Gentrification in DC - Wash Post Article Shows The Bad Side

[Anonymous]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2019/09/21/shed-lived-this-historically-black-dc-block-years-now-she-was-being-pushed-out/

[Anonymous]

Great article. This shows the “softer” side of displacement. For some reason people think only criminals and the poor are pushed out. However, a lot of the displacement happens to working class people who are longtime residents. Sadly white people can’t wait for their neighborhoods to “turn over”.

[Anonymous]

Can you provide a summary or alt link so we don't have to login?

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

I like the human interest story and the black history, but this reporting is incredibly biased. The neighborhood was “mostly black” but is now “overwhelmingly white”. When white people move in it’s overwhelming huh. Also talks about how it was her good for 40 years but it’s not until pages later that you learn what it was actually like for her 40 years ago, complete with junkies passed out and people walking around w sawed off shotguns in her building. There is a balance. Yes I think it’s an issue but this article seems very anti-white instead of pro-black/original residents. For crying out loud, the owner that sold her building to developers was black!

[Anonymous]

Yes we are pushing longtime residents out which is mostly bad. But is U street even mostly white? The weird pictures of white people walking in the neighborhood are creepy and weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes we are pushing longtime residents out which is mostly bad. But is U street even mostly white? The weird pictures of white people walking in the neighborhood are creepy and weird.

And Archie Bunker on the TV behind them ....

[Anonymous]

The gentrification is a huge wealth transfer to many black families. Hopefully they will make the most of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The gentrification is a huge wealth transfer to many black families. Hopefully they will make the most of it.

This.

When I (white person) bought my Bloomingdale rowhouse from a 92 year old AA woman, she was jumping for joy. She never thought she'd see that much money in her life, and now had something to leave to her kids in Maryland (who were pretty well off themselves). No homeowner HAS to sell in DC - there are plenty of property tax remedies for low-income residents. Homeowners sell because they can pocket the $$ and move someplace cheaper, just like I'll be doing in a few years.

Rentals are a different story, and many renters are being displaced as described in the article. But ... why do renters think that they have a right to live in the same place for decades? If you don't own your place, you should expect that moving is inevitable at some point. If that's not acceptable then save up for a studio condo someplace cheaper. People aren't plants - they can move and thrive in different locations.

[Anonymous]

Places as close to downtown as U Street should never have been as inexpensive as they were in a healthy society. Our history of racist segregation and its aftermath created an anomaly that should never have occurred and will never occur again.

The real problem, as I see it, is that we've stopped building anything that looks and feels like a well-functioning city neighborhood in place of building everything around the car, and we have for many decades. So, when people get displaced, their quality of life really does decline significantly and permanently. They can no longer afford the lifestyle that they once had, because it just doesn't exist except in these close-in neighborhoods. New large multifamily buildings help a little bit. But, they're just a very different thing from rowhouses or small multi-unit buildings, which are basically not being built anymore. Especially if you're not able to drive for any reason, more affordable suburbs are a pretty massive lifestyle downgrade.

We could build housing with something that approximates he look and feel of old rowhouse neighborhoods for a fraction of what those houses cost today. But zoning precludes it, and larger lot minimum sizes make it impossible to build these types of neighborhoods except in places that are so far out that the prerequisite public transit infrastructure is impractical. So, instead, the pleasant urban lifestyle of our best neighborhoods just becomes more unaffordable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Places as close to downtown as U Street should never have been as inexpensive as they were in a healthy society. Our history of racist segregation and its aftermath created an anomaly that should never have occurred and will never occur again.

The real problem, as I see it, is that we've stopped building anything that looks and feels like a well-functioning city neighborhood in place of building everything around the car, and we have for many decades. So, when people get displaced, their quality of life really does decline significantly and permanently. They can no longer afford the lifestyle that they once had, because it just doesn't exist except in these close-in neighborhoods. New large multifamily buildings help a little bit. But, they're just a very different thing from rowhouses or small multi-unit buildings, which are basically not being built anymore. Especially if you're not able to drive for any reason, more affordable suburbs are a pretty massive lifestyle downgrade.

We could build housing with something that approximates he look and feel of old rowhouse neighborhoods for a fraction of what those houses cost today. But zoning precludes it, and larger lot minimum sizes make it impossible to build these types of neighborhoods except in places that are so far out that the prerequisite public transit infrastructure is impractical. So, instead, the pleasant urban lifestyle of our best neighborhoods just becomes more unaffordable.

Actually, suburban planning is taking allof this into account. Look at places like Reston, where you have multiple housing options and walkability to essentials and entertainment.

[Anonymous]

This isn't unique to D.C.

Rent control tenants LOVE to squat in cheap housing for 30-40 years and then cry bloody murder when an owner who actually wants to invest in living there + improving the community pushes them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes we are pushing longtime residents out which is mostly bad. But is U street even mostly white? The weird pictures of white people walking in the neighborhood are creepy and weird.

Yeah it is.

[Anonymous]

Developprs have also stopped building large 3 bedroom apartments which are great for families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Developprs have also stopped building large 3 bedroom apartments which are great for families.

Yes. Feeling the pain of this big time. Might force us out of our community.