Gentrification: low on the middle class list of things to do
A couple of things again from London Calling (that book on the middle class in gentrifying neighborhoods) struck me. One was the authors wrote repeatingly that the middle class, in the gentrifying neighborhoods, were a numerical minority and the other thing, probably mentioned once was that of overall middle class behavior gentrification was a small tiny itty bitty expression. Think of it. Of all the people I would squarely put in the middle class column at work, most live in the burbs and are very happy to live far away (except for the commute).Yet when you are in the gentrifying neighborhood I gather it looks more like a middle class invasion. No. We're just the odd balls. Everybody else is taking over farmland so they can have a yard and a driveway.
If moving into gentrifying hoods is a minor action expression of middle class behavior then that explains why aren't there more middle class blacks moving into Shaw. Looking at my own middle class family (oh and for my new readers I'm black) only two of us live in the city. One aunt lives on the other side of the river in SE but she and my late uncle moved there after WWII way before the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Everybody else came to DC in the late 60s and 70s and moved to the burbs. When I came in the 90s I first lived in the suburbs and got flak from my family for choosing the District. I'm quite sure they are wondering when I'm going to snap out of this phase, sell the house move to PG or NoVa and live like normal (new construction house with a car in the driveway).
The whole of American middle classdom, regardless of race, seem to have little interest in moving to the 'hood. Because really, the occasional gunshots at night, the friendly neighborhood drug dealers, the adventures of C the crackho, the trash, the headaches with the city, not for everyone.
posted by Mari @ 18.1.06
4 Comments:
Crime happens everywhere not just in the city. Everytime I hear of a rape or molestation on the news, 95% percent of the time its in VA. There is a false perception in the metropolitan area of the District. I hear it from coworkers all the time. I wonder what Mayor Nagin would say about the situation in DC.
Crime happens everywhere not just in the city. Everytime I hear of a rape or molestation on the news, 95% percent of the time its in VA. There is a false perception in the metropolitan area of the District.
Except when its reality. Go to the Bureau of Justice web site and take a gander at their statistics. A sample of the violent crime rates for DC and the surrounding suburbs (2001-2003, the last year data is available)
(since you can't make a table in the comments this may look a little screwy)
Year: 2001, 2002, 2003
DC: 1,736.20; 1,595.60; 1,568.90
Alexandria: 313.2; 317; 306.5
Arlington: 201.7; 220.8; 228.8
Fairfax (City): 270.3, N/A, N/A
Fairfax County: 25.1; 49.9; 66.6
Vienna: 115.8; N/A; N/A
Montgomery County: 208.6; 220.1; 234.8
PG County: 1,042.80; 1,059.50; 968.1
The only place that comes remotely close to DC is PG County. Compared to its surroundings (and many other places) DC is a violent place.
The tv news people focus on stuff that will get ratings and scaring their viewership.
At 6 something in your house will kill you. Tune in.
Will eating food harm your children? See our report at 11
The news media does not report every single crime that happens in the District. I discovered this when I got reports from crimereports.com (currently it isn't giving up any data) and compared it to the Washington Post's page on crime. What was left out were car break ins, petty assaults, some sex crimes, and the like.
Crime happens everywhere not just in the city. Everytime I hear of a rape or molestation on the news, 95% percent of the time its in VA. There is a false perception in the metropolitan area of the District. I hear it from coworkers all the time. I wonder what Mayor Nagin would say about the situation in DC.
Where do you live? I've lived in DC for a total of 2 years, in which time I've been robbed twice, hit with a pipe in the face once (apparently for fun), and had my car window broken twice. My fiancee has been robbed at gunpoint. I love the district, but I'm afraid I don't recognize the city you're talking about. I suppose I'll concede the point that the city is safer than, say, one completely buried under water. I suppose that it's also safer than Baghdad, for what it's worth.
Clay Templeton
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