Category: Observations

BBQ & white wine

BBQ and white wine

Twas interesting last night. Maxine and her crew had a backyard barbeque that spilled into the alley, when they pushed aside the illegally dumped crap that had been resting along their fence for who knows how long. As usual the exchanges were spoken as if they were far distances form each other and in the country, loud. On the other side of the fence from me the neighbors were hanging out on their patio, sipping white wine and entertaining a guest. Despite the smoke and the noise from the opposite side of the alley they were not going to move from the patio. I decided to take advantage of the warm Spring evening and sit out on my patio with a camping chair, with foot rests, and read a gardening book. We all had backyards, it was a lovely day, and dammit we were going to hang out in the back.

The crew on the other side of the alley conversed with each other from various parts of the property, constantly, with few breaks. Requests for hot dogs from the kitchen to the yard, questions about who was where deep inside the house filtered out, and joshing in the alley. The was a short lag in the talking and then someone figured it was time to turn on (blast) music. I don’t remember the tune but it featured the word “nigaz” quite often. The song/ rap only got a minute into it before someone yelled something to someone else and the music was turned off. After that it, went back on, starting at the begining of the song, again. This went on 3 times. Under the sounds from the alley were the sounds next door, clinking of silver against china and barely heard conversation. Only when B seemed to want to make a point did I pick up on anything they said. The only noises I made were shifting my chair, grunts of pain and annoyance, which no one probably heard, ‘cept me.

Then it got dark.

The alley light flickered on but by that time I turned on my patio light. The neighbors were sitting at their teak (?) table, still sipping wine to candlelight and later their patio light. Across the alley they just had the alley light, which with the fence wasn’t helpful. The noise and the people had moved inside, except the one person in charge of the grill, feeling his way in the dark. I figured it was time to go in, make dinner, wash clothes, so I turned off the light and went inside. Peering out the window later, I saw the neighbors still sitting out on the patio, sipping wine and talking, the folks on the other side of the alley had already called it quits.

Gentrification & Me: Article in Washington City Paper

In February 2001 I read an article that has haunted me for the longest while. I wish I had kept it, torn it out and filed in among the other things I keep regarding gentrification in Shaw. It was written by a black author about how he was moving out of the U Street area because, despite the changes, he couldn’t take it anymore. Yet the thing that struck me was what he said about our own people, demonstrating the riff between the Black middle class and the Black underclass.

“Few buppies–black upwardly mobile professionals–even look in my former neighborhood. When we get a few bucks, we rarely look to live in what we perceive to be “the ‘hood.” Instead, we generally head for the ‘burbs, particularly Prince George’s County.

Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham remarked on the changing demographics of the neighborhood at a meeting I attended along with a neighbor and vice officers last year: As property values rise, the drug dealers will be forced away, he predicted. What he meant, I surmised, was that the homes the dealers used were probably owned by poor folks and that the taxes would eventually climb too high for them. Problem solved, he probably figured.”

It is well worth the money I had to pay to retrieve it from the archives. Just to see it again.

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.

And you were going to do what?

And you were going to do what?

I was talking with the neighborhood handyman some time back and he mentioned the guy who had sold me the house came by to, I don’t know, look around or something. Anyway the seller voiced regret about selling the house. He went through the shoulda done this or that’s.

Hearing this I’m thinking to myself, you owned the house for how many years, didn’t do a dang thing and now after I painted and repaired and am still finding crap hidden behind the drywall you wish you hadn’t sold it?

Let’s review shall we? I know he “fixed up” the place for sale. The fixer was a Nigerian named Sonny who does crappy work and hires crackheads. The upstairs was covered in textured paint…. to hide the cracks in the plaster. I know this because the texture wasn’t uniformed and very prickly and scratchy over the big cracks. The floor upstairs is uneven and is covered up by cheap carpet, which after 2 years, I need to replace. We discovered the plastic pipes weren’t sealed properly, they were just being held together by friction and gravity. The windows are cheap “section 8” windows, that also need replacing and squaring. The interior doors are hollow core and I have so far had to glue them back on occasion.

I have so far, painted the front, covering up the hideous red, that sat between two other red (different shades) townhomes. Got rid of the ‘weed’ trees in the front and the back. Cleaned up the front yard getting rid of stupid low unattended bushes replacing them with large flowers that keep blooming and planted grass. Nevermind that the cat kills the grass, I made an attempt. I have replaced the front lighting. I put in a rustic looking brick walkway replacing the green turf carpet encrusted with dirt. I have planted herbs in the front. In the back I replaced the fence with a newer cedar fence, and then stained it. I’m in the process of painting the back, updating the kitchen, and the interior lighting. Future plans are to lay hardwood flooring on the 1st level, replace the carpet upstairs, and redo all the windows.

I really doubt the former owner/landlord would have gone through all this trouble.

Trading Up – Neighbors move

Trading Up
I told my neighbor I wouldn’t tell anyone how much she’s selling her house for, so I won’t. But it is a sh*tload of $$. She deserves every single cent of it. She lived in the house for a little under 9 years. She’s going to trade in a townhouse with leaky basement and no parking for a house with a yard and a garage in BFE Maryland. All the cool stuff in the city that is attracting people means nothing to her. She has a car and kids. Metro and clubs don’t mean squat. Good schools and no shooting and no (as my Daddy would put it) dumbas$ n*ggas hanging out, that is what she wants and needs.
At the price the house is going for apparently only whites can afford it, so the demographics of the block will head in a particular direction. Called ET and told her to score one point for her people. Last month a white couple moved in on one end of the block, changing the trend of houses on the north end changing demographically from black renters to white homeowners and renters, so now the Euro-Americans are coming from both ends.
I am so thankful she did not decide to rent the house out to get Section 8 money. I pray to G-d above that Mr. Mesfin will sell his house too. Last I spoke to him he STILL had not decided if he was going to rent or sell. I hope he sells because I can tell he’s cheap and will be a slumlord.