Author: Mari

Gentrification ans Me- Issue 5

Gentrification & Me, issue 5

“Unfortunately, many poorer city residents still don’t see the advantages of buying. As the interviews from the Shoreview case show, many residents still mistakenly believe living 20 years in a rented apartment bestows some property right equal or greater than that held by the actual owner. They do not realize the tax advantages of homeownership (through mortgage interest deductions) or the fact that owners realize the benefits of appreciated property while renters do not.” From Gentrification’s flip side — good for rich, bad for poor by Dwayne M. Green.

Homeownership. It is a good thing. It is also a pain in the rear.

But if you can stay ahead of the tax payments it can save a body from being outsted via gentrification.

An island in Shaw

Catching up with a friend of mine, another DIY homeowner, we talked about some of the changes we noticed in our neighborhoods, mine Shaw, his Bladensburg, MD. Jon had bought his house so he’d be relatively close to College Park. At the time that was important. Now, College Park could be on the other side of PG County and he wouldn’t know the difference. Once we get into our little areas the other parts surrounding sometimes don’t seem all that close on a day to day basis.
I remarked that yes, I’m close to trendy and gettin’ trendy neighborhoods like Chinatown, Dupont, Logan, and U Street. But even with Shaw neighborhoods of U Street and Logan, I’m not feeling the trendy on my walk home from the metro. My little world is Rhode Island Ave, a few houses, the bike shop, the Giant Supermarket, the gas stations, the ghetto marts, liquor stores, greasy carry outs and more houses. Not Rice, the new Thai restaurant 10 blocks away. Not the Starbucks or the Whole Foods or the art galleries or the Studio Theater, also 10 blocks away in Logan. The Chinese restaurants in Chinatown are 10-9 blocks away, not really including the road-of-death (New York Ave). Yet the cool stuff in Chinatown is 10+ blocks away.

I’m on the Eastern Shaw island. Nothing, besides the Giant, is in walking distance that even slightly interests me. Good thing, you can find a parking spot… that would mean more if I had a car.

Paint slaves wanted

ET hinted that I might be able to use her paint crew. Her paint crew consisting of her roommate and odd science-fiction reading friends. Pizza and beer can get you a paint crew.

This weekend I hope to get on a ladder and do a bit more repointing. It won’t follow any nice rule, I might shoot the deep holes up with some insulation foam and put in 3/4 of an inch of mortar, then paint over it. The deeper holes I have filled, are a pain to wait for them to dry. The rains have not helped and I had to leave those areas bare of paint.

The sandy mortar mixture recommended for old houses does not stand up that well to moisture, well the mixes I’ve made with sand and limestone. Closer to the gutter I used the pure mortar mix from Home Depot, lest the work I did get washed away with the next downpour.

NCRC public Board meeting Wednesday, November 19 at Howard University

The National Capital Revitalization Corporation and RLA Revitalization Corporation announce their public Board meeting which will be held on Wednesday, November 19 at Howard University’s School of Business in room

322. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and conclude at 8:00 p.m. The Howard University School of Business is located at 2600 6th Street,

NW. NCRC is pleased that special guest speaker Dr. Alice Rivlin, of the Brookings Institution, will make a presentation on “Revitalizing Washington’s neighborhoods.” National Capital Revitalization Corporation (NCRC) is a quasi-public District government agency charged with spurring economic development in underserved neighborhoods. For more information contact Tiffany Simms at 202.530.5750.

Note from Jim Berry on Tonight’s PSA 312 meeting

Neighbors,

Please be reminded that the next meeting of the PSA 312 Community Coalition will be held on Wednesday, November 12, 2003, between the hours of 7:00

p.m and 8:30 p.m., at Mount SInai Baptist Church, 3rd and Q Streets, N.W. As was emphasized during a recent set of meetings with Third District

Commander Larry McCoy, it is very important that we attend the PSA meeting in our area and that we use this forum as a vehicle for action planning on matters

of public safety. PSA Leader Lt. Dennis will engage in a discrete discussion of action items that are being worked on in the community and we need to be

in a position to provide her with feedback that will let her know if the planned actions are having their intended effect.

Unfortunately, I will be on travel tomorrow and won’t be able to attend the meeting. Nevertheless, I plan to contact Lt. Dennis and Neighborhood Services Coordinator Todd Douglas to find out what happened at the meeting and to learn how I might best plan to participate in the next one.

Have a good meeting!

Best,

J. Berry

ANC 5C

Historical East Shaw Survey

This monster is 187 pages! The thing that tees me off is the border they make. East Shaw ends at NJ Ave! According to the Capitol Commission (can’t remember the whole name right now) the border was at North Cap. There are so many things that want to cut my neighborhood off from Shaw. Dangit I’m IN SHAW, not Bloomingdale, not Le Droit, not Eckington, but Shaw. Bad enough I’m in Ward 5.