DCentric was created to examine the ways race and class interact in Washington, D.C., a city with a vibrant mix of cultures and neighborhoods. Your guides to the changing district are reporters Anna John and Elahe Izadi.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
I wish someone would help me out of the water, and by water I mean my unfinished holiday errands!
Uh-oh…you know what that means…if there’s a cute animal on DCentric, it’s meeting/conference/daydreamin’-time. I will be at a class for the rest of today– check back this evening for the Tweet of the Day.
Flickr: NCinDC
Isn't hunting for an apartment the *worst*? And now, it's even more difficult!
Those from more distressed areas who have come here chasing jobs find waiting lists, more stringent credit checks and rents triple what they left behind.
In local apartment buildings, rents jumped 8.2 percent — about twice the long-term average — to $1,643 this year as vacancies disappeared…The area’s vacancy rates are the second-lowest in the nation, after New York City.
“There’s been a structural shift from owners to renters in this country in the past few years,” said Gregory H. Leisch, chief executive of Delta Associates. “It’s the most rapid shift I’ve ever witnessed in the 40 years that I’ve been in this business.”
While the high foreclosure rate helped push more people into rentals nationwide, that factor was less influential in the Washington region, many economists said. Instead, the local rental market is thriving mostly because the area added jobs more quickly than the rest of the nation during the recession, luring newcomers who were unable or unwilling to purchase a home here.
I know some might say we’re already “there”, but I hope D.C. doesn’t become an enclave for just the wealthiest and the luckiest (here’s looking at you, Manhattan).
Flickr: thisisbossi
"Gray Pride" at the Gay Pride Parade, this year.
The social web is buzzing about Mayor-elect Gray’s broken campaign promise to the LGBT community; while campaigning, one of Gray’s answers to the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance questionnaire included a promise to include LGBT community members in a search for the new police and fire chiefs. That didn’t happen:
The key point is that Mr. Gray did not invite anyone from the LGBT community in the search process. It isn’t clear that he checked with anyone outside of his transition team’s inner circle. Arguably, Chief Lanier is not “new” but that’s really being Clintonesque.
Chief Lanier essentially disbanded the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU) at a time when anti-LGBT hate crimes are on the rise. The true value of the GLLU was community involvement. There was a time when the GLLU would visit community groups, bars, and social events just to introduce themselves and say hello. That was a time when the community started to trust the police. Lanier squandered that good will. I don’t recall the last time that I saw someone from the GLLU at any event. I did see them at a couple of the Pride events where they were not talking to anyone in the community. It was quite a waste of an opportunity. Unlike Chief Ramsey, Chief Lanier does not meet with us regularly, and would only do so if she had no other choice. It would be nice to have a police chief that treated us like a welcome part of the community. Mayor-Elect Gray says that she is an advocate of community policing. My experience is that she opposes that policy.
Escalator Handrails Carry Most Bacteria “With the help of 9News intern Kimmy Moss, we swabbed escalator handrails, ticket machines and the poles that everyone holds onto when the train is in motion…We asked this lab to determine the three most prominent types of bacteria found on our samples and which Metro location had the highest concentration. “One of the samples had over three million counts of bacteria, per swab,” said EMSL Research Scientist Farbod Nekouei. Not surprisingly, the escalator handrail had the highest concentration of bacteria…” (WUSA Washington, DC)
Paper Trail: Where Wal-Mart donated in 2010 “Wal-Mart is also supporting D.C. Central Kitchen, a culinary job training program for adults who are homeless, were formerly in prison or are recovering substance abusers…In the winter of 2009, Curtin said that everyone from Wal-Mart’s Washington office, about 10 people, came to the kitchen to volunteer and prepare food. The visit gave one of the culinary job training program’s graduates a chance to tell her story about recovering from drug addiction. Afterward, Curtin said a local Wal-Mart executive provided the organization with some additional discretionary money. “They’re very interested and very engaged,” (The Washington Post)
No, Thank You. Rejected. Return to Sender. “DC, if you accept one more cupcake place into your streets, I will lose it. Seriously. Even if that cupcake place is one of Sex & The City fame, and lord knows how much I love SATC…really, I do not need one single more shop where I can buy said treat. NOT ONE. NOT EVEN ONE MORE. NO THANK YOU. We have more than I care to recall, and with the Crumbs opening (and the massive PR fail that came with it), I finally hit my limit. We are not where New York’s trends go to die. So Magnolia Bakery, while we appreciate the fact that you are considering opening your overly-iced doors in DC, I must say: DO NOT WANT.” (We Love DC)
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The tweet below was a close runner-up, though. I love when people exceed someone else’s expectations– and when we watch out for each other:
Flickr: Mr. T in DC
Apartment building in Columbia Heights, D.C.
“the part that really stood out to me was this graphic…outlining where Lydia thinks the height restrictions should be lifted…Anyone familiar with DC geography will notice that the area most insulated from change – Northwest DC – is the richest part of town, full of desirable white neighborhoods. The areas where DePillis advocates lifting the height limit – neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River figure prominently in the graphic – are far blacker and poorer than the rest of DC…
But still, the fact that the only incremental steps towards redensification we can take will disproportionately displace black families is something that should be recognized and discussed. If upzoning poor neighborhoods is the only way to get the city to allow dense development, then so be it, but we shouldn’t pretend that these sorts of half-measures won’t have consequences.
Flickr: Thomas Hawk
Look at the amazing things you can do with money!
I think sometimes, people don’t give money to charitable organizations because they worry that whatever they give isn’t enough. Charity is for wealthy people, who donate thousands of dollars at a time, right? Alternately, I know people (myself included), who are amenable to the idea of giving and plan to do so, but are especially inspired by offers to have their gifts matched– who doesn’t want to see a gift doubled, or, in lucky instances, tripled?
I just received an email from the Washington Area Women’s Foundation– which works to improve the lives of local women and girls– with exactly that offer:
A generous donor has agreed to match every gift received from our year end campaign with a 2-to-1 match — up to $100,000. That means for every dollar you donate, our donor will give two dollars. A $100 donation will have the impact of a $300 donation. $500 becomes $1,500. And your gift will help fund our efforts to ensure that every woman and girl in our community has the opportunity to attain economic security and reach her full potential.
If the WAWF sounds familiar, it may be because of their Portrait of Women and Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area, which was released this Fall.
If you know of other local non-profits or charities who have similar offers to match gifts, let us know. A donation in someone’s name may be the perfect gift for a hard-to-shop-for friend or family member (I’m looking at you, Mom).
Radio Rover
From Flickr: "This photo was probably taken at Marshall Hall Amusement Park sometime around 1970 or '71."
Yesterday, Washington Post Metro columnist John Kelly incorporated reader comments in a follow-up piece about the Potomac river– and the vessels which traveled on it. The following note, about Marshall Hall, an amusement park across from Mount Vernon, got my attention:
Robert K. Jenkins Jr. is 63, a native Washingtonian and African American. “I remember both blacks and whites boarding the ship at the Wilson Line pier,” he wrote. “Many of the whites got off at Marshall Hall but not any of the blacks. I recall asking my father why. He responded: ‘Don’t fret. Spending time learning about history at Mount Vernon is much more important to your education than a wasteful day of frolic at Marshall Hall.’
“So this attorney/banker heartily thanks the bigoted Marshall Hall owners for their inadvertent contribution to his education and success.”
Robbers kill D.C. shopkeeper in front of wife and son “A man who identified himself as Patel’s nephew said that Patel had been in the back of the store when the robbers arrived and accosted his wife and son, ordering them down on the floor. One of the thieves shot Patel as he emerged from a storage room, the nephew said. “My uncle had no idea the robbery was happening,” said the nephew, who declined to identify himself for fear of retribution. “He walked out, and the guy fired at him and ran off.” (The Washington Post)
Looking Back: Frelinghuysen University “Let me tell you about a university, in the Shaw neighborhood, that was founded to serve African Americans. Except, I’m not talking about Howard University, I’m talking about Frelinghuysen University. Black educators Jesse and Rosetta Lawson founded Frelinghuysen University (what a mouthful), originally located at 2011 Vermont Avenue, and then located at 1800 Vermont Avenue, in 1906 to provide social services, religious training, and educational programs for black working-class adults. The university is named after New Jersey Senator Frederick Frelinghuysen who had worked to promote civil rights during Reconstruction.” (DCist)
Boom in Washington Leaves Gaping Income Gaps “The changes have aggravated the widespread disparities in a city that is both the American seat of power and home to some of its poorest neighborhoods. Among the nation’s 100 most populous cities, Washington ranked seventh in income inequality in 2009, according to the Census Bureau…Over all, the city’s white population is up by a quarter, while its black population declined by 7 percent. It was second only to Atlanta in terms of increase in the share of its white population over the last decade.” (The New York Times)
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