Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The city used to be much more eclectic and caring. Not so much anymore.

I'd argue that the 45/45/10 split between Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics/Asians is more diverse/eclectic than the 70/30 poor Black/rich White split of olden days.

If you want a mix of races, income levels, political points of view, etc., come up to Frederick.

the city or the county?

b/c I hardly think Thurmont, for example, fits your description

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am White and have lived in Columbia Heights for 15+ years and I understand EXACTLY what he is trying to say. When I moved in Columbia Heights, it was generally an undesirable place for Whites to move. Thus, those of us Whites who lived there were "forced" to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood. It was not always a picnic but it was a net positive to me. Now, these areas that were undesirable for Whites a few years aog are now becoming havens for young White professionals. Good in that they are infusing money into these neighborhoods, bad because most of these folks are not really interested in putting roots down in these neighborhoods, will be moving out of DC in a few years and thus, care bery little about the history and fabric of these neighborhoods. Milloy makes it about race - I think it is a matter of other things too.

What does "'forced' to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood mean"?

The PP here. It means any number of things. It means that we had to recognize that we were moving into an established neighborhood where there were neighborhood traditions and with residents who were already active on certain issues. We had to understand some of the issues our neighbors were facing and we could not be tone deaf to those issues. Our block had an annual barbecue/block party that everyone attended and contributed to. In order to be good neighbors, we learned the history of it (to honor a former resident's return from Vietnam) and we participated. I will give you another example that resonates today. When we moved in, people in our neighborhood were fighting for increased police resources, renovation of a rec center and what would later become the Bell/Lincoln campus. So...coming into that neighborhood and fighting tooth and nail for a dog park or a coffee shop would have been tone deaf at that time.

Although I do not think it solely is a racial issue, I will give another example in a racial context. If a minority family moves into a majority suburban neighborhood, that family generally has to assimilate the norms of the neighborhood to be "accepted." The family has to do the work to adapt to the established social and living coventions of the neighborhood. So I always think it is strange when Whites move into an emerging neighborhood and expect to be exempt from the concept. To me, it is like some of the young professionals today have the attitude that they are "above" the folks already in those neighborhoods.

Why wouldn't a paler newcomer be equally interested in better police protection and recreational facilities in the neighborhood? The community barbeque sounds like a great tradition, which should be embraced by all.

Some residents keep to themselves and some are born activists in their communities, whether they are old-timers or newbies. It's an overgeneralization to suggest that new residents don't care about those issues. Indeed, because some of them no doubt have made a substantial investment in their homes, they may care for pecuniary as well as quality of life reasons.

Anonymous wrote:I just read the whole column and I thought it was spot on. 14th street is literally unrecognizable from what it was even 5 years ago. I do think that U street is still a more multicultural scene than many places in the city, but the change is undeniable. It's not that white people don't have a right to move where they want - it's that it is a loss to the people who have been displaced. Another very important point he makes is that even though there was crime and disrepair before gentrification, that does not mean there wasn't also life and culture and neighborhood. That is what has been lost to some, undeniably.

Then he should have said so. Instead, Milloy can't hide his clearly racist bias where he views non-black residents in DC as being in some zero-sum game in which African-Americans are the loser. If one took his column and substituted white for black as the aggrieved and black for white as the supposed negative change agents -- and if Milloy were a white columnist -- he would have been told to clean out his desk already.

I guess that now that Marion Barry is dead, someone had to take up the role of crazy old racist uncle in DC.

I just read the whole column and I thought it was spot on. 14th street is literally unrecognizable from what it was even 5 years ago. I do think that U street is still a more multicultural scene than many places in the city, but the change is undeniable. It's not that white people don't have a right to move where they want - it's that it is a loss to the people who have been displaced. Another very important point he makes is that even though there was crime and disrepair before gentrification, that does not mean there wasn't also life and culture and neighborhood. That is what has been lost to some, undeniably.

Here's another example: Our neighborhood used to have a lively street life, with people sitting on porches, talking, visiting, occasionally having a beer. Not getting drunk. Socializing. Maybe smoking cigarettes. Watching the Redskins on TV that someone put on the porch. I loved this about the neighborhood when I moved here in 2003. As the neighborhood became more gentrified, one new neighbor in particular didn't like the noise, so he started calling the police every time people would come out on their porch. Literally every time. The cops wouldn't cite anyone, but would keep telling everyone to keep it down and move inside. Eventually, people moved everything inside. Now our street is dead quiet all the time.

Is this a bad thing? Not for some people. But it's okay for others of us to feel sad or sentimental about a different era on the street.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am White and have lived in Columbia Heights for 15+ years and I understand EXACTLY what he is trying to say. When I moved in Columbia Heights, it was generally an undesirable place for Whites to move. Thus, those of us Whites who lived there were "forced" to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood. It was not always a picnic but it was a net positive to me. Now, these areas that were undesirable for Whites a few years aog are now becoming havens for young White professionals. Good in that they are infusing money into these neighborhoods, bad because most of these folks are not really interested in putting roots down in these neighborhoods, will be moving out of DC in a few years and thus, care bery little about the history and fabric of these neighborhoods. Milloy makes it about race - I think it is a matter of other things too.

What does "'forced' to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood mean"?

The PP here. It means any number of things. It means that we had to recognize that we were moving into an established neighborhood where there were neighborhood traditions and with residents who were already active on certain issues. We had to understand some of the issues our neighbors were facing and we could not be tone deaf to those issues. Our block had an annual barbecue/block party that everyone attended and contributed to. In order to be good neighbors, we learned the history of it (to honor a former resident's return from Vietnam) and we participated. I will give you another example that resonates today. When we moved in, people in our neighborhood were fighting for increased police resources, renovation of a rec center and what would later become the Bell/Lincoln campus. So...coming into that neighborhood and fighting tooth and nail for a dog park or a coffee shop would have been tone deaf at that time.

Although I do not think it solely is a racial issue, I will give another example in a racial context. If a minority family moves into a majority suburban neighborhood, that family generally has to assimilate the norms of the neighborhood to be "accepted." The family has to do the work to adapt to the established social and living coventions of the neighborhood. So I always think it is strange when Whites move into an emerging neighborhood and expect to be exempt from the concept. To me, it is like some of the young professionals today have the attitude that they are "above" the folks already in those neighborhoods.

Thank you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am White and have lived in Columbia Heights for 15+ years and I understand EXACTLY what he is trying to say. When I moved in Columbia Heights, it was generally an undesirable place for Whites to move. Thus, those of us Whites who lived there were "forced" to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood. It was not always a picnic but it was a net positive to me. Now, these areas that were undesirable for Whites a few years aog are now becoming havens for young White professionals. Good in that they are infusing money into these neighborhoods, bad because most of these folks are not really interested in putting roots down in these neighborhoods, will be moving out of DC in a few years and thus, care bery little about the history and fabric of these neighborhoods. Milloy makes it about race - I think it is a matter of other things too.

What does "'forced' to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood mean"?

The PP here. It means any number of things. It means that we had to recognize that we were moving into an established neighborhood where there were neighborhood traditions and with residents who were already active on certain issues. We had to understand some of the issues our neighbors were facing and we could not be tone deaf to those issues. Our block had an annual barbecue/block party that everyone attended and contributed to. In order to be good neighbors, we learned the history of it (to honor a former resident's return from Vietnam) and we participated. I will give you another example that resonates today. When we moved in, people in our neighborhood were fighting for increased police resources, renovation of a rec center and what would later become the Bell/Lincoln campus. So...coming into that neighborhood and fighting tooth and nail for a dog park or a coffee shop would have been tone deaf at that time.

Although I do not think it solely is a racial issue, I will give another example in a racial context. If a minority family moves into a majority suburban neighborhood, that family generally has to assimilate the norms of the neighborhood to be "accepted." The family has to do the work to adapt to the established social and living coventions of the neighborhood. So I always think it is strange when Whites move into an emerging neighborhood and expect to be exempt from the concept. To me, it is like some of the young professionals today have the attitude that they are "above" the folks already in those neighborhoods.

Anonymous wrote:I am White and have lived in Columbia Heights for 15+ years and I understand EXACTLY what he is trying to say. When I moved in Columbia Heights, it was generally an undesirable place for Whites to move. Thus, those of us Whites who lived there were "forced" to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood. It was not always a picnic but it was a net positive to me. Now, these areas that were undesirable for Whites a few years aog are now becoming havens for young White professionals. Good in that they are infusing money into these neighborhoods, bad because most of these folks are not really interested in putting roots down in these neighborhoods, will be moving out of DC in a few years and thus, care bery little about the history and fabric of these neighborhoods. Milloy makes it about race - I think it is a matter of other things too.

What does "'forced' to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood mean"?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am White and have lived in Columbia Heights for 15+ years and I understand EXACTLY what he is trying to say. When I moved in Columbia Heights, it was generally an undesirable place for Whites to move. Thus, those of us Whites who lived there were "forced" to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood. It was not always a picnic but it was a net positive to me. Now, these areas that were undesirable for Whites a few years aog are now becoming havens for young White professionals. Good in that they are infusing money into these neighborhoods, bad because most of these folks are not really interested in putting roots down in these neighborhoods, will be moving out of DC in a few years and thus, care bery little about the history and fabric of these neighborhoods. Milloy makes it about race - I think it is a matter of other things too.

There's plenty of undesirable Whites but they're all of in Frederick, Hagerstown, Martinsburg, Winchester, Front Royal, etc., and I'm not talking the White working class who commutes in 45-90 minutes and works with or more likely for the Yuppie Class. Those folks have it together enough to keep a job, the folks I'm talking about have trouble keeping the $9/hr jobs at Subway and spend much of their time scheming to have their back pain turned into a $800/month check from SSDI. To be fair, sometimes the White working class and White idle class are tied by bonds of blood and the former get their anti-Welfare rhetoric from seeing the White idle class at 'work' and (usually) play.

For some reason the Rust Belt cities have kept their White working class (e.g. parts of Bawlmer City, Carrick and the such in Pittsburgh, parts of Philly, etc.) DC has just exiled their White working class to the exurbs.

I'll also say that it's a universal tendency to overlook the pecadillos of people like you -- this is why some conservative Whites were so quick to seize upon any misdeeds Trayvon, Michael Brown, etc., might have committed, and overlook the Confederate Battle Flag and the "jokes" made by other Whites ... FWIW, I have heard reports from FB friends that some youths were riding around the historically Black neighborhoods of Front royal -- not on any main cruising drags -- with giant Confederate flags attached to their vehicles. I mean come the fuck on, there ain't no regional pride aspect when you're going out of your way to display the CBF in a Black neighborhood, this isn't some middle-aged guy who's got an interest in Civil War history and has a CBF bumper sticker that says "heritage not hate." Of course, this is all unsubstantiated, maybe it's the febrile imagination of my liberal friends in that area, and I guess as long as no actual threats are made nothing can or will be done about it (and even then depending on which policeman investigates, maybe not even then.)

Most of my conservative FB friends shrug or mumble something about this being a free country, yet I doubt they would be so blase about some Black youth going round town and flying the Black Panther flag or even someone going around town with a giant rainbow flag.

Likewise, Courtland Milloy overlooks the pecadillos of "his" people and complains about the Yuppies.

OTOH, I am curious -- why should Whites have to move into higher-crime areas, especially with families, to prove how "real" they are?

With all that said, [b]anyone that lives in Upper Ward 3 and pretends to be keeping it real because they live in DC deserves every bit of mockery they get.

Preach. There are plenty of them on this board.

Unfortunately, Upper Ward 3 is a little more "real" this year, as armed robberies have spiked way up, according to the frequent alerts and suspect descriptions from MPD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am White and have lived in Columbia Heights for 15+ years and I understand EXACTLY what he is trying to say. When I moved in Columbia Heights, it was generally an undesirable place for Whites to move. Thus, those of us Whites who lived there were "forced" to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood. It was not always a picnic but it was a net positive to me. Now, these areas that were undesirable for Whites a few years aog are now becoming havens for young White professionals. Good in that they are infusing money into these neighborhoods, bad because most of these folks are not really interested in putting roots down in these neighborhoods, will be moving out of DC in a few years and thus, care bery little about the history and fabric of these neighborhoods. Milloy makes it about race - I think it is a matter of other things too.

There's plenty of undesirable Whites but they're all of in Frederick, Hagerstown, Martinsburg, Winchester, Front Royal, etc., and I'm not talking the White working class who commutes in 45-90 minutes and works with or more likely for the Yuppie Class. Those folks have it together enough to keep a job, the folks I'm talking about have trouble keeping the $9/hr jobs at Subway and spend much of their time scheming to have their back pain turned into a $800/month check from SSDI. To be fair, sometimes the White working class and White idle class are tied by bonds of blood and the former get their anti-Welfare rhetoric from seeing the White idle class at 'work' and (usually) play.

For some reason the Rust Belt cities have kept their White working class (e.g. parts of Bawlmer City, Carrick and the such in Pittsburgh, parts of Philly, etc.) DC has just exiled their White working class to the exurbs.

I'll also say that it's a universal tendency to overlook the pecadillos of people like you -- this is why some conservative Whites were so quick to seize upon any misdeeds Trayvon, Michael Brown, etc., might have committed, and overlook the Confederate Battle Flag and the "jokes" made by other Whites ... FWIW, I have heard reports from FB friends that some youths were riding around the historically Black neighborhoods of Front royal -- not on any main cruising drags -- with giant Confederate flags attached to their vehicles. I mean come the fuck on, there ain't no regional pride aspect when you're going out of your way to display the CBF in a Black neighborhood, this isn't some middle-aged guy who's got an interest in Civil War history and has a CBF bumper sticker that says "heritage not hate." Of course, this is all unsubstantiated, maybe it's the febrile imagination of my liberal friends in that area, and I guess as long as no actual threats are made nothing can or will be done about it (and even then depending on which policeman investigates, maybe not even then.)

Most of my conservative FB friends shrug or mumble something about this being a free country, yet I doubt they would be so blase about some Black youth going round town and flying the Black Panther flag or even someone going around town with a giant rainbow flag.

Likewise, Courtland Milloy overlooks the pecadillos of "his" people and complains about the Yuppies.

OTOH, I am curious -- why should Whites have to move into higher-crime areas, especially with families, to prove how "real" they are?

With all that said, anyone that lives in Upper Ward 3 and pretends to be keeping it real because they live in DC deserves every bit of mockery they get.

Preach. There are plenty of them on this board.

Anonymous wrote:I am White and have lived in Columbia Heights for 15+ years and I understand EXACTLY what he is trying to say. When I moved in Columbia Heights, it was generally an undesirable place for Whites to move. Thus, those of us Whites who lived there were "forced" to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood. It was not always a picnic but it was a net positive to me. Now, these areas that were undesirable for Whites a few years aog are now becoming havens for young White professionals. Good in that they are infusing money into these neighborhoods, bad because most of these folks are not really interested in putting roots down in these neighborhoods, will be moving out of DC in a few years and thus, care bery little about the history and fabric of these neighborhoods. Milloy makes it about race - I think it is a matter of other things too.

There's plenty of undesirable Whites but they're all of in Frederick, Hagerstown, Martinsburg, Winchester, Front Royal, etc., and I'm not talking the White working class who commutes in 45-90 minutes and works with or more likely for the Yuppie Class. Those folks have it together enough to keep a job, the folks I'm talking about have trouble keeping the $9/hr jobs at Subway and spend much of their time scheming to have their back pain turned into a $800/month check from SSDI. To be fair, sometimes the White working class and White idle class are tied by bonds of blood and the former get their anti-Welfare rhetoric from seeing the White idle class at 'work' and (usually) play.

For some reason the Rust Belt cities have kept their White working class (e.g. parts of Bawlmer City, Carrick and the such in Pittsburgh, parts of Philly, etc.) DC has just exiled their White working class to the exurbs.

I'll also say that it's a universal tendency to overlook the pecadillos of people like you -- this is why some conservative Whites were so quick to seize upon any misdeeds Trayvon, Michael Brown, etc., might have committed, and overlook the Confederate Battle Flag and the "jokes" made by other Whites ... FWIW, I have heard reports from FB friends that some youths were riding around the historically Black neighborhoods of Front royal -- not on any main cruising drags -- with giant Confederate flags attached to their vehicles. I mean come the fuck on, there ain't no regional pride aspect when you're going out of your way to display the CBF in a Black neighborhood, this isn't some middle-aged guy who's got an interest in Civil War history and has a CBF bumper sticker that says "heritage not hate." Of course, this is all unsubstantiated, maybe it's the febrile imagination of my liberal friends in that area, and I guess as long as no actual threats are made nothing can or will be done about it (and even then depending on which policeman investigates, maybe not even then.)

Most of my conservative FB friends shrug or mumble something about this being a free country, yet I doubt they would be so blase about some Black youth going round town and flying the Black Panther flag or even someone going around town with a giant rainbow flag.

Likewise, Courtland Milloy overlooks the pecadillos of "his" people and complains about the Yuppies.

OTOH, I am curious -- why should Whites have to move into higher-crime areas, especially with families, to prove how "real" they are?

With all that said, anyone that lives in Upper Ward 3 and pretends to be keeping it real because they live in DC deserves every bit of mockery they get.

His delivery could use some fine-tuning, but he has a point.

I am White and have lived in Columbia Heights for 15+ years and I understand EXACTLY what he is trying to say. When I moved in Columbia Heights, it was generally an undesirable place for Whites to move. Thus, those of us Whites who lived there were "forced" to be more in tune with the culture and fabric of the neighborhood. It was not always a picnic but it was a net positive to me. Now, these areas that were undesirable for Whites a few years aog are now becoming havens for young White professionals. Good in that they are infusing money into these neighborhoods, bad because most of these folks are not really interested in putting roots down in these neighborhoods, will be moving out of DC in a few years and thus, care bery little about the history and fabric of these neighborhoods. Milloy makes it about race - I think it is a matter of other things too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I understanding this correctly...that this is a lamentation over whites moving into an area that was for the most part considered a black neighborhood?

Cause if it is I am having a reverse flashback to a time in my youth I heard just the opposite.

here are some quotes from the column:"The millennial newcomers--most of them white--jog, bike and walk about the city as if in a trance, oblivious to the lives that helped form the place they now call home."

"What is particularly grating is a disregard for the history of 14th Street as a black commercial center. . . "

"And after risking life and limb and finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, along comes an influx of new residents to reap the rewards."

Who is in a trance? Did he interview people to figure out they are "oblivious to the lives that helped form" the neighborhood? Who is disregarding the history of 14th street as a black commercial center? Is it the mere fact that white people shop there now too? Should people not move into a great neighborhood because they didn't live there through the bad times in the 70s and 80s? Wait a minute - most of these millennials were babies or young kids in the 80s. I guess you're not allowed to live there unless your parents lived there.

PP here.

I find that funny and so not right. Areas evolve...always have and always will. What was 14th street before it was a black commercial center? lol

I just took a look, brief as it was, and saw a reference to prostitution/red light district in the early 80's around 14th and Logan Circle. Is that close to where they are talking about?

Ok...I have been in DC a number of times, driven all over...but I never lived there...just in Md...so maybe I shouldn't be commenting.

Thanks for the response.

Anonymous wrote:Am I understanding this correctly...that this is a lamentation over whites moving into an area that was for the most part considered a black neighborhood?

Cause if it is I am having a reverse flashback to a time in my youth I heard just the opposite.

here are some quotes from the column:"The millennial newcomers--most of them white--jog, bike and walk about the city as if in a trance, oblivious to the lives that helped form the place they now call home."

"What is particularly grating is a disregard for the history of 14th Street as a black commercial center. . . "

"And after risking life and limb and finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, along comes an influx of new residents to reap the rewards."

Who is in a trance? Did he interview people to figure out they are "oblivious to the lives that helped form" the neighborhood? Who is disregarding the history of 14th street as a black commercial center? Is it the mere fact that white people shop there now too? Should people not move into a great neighborhood because they didn't live there through the bad times in the 70s and 80s? Wait a minute - most of these millennials were babies or young kids in the 80s. I guess you're not allowed to live there unless your parents lived there.