. Knowingly moving there with kids is like buying a motorcycle as your sole mode of transportation when you have an infant. This whole thread is so ridiculous. As for being racist, I don't think AAs want to live there either. |
Anonymous
Oh puh-lease. This is getting a little hysterical. |
Anonymous
| This is past hysterical and I would love to know how the PP knows that African Americans don't want to live there ! |
Anonymous
| Past hysterical, indeed. All the references to gentrification definitely add a racial tone to the discussion. The OP is moving to Trinidad and wants some resources. I live in the burbs (although not Chevy Chase) and don't have any recommendations (but second that the arboreteum is fabulous, as is Kennilworth Acquatic Gardens, which I recall being near the arb), but OP, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you're ignoring the snarkier of these comments. |
Anonymous
I'm AA and don't want to live there. My brother is married with a wife and two little girls are searching and saving to move elsewhere. I ride through there on the bus early each morning and listen to stories by other riders o their way to work complaining about the area. Last week there was a shooting. At about 5:20 a.m., the bus drive had to detour, several cruisers and two ambulances were busy at work. I dunno. I'm AA and sure don't want to live there. |
Anonymous
| pp here -- i know that no one with the means to get out would live there-- that includes people of all races. |
Anonymous
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I'd move there. If I had national guard protection.
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Anonymous
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Trinidad is well-known for gang-related activity and associated violence.
The families that I know who live there would leave if they could afford to do so, and their children's activities outside are generally limited both to very specific hours of the day (eg, when the drug dealers are sleeping) and to the stoops of their own homes. |
Anonymous
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Hi there OP. My name is Faye (I'm a real person with an actual name!) and I used to live in Trinidad up until about 4 years ago. I was single (I'm married now!), white (still am), and lived alone for most of the time I was in Trinidad. An aquaintance of mine was flipping homes and bought several in the Trinidad area. Trinidad would not have been my first choice of a neighborhood but the house I was living in at the time sold quickly and the timing worked out for me to rent my friend's house for a short period of time. I ended up staying a little bit over 2 years. I didn't have children at the time (still don't, but have one on the way! I normally hang out on the expecting moms forum but posted the FDA listeria recall and wanted to check and see if anyone had questions).
I don't know what a Troll means or why so many people don't believe the OP has genuine questions and feel it's appropriate to be so rude to her, so I'm going to just answer your questions OP as if you, also are a real live person. One that probably does not appreciate being ridiculed for asking a question on a forum that is supposed to be supportive (geez, people!). First, the cons have been well-covered. If you weed out the seriously melodramatic replies likening Trinidad to a warzone, unfortunately you still have what, in my opinion, are fairly legitimate reflections on the level of crime going on there. But honestly, you don't sound like the person for whom that would be a deal breaker. I am the same way. IMHO, the crime in Trinidad has little to do with it being primarily black, or a transitioning or pre or post gentrification neighborhood. It has to do with drugs. When I lived there, there was a crack house up the street. There were also drug deals happening, but these were mainly on the two one-way roads that ran up and down from Florida ave (trinidad and montello, i think). The crackhouse on our street was responsible for (anecdotally speaking, it's not like I compiled stats) 99 percent of the crime on our street. The crackhouse was finally busted and the primary tenant evicted about a year after I was living there. Call me crazy, but when I lived there I did not have any bars on my windows or any security system in place. I never left windows or doors unlocked, but basically I felt pretty safe. That said, one summer I was in my home office (towards the rear of the house) all morning and went into one of the other rooms to find the screen out of the window. So basically someone had scaled the porches that are typical of that area and entered a spare room through an open window. They must have heard me in the house (okay, that IS scary) and bolted without taking anything. So be smarter than I was and you'll be even safer than I was -- open windows only when you're paying attention, and an alarm system probably wouldn't hurt. One reason I felt that I did so well in the neighborhood was that I took the time to get to know my neighbors. My neighbor to the right was a hard working single mom with three older children and a grandchild she was raising. One door down from her lived an octagenarian lady, in a wheelchair, who lived with her adult son and spent the entire summer sitting on her porch watching over the neighborhood. To my left was a firefighter from PG county. He had a wife who worked as a secretary at Health and Human Services. They had a little girl about 2 years old. Across the street from my house was a section 8 apartment building. Never any problems there, although I didn't get to know many of the residents as they weren't outside as much. I believe that when I moved in I was most certainly the only white person on my street. Who cares? At first it was strange for me, but my neighbors didn't bat an eyelash although I have to admit to going to my neighbors new year's eve party and feeling like the music almost stopped when I walked in the door, LOL! The only other slightly "racially tinged" issue I had was that some of the neighborhood kids took to calling me "white lady." I pretty much just ignored it until one afternoon when I was walking to my house with hands full and a bunch of flowers in my arms for the front yard, when a bird crapped on me. This one little boy was like "you got bird doodoo on your hair!" and then when I didn't respond, was like "you've got bird doodoo on your head.....WHITE LADY!" just in case I hadn't figured out that he was talking to me. I was in a snit due to the aforementioned bird doodoo, so I went up to the kid, who was really just a little boy, and said "don't you know it's not nice to say things like that? Don't you have any white friends?" and he said "just you." I dunno, kind of a twisted hallmark moment. I convinced him to help me plant my flowers and he told me his mom made better iced tea than I did. We were buddies after that. As for the rest of my neighbors, they simply told me that everyone in the neighborhood looked out for one another, and they'd have my back. Yeah, that made me a bit nervous (like, why do you have to have my back, is the neighborhood that bad?) But I am not exaggerating when I say that, of all places Trinidad was one of the most neighbor-friendly place I've ever lived. I didn't need to stay there long and had originally planned to stay only for a month or so until I found a place in a "nicer" neighborhood. I really enjoyed my house and my street, though, and stayed as I mentioned, for 2 years. Another issue I had was, well, the need to justify or explain where I was living to people. I'm not impervious to people's opinions, and MANY people thought (and did not hesitate to tell me) that I was INSANE for living there. A friend once dropped me off and said "this is no way to live." OP, if you do move here, have a comeback ready. I can just see how many people will tell you that "this is no place to raise kids." To me, it always sounded vaguely racist, although I think the people saying it were all well-intentioned and just looking out for me. Since I've moved out, many things have changed. First of all, I highly doubt that I would be the only person "like me" in the neighborhood anymore or even in the minority. It seems like right as I was moving out, gentrification was moving in. Unfortunately, crime was also increasing. When I lived there, I don't believe there were any homicides in a 5 block radius from my home. These days, it seems like you hear about another homicide every week. But it's my understanding that these are people coming in (from Maryland, the police think) looking to buy drugs. The police are taking it seriously. Some people have been very offended by the steps the police are taking, saying it's like a police state (checkpoints, surveillance cameras, etc). I personally don't know. The people who live IN the neighborhood have simply said that the police would do them a bigger favor by addressing things like broken / burned out street lights, repeated nuisance loitering, and calls about helping to dismantle crackhouses). The street I lived on specifically was Owen Pl -- and as others have noted, this really is a street-to-street kind of neighborhood but I can almost guarantee you that in any given neighborhood, you will find kind and welcoming neighbors. Also, RE parking, most of the houses have driveways in the back. I was never afraid of our alley at night, never had a problem at night. I often took the bus D3 I think, to work downtown in lieu of driving. As far as kids go, I grew up in project housing in Pittsburgh, PA. I know, hardly the inner city. But this was in the 70's / 80's, when there was much more racial tension than there is now. That's where I learned that if you don't want to get your ass kicked all the time, its pretty darn easy. Just be a respectful human being, don't be afraid of people, and be aware of your surroundings. It's just not smart to go around any economically challenged area flashing benjamins and i-pods. It's not just stupid, it's kind of unflatteringly flashy. OP, you will be fine in Trinidad. Get to know your neighbors. Help your kids get to know other kids in the neighborhood. Get to know other parents. Things you already know: keep your eye on your kids carefully, whatever I've said about the kindly neighbors, there are bad seeds everywhere. And don't let your kids run around at night. DC has a curfew anyway, but I wouldn't allow my children on the street past dusk anyway. If they are at a friends house after dark, go get them. Don't let them walk home, and consider how much you trust that they're in good hands where they are before you let someone else offer to bring them home. Galluadet U is right around the corner and their grounds are open to the public. They have lots of lawn and green space and I've often seen people with kids having picnics. Arboretum on NY avenue is also, as someone mentioned previously, incredible. You're near H street, which has loads of activities (Frozen Tropics blog already mentioned has the low-down on this). Lots of coffee shops, (Sidamo at H & 4th is the best, and there's Sova at H & 13th which is probably closer to you), new restaurants, theaters and gyms, and good neighbors. FWIW, I would have allowed either one of my neighbors to babysit my kid without a worry. I ended up moving out of the neighborhood but now live nearby in NE Cap Hill. We moved because my husband and I got married and we needed a bigger house, not because of problems with the neighborhood. In summary, Trinidad was and probably is still a wonderful neighborhood. Unfortunately the crime problem is real. But you'll find lots of resources in your neighbors and I bet you'll appreciate the time spent here. If you would like to ask me any more questions about Trinidad, I'd be glad to respond. Email is fayebird (at) gmail (dot) com. Sorry such a long post! |