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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My problem with the Capitol Hill neighborhood is that it’s become an enclave for wealthy white people. The neighborhood was traditionally very mixed, where black and white families lived side by side. Even during the peak of the 80/90s drug and crime wave, the Hill was always mixed.

Now, you’d be hard pressed to find more than one black family on a block, unless I’m not seeing them.

For all those that talk about diversity as a reason why you moved to the Hill, my question is, where? I recognize that Capitol Hill is in a great location and has beautiful houses, but urban living to me means inclusion. If I wanted to be in a homogeneous environment I could easily live in North Arlington or parts of PG County.

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+1 it is trying to replicate Ward 3[/quote]

You could say that about the Upper East Side of Manhattan or Park Slope in Brooklyn or Dearborn Park in Chicago. When I moved to the Hill in 1999 there was only one black family on my block and I am now only the second person of color, so it hasn't changed that much. That said, there are still many mixed neighborhoods on the Hill, perhaps more than NW ones like Adams Morgan or Woodley. Don't forget that we have a number of low-income housing complexes on the Hill too. But overall these are the unfortunate consequences of gentrification. On a further tangent, I don't think most neighborhoods in the suburbs are becoming more diverse within themselves. There are some suburbs with neighborhoods that are one ethnicity or another adjacent to each other. This isn't that different than the Hill.[/quote]

PP here, yes. The DC metro area has become dramatically more diverse over the last 30 years, just like most metropolitan areas. The DC metro area was about 94% black and non-Hispanic white in the 80s, but now it’s around 70% black and non-Hispanic white. Most of the Asian, Hispanic, and mixed/other increases have been in the suburbs. While suburbs might be segregated, they are more diverse than DC proper.

What’s happened on Capitol Hill, is a middle class mixed community has been turned in a Upper-middle class to wealthy white enclave. With the black middle class being removed and priced out. For those that say that The Hill is diverse because of public housing, all I can do is laugh and roll my eyes. There’s no significant public housing in the areas around Stanton and Lincoln parks and Eastern Market. Further, just because you have some token “poors” doesn’t make an area truly diverse, since those people are not fully part of the community at large, I.e mom circles, yoga classes, coffee shops, dinner parties, children’s groups etc. The “Poors” and the others DO NOT mix, live in separate worlds, and essentially live in different neighborhoods. . They are ornamental decoration to make the neighborhood appear integrated to make limousine liberals feel good about themselves. This reeks of white privilege. [/quote]

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