I was chatting with another DC resident & gentrifier (let’s call him “Bob”) the other day about an aspect of living in a “transitional” neighborhood, the poverty. It is one thing to see the poor and the homeless on the street day to day, it is a whole nother ball of wax to live next door to people who are a mini-disaster away from homelessness.
Bob and his wife live next door to a Section 8 house and have experienced a series of troubled residents. “I’m tired of the crack heads yelling outside,” he moaned, regarding the current neighbor and her visitors. Besides that, he and his spouse have maintained a working relationship with the Section 8 neighbors. The ones before the current one, he suspects there was abuse and drug use. They were a nice enough family, but the husband would come back from the local liquor store with a bottle in a black bag and later that night there might be a ambulance to take away the father-in-law. The family would say it was the FIL’s health but Bob suspected elder abuse at the hands of the drunk husband. Then there were other things. When they family members hit Bob & wife up for money. At first it was small change that was quickly returned, then it became $10, $20, $30 and so on, that was never returned. So Bob decided to not lend them money because the excuses/lies were getting kinda blatant. He felt bad for the family, but he didn’t want to become an ATM either.
This whole living next to poor people is really new for him. He and his wife had your typical American middle class white suburban upbringing, where poor people were distant. In recent years he’s becoming more familiar with the poor’s plight but also their failings (okay maybe living near crackhead Section 8s not the best way but that’s what he’s got). Sympathy mixed with a load of frustration and downright annoyance.
This is poverty. Up close, and personal. It is next door. You can’t just pass it by on the street and think nothing of it 10 seconds later. It is there, where you live, and there is no escaping short of moving out. Second hand you experience the problems of poverty and there is nothing you can do to take your neighbors out of their predicament, and you know it. *sigh*
Category: Uncategorized
New Bike Trail at NY Ave Station
Metropolitan Branch Trail to Open at NY Ave Metro
Saturday, November 20th, 10am to 12pm
1st and M Street NW
Join WABA (Washington Area Bicyclist Association) this Saturday at the grand opening of the new NY Avenue Metro Station and the latest section of the Metropolitan Branch Trail(MBT). By constructing the trail along with the Metro rail station, Metro’s engineering and design were brought to bear on the problems of bringing the trail through the New York and Florida Avenue interchange, one of the most complicated and dangerous traffic areas in DC. The ribbon cutting will take place on Saturday, November 20th at the New York Avenue Metro station (red line). The ceremony will begin at 10am and feature remarks by local officals and the Coalition for the Met Branch Trail. We hope that you will come out and show your support for this exciting new project and join us in a group photo along the trail.
WABA
ANC 5C meetings
Neighbors,
Below please find a public notice re. the next two meetings of ANC 5C.
Please share these data with your neighbors and make your best effort
to
attend.
Best,
Jim Berry
ANC 5C
Attachment
GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 5C
POST OFFICE BOX 77761
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20013
TELEPHONE: (202) 832-1965/1966
www.anc5c.org
PUBLIC MEETING NOTICES
Monthly Meeting
Invited guests include representatives from the following
organizations:
PERRY SCHOOL COMMUNITY SERVICES CENTER, INC.
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT
Where: Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School
1301 New Jersey Avenue, N.W.
When: Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Time: 7:00 P.M. until 9:00 P.M.
Monthly Forum
Where: Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church
605 Rhode Island Avenue, N.E.
When: Tuesday, December 7, 2004
Time: 7:00 P.M. until 9:00 P.M.
Mummy’s visit
Call the police and cite me for elder abuse. The 10 minute walk to the metro and the walk from U Street to Whole Foods and back to the U Street metro was a bit of a death march for mummy. To be fair, she doesn’t do a lot of walking, that’s what cars are for. And it was cold by Florida standards. Mummy needs to exercise more.
Due to the weather we didn’t get out much. Mom’s view of Shaw consisted of the bus ride from Union Station, the death march, and anything she may have noticed in the car leaving Shaw to go to PG County.
She made note of homeless people and black folk speaking in a language that wasn’t English or Spanish was new. I think she misidentified a man as homeless, I thought he was a crappy dresser who didn’t bother shaving.
Next time, I think we should try for summer. Less commentary about how cold it is here and no need for heavy heavy coats. Next time, I’m going to see how well mom does on a bike.
Integration & Gentrification
Posted late because I’ve been trying to tone it down.
Courtland Milloy of the Washington Post has an article in today’s paper about the price of races and classes not being truly integrated outside the workplace and schools. In Milloy’s article the price for white living in segregated neighborhoods is paying too much for substandard housing and the price for African Americans is the lack of economic development. In DC whites congregate in areas west of the park and blacks, the rest of the city, with the odd integrated neighborhoods in the middle. My part of Shaw is one of those odd somewhat integrated neighborhoods.
My version of events of why my little corner is integrated causes great concern on my part about my corner’s ability to remain integrated. Gentrification and the crazy housing prices are why I’m concerned. I can’t say that Blacks are being pushed out, as I have written before, people move around a lot on their own and when one set moves out they can get replaced by a different set. What I will say for Shaw is that you have some people moving out, and new people moving in as the natural ebb and flow of how people live. In addition you have vacant properties and new higher density development coming in, which may increase the numbers of one racial group over another. With higher numbers, when there used to be fewer, if any, it could give the impression that the new group, middle class whites, is pushing out the older poorer and middle class Afro-American residents and changing the complexion of the neighborhood. Whites are not pushing out Black residents, but they may overwhelmingly outnumber the Black residents who weather the gentrification.
I see new developments popping up like mushrooms around U Street, down Florida Ave and all around Shaw. My first thought is “ohmygawd traffic is going to be a nightmare.” But as I write this, I realize that those developments will be typically filled with non-Blacks. Typically. For some odd reason middle class Blacks tend to flee to PG County, so part of me doubts they will fill more than 50% of the mid-rise developments. For poor African Americans, these new developments, unless specifically made affordable, not an option.
I’m afraid Shaw will not be an integrated neighborhood in the future, should Black residents continue to move out (besides voting rights and bigger yards what does PG Co, have that we don’t have?). There should be a balance. The different races should be balanced in that we see each other on a daily basis and get to know each other on a human level. Yet enough of ourselves, no matter who we are, to be ourselves in our own homes.
Hypothermia Watch/ Help the Homeless
Hypothermia Watch Program
In September the Mayor announced the District’s Hypothermia Plan for
2004-2005. Hypothermia is a life-threatening condition that could afflict
homeless people living on the streets when the temperature falls below 32
degrees Fahrenheit, or the wind chill factor creates the same effect. The
plan calls for every government agency, every community and all our citizens
to get involved and protect those at risk. The hypothermia season lasts from
November 1 to March 31. Please call (800) 535-7252 if you see someone on the
streets when the temperature is below 32 degrees. The links below provide
information about the Hypothermia Watch Program and other programs that help
the homeless.
Hypothermia Shelters
Men Address
Housing Assistance Center 1355-57 New York Avenue, NE
Franklin School 13th and K Streets, NW
Emery Shelter 1725 Lincoln Road, NE
LaCasa Shelter 1436 Irving Street, NW
Federal City Shelter (CCNV) 425 Second Street, NW
801 East Building 801 Making Life Better Lane SE
Women Only Address
John Young Center 115 D Street, NW
DC General Hospital-Cafeteria 1900 Massachusetts Avenue, SE
Hypothermia Fact Sheet
* The hypothermia season begins November 1 and ends March 31.
* The Emergency Management Agency issues Hypothermia Alerts when the
temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below, or when the wind chill factor
creates the same effect. The hours of operation for the hypothermia alert
are 7pm to 7am, but will be extended until the temperature or wind chill
factor rises above 32 degrees.
* Those who do not come in from the cold when hypothermia alerts are
issued put themselves in life-threatening positions. The body enters into a
hypothermia state when its temperature is below 95 degrees.
* DHS has established partnerships with business and community
organizations to prevent hypothermia deaths. Participants wear “I’m a
Hypothermia Watch Partner” buttons, post flyers and encourage others to be
alert for those in need of assistance.
* The District of Columbia government has provided intensive outreach
and shelter services to the homeless since 1986. DC Law 7-24, the Frigid
Temperature Protection Amendment Act of 1988, was passed to assure that the
homeless are sheltered when the temperature falls below 32 degrees
Fahrenheit.
* Shelter services are provided to approximately 13,480 men, women,
and families throughout the year. The current shelter system provides more
than 1,970 beds for single adults and families with children. Approximately
600 people who are at risk choose not to enter shelters.
* During the winter of 2001, the United Planning Organization (UPO)
Shelter Hotline recorded a total of 15,211 calls and provided 6,113 one-way
trips to shelters. UPO also distributed 11,226 blankets; 82 sleeping bags;
25 pairs of shoes and boots; and 1,533 hats, scarves, and gloves to the
homeless.
* Twelve agencies provide the homeless who remain on the streets with
food, beverages, blankets, gloves, jackets, boots, hats, sleeping bags,
medical services, case management, and counseling.
Links to Organizations That Help the Homeless Located at
* The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness
* So Others Might Eat
* Gospel Rescue Ministries
* National Alliance to End Homelessness
* National Coalition for the Homeless
* Answers, Please!
* US Department of Housing and Urban Development
* Home Base – A Public Policy Law Firm of Homelessness
* Help the Homeless
* Hypothermia Prevention, Recognition and Treatment
* Fannie Mae Foundation
* Community for Creative Non Violence
Desi Deschaine
Community Affairs Coordinator
Executive Office of the Mayor
1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Suite 211
Washington, DC 20004
The mummy visits DC
I’m so excited mummy is going to be visiting me for a few days. She’s never been to my house. The last time she was up in DC I was graduating, pre-house, pre-Shaw. If mummy has ever been in Shaw it was to get dragged to Shiloh Baptist Church on 9th Street. Pre-gentrification 80s if that. Visiting family in DC we rarely encountered the neighborhoods, they were just driven through, not experienced.
I hope to give mummy a different experience, I will not keep her in the house, as many a DC relative has done to me and my cousins. No, provided it is not too cold, we will walk around the hood. If it is too cold then, well something inside, and no not the Smithsonian. I figure we may visit the great Shaw sights of the Ghetto Giant, the Shaw/Howard University metro, and possibly Shiloh Baptist. She probably will have little interest in the art houses and I’m thinking the restaurants over in Logan and U Street may be too far out for her. Mummy is from the land where Red Lobster and Olive Garden are considered nice. We could wander over to the bullet-proof KFC on North Cap for dinner, but let me think of something else.
So, the In Shaw blog will go dark this weekend as I entertain the great and all powerful mummy.
Entertaining
I think I have gotten over any second thoughts about entertaining guests over at my pile of crumbly bricks I call home. Sadly have a fair number of suburbanite friends with ‘hood issues. But last night I imported three folks from PG County who weren’t family members (having relatives over for holiday meals does not count as entertaining) for an All Saints Day dinner.
It was fun. Curry was cooked, wine was drank, letters were read, and a good time was had by all. No one’s car was stolen. No one was double parked in… like last time. Guests did not hint at anything unsavory being seen on the way to the house. They found parking on the street near the house. Maybe it is now safe enough to invite the Bethesdites.
Parking is the key. Before there was tons of parking. Then the abandoned houses got occupied, by people with cars, sometimes more than 1 car per house. The other problem was directing guests to where NOT to park. There are blocks where I notice the remains of a busted car window more often than others. The northwest corner of my block, bad place. The corner near New Jersey and R, close to the Africare building, also bad. A guess a good host would have guests steer clear of areas where one’s car is more apt to get broken in. Of course, those spots on the street are usually not available as more people (with cars) move into the area. But as more people move in and clean up blocks, there are other safe places for parking.
What I did for the love of compost
…walk 3 miles along the C&O canal in street shoes and no walkman just to buy 2 dozen nightcrawlers for the compost bin. I walked from Georgetown University to Fletcher’s Boat house, not thinking it was so far, because, like, I had passed it a bazillion times before on bike. It was far. But well worth it, and luckily, I was able to find a bus (and taxi) back home.
Why nightcrawlers? Compost. Those suckers eat that stuff we throw in the compost heap, and since my roommie has been cooking and eating a lot of farmer’s market stuff, we got lots of organic waste. I had been trying to get redworms from my own yard but I haven’t seen too many of them and I want my compost to be active. I know that nightcrawlers aren’t the preferred worm but so far those are the worms I could a) get in DC & b) that they were selling.
I know it my fall under TMI, but I cannot describe the joy that leapt into my heart upon seeing one of my nightcrawlers pooping nutrient rich worm poop.
I have a vision. I see a rich garden of tomatoes growing in the back yard, feeding on the compost. I see thyme, peppermint, rosemary, basil (wait why am I growing basil, I don’t use it…) pansies and lemongrass all growing and feasting on chemical free enhanced soil. *smile*
Neighborhood Watch
Private Eyes
They’re watching you.
Private Eyyyyyyes
Watching you
Private Eyes
–Hall & Oates
My neighbor and colleague was telling me of a conversation he had with other neighbors on our street about Oktoberfest. He went to tell them about one of cops he was semi-flirting with, while I stood about absolutely uninterested. The conversation between him and the two female neighbors got on to the type of guys they have seen me and my roommate with, and speculation about our preferences. Don’t let the emptiness of our street fool you, the neighbors are watching.
While keeping a eye out for no-goodniks, loud kids, and what not, they also take in who visits what house, what kids belong to what house, and everything else that happens on the block. This has proven to be good for crime prevention in the case of the attempted break-in at B&L’s house. But upon finding out what my neighbors have gathered on their own it reaffirms that if it is out in the street, it isn’t private.