Media

From newspapers to neighborhood blogs, all the media we are consuming and considering.

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May 12, 2011 | 11:59 AM | By

Report: Some D.C. Rents Could Increase by 10 Percent

Flickr: Joshua Davis Photography

Rents in D.C. are quite high, and they’re going to continue to rise: the District ranks as third among U.S. cities where rent is rising the most rapidly, according to a new U.S. News & World Report list.

Real estate research firm Reis, Inc. estimates American rents will increase by 3.6 percent in 2011 now that the economy is making a slow recovery. They also estimate that the annual rent increase in the District will be 5.4 percent citywide, but could be as high as 10 percent in some “hot areas” of the city.

This is how U.S. News & World Report describes D.C:

Average rent: $1,521; annual increase: 5.4 percent; unemployment rate: 5.8 percent.

There’s been no recession to speak of in the nation’s capital, where the federal government is a huge industry of its own. In addition to federal workers, D.C. is filled with contractors, lobbyists, and trade groups that feed off the government sector. That has kept demand for all kinds of housing strong.

That is a little misleading. To say there is “no recession to speak of” ignores the high unemployment rates in some parts of the city. Ward 7, for instance, has an estimated 20 percent unemployment rate.

And can rents really increase by 10 percent? Yes, they can. Many D.C. rentals are subject to some form or another of rent control, but when a unit is vacant, a landlord can increase rent by up to 10 percent higher than the previous tenant’s rate. All of that isn’t welcome news for renters, who represent 55 percent of the city’s population, and in particular the 68 percent of renters who already can’t afford rents.

Here is a list of the top 10 areas where rent is increasing the most rapidly:

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Media, Housing, U.S. News and World Report
May 11, 2011 | 1:32 PM | By

Tweet Of The Day, 05.11

Harry Jaffe says no people making over $200K live in Cleveland Park. A 25-yo couple w/2 lawyers makes over $200K. Lots in CP @TBDNewsTalk
May 11, 2011 10:36 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@ggwash
Grtr Grtr Washington

This is in response to Washington Examiner columnist Harry Jaffe’s appearance on NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt.

FILED UNDER: Media, The People, Class, Harry Jaffe
April 20, 2011 | 11:39 AM | By

Are White Men this Recession’s Quiet Sufferers?

This week’s Newsweek coverage story “Can Manhood Survive the Recession?” paints a grim picture for educated, white men:

Through the first quarter of 2011, nearly 600,000 college-educated white men ages 35 to 64 were unemployed, according to previously unpublished Labor Department stats. That’s more than 5 percent jobless—double the group’s pre-recession rate. That might not sound bad compared with the plight of younger, less-educated workers and minorities, but it’s a historic change from the last recession, when about half as many lost their oxford shirts. The number of college-educated men unemployed for at least a year is five times higher today than after the dotcom bubble.

Flickr: Wirawat Lian-udom

White men are faring better than most in this recession.

If the idea is to have a competition over who has it the worst, the numbers make it quite clear: that’s one contest white men aren’t going to win. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate among whites was 8 percent in January — that’s almost half of what it was for blacks, 15.7 percent. Latinos didn’t fare well either with an unemployment rate of 11.9 percent.

Here in D.C., the unemployment rate citywide was 9.6 percent in January. In predominately black Wards 7 and 8, it ranged between 20 to 18 percent, and in predominately white Ward 3, it was 3.6 percent.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Media, The People, Newsweek, Recession
April 14, 2011 | 2:08 PM | By

D.C. a Plantation, Congress its ‘Massuh?’ Councilman Explains.

D.C. Councilman Michael A. Brown appeared on conservative talk radio WMAL, and as noted by Mike DeBonis and DCist, offered these thoughts:

“They can treat us as their guinea pigs, they can treat us as a petri dish, and as I called it, they treat us as a colony or a plantation,” said Michael A. Brown, DC council member at-large. Brown was one of six council members arrested along with Mayor Vincent Gray at a protest fueled by anger at the federal government’s budget deal.

“What’s next, we have to call them ‘massuh’?” said Brown.

Flickr: Andrew Bossi

D.C. Councilman Michael A. Brown was arrested April 11, along with other city officials, during a protest against the Congressional budget deal.

We asked Councilman Brown to explain his comment further after his appearance on the Kojo Nnamdi Show today, and he said it was “a little taken out of context.”

“I definitely said it, and I’ve said it before. But in context, some of the folks on the Hill treat us like a plantation here in the District of Columbia,” he said. “And when you use the term plantation it means, in context, it means folks want us to call them massuhs. But it’s in context of the plantation discussion as to how we’re treated on the Hill.”

The rhetoric surrounding D.C. statehood has been growing more and more heated in recent weeks, most notably with Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton saying Congress’ budget actions were the equivalent of “bombing innocent civilians.” It also isn’t new to use the history and legacy of slavery power dynamics when talking about D.C. independence. In 2007, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty declared that D.C. Emancipation Day would be dedicated to “the continued pursuit for full democracy” with a voting rights march to the U.S. Capitol to demand representation in Congress.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Government, History, Media, D.C. Statehood, Michael Brown, Slavery
April 14, 2011 | 11:56 AM | By

May “H-Street” the Sitcom be Just as Creative

Flickr: Kate Mereand

Next week on H-Street, Mitch and his bowtie take in the Palace of Wonders, where the fire breathers inspire him to get heated!

On Monday, Elahe posted about about an open casting call for a new, local, low-budget television show, which is named after its setting: “H-Street”.

The roles include some male and female characters in their 20s who are all D.C.-transplants. Some are out to save the world, others work on the Hill, and others are completely oblivious of politics and play kickball (!).

And one wears a bowtie while being abrasive! The City Paper is having some fun with this “news”:

Yes, the producers of H Street should be very publicly shamed for concocting such lazy stereotypes. Still, if they must go ahead with their show—and really, only if they must—we hope the first few episodes look something like this…

“Brad, late for his Ultimate game and straddling his Bianchi Pista, sends himself flying when his bike gets caught in streetcar tracks. His roommate Cammy, in a rare day off from phone-banking, helps him to the hospital, where he learns a valuable lesson about universal health care. He’s discharged, only to end up back in the emergency room after falling ill during a kickball game. He learns he has a rubber allergy, and despondent, heads to Charles’ bar, which, being packed with guilt-struck kickballers, is quickly destroyed by gentrification.”

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Media, Gentrification, H Street NE
April 13, 2011 | 4:33 PM | By

First Generation, Second Generation, American

Flickr: Rakkhi Samarasekera

"Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand, glows world-wide welcome..."

One of you kindly asked about my use of the term “second generation” in my last post, about perception and privilege. Here’s what I wrote:

I may classify myself as a second generation, South Asian American of Malayalee Christian descent, but that is almost never what others see.

When I type “second generation”, I’m referring to the fact that I am the child of immigrants, and though no one ever assumes this about me, I was born here, in the United States; I consider my parents “first generation” Americans. This understanding of generations is similar to the Japanese method of classifying immigrants and their offspring (Issei, Nisei, etc).

Others disagree, and think that the children of immigrants are “first”, but where would that leave the actual immigrants? At zero? Second, it is.

Interestingly enough, another Project Argo site, KPCC’s Multi-American (tagline: Immigration and cultural fusion in the new Southern California) recently posted about such terms while starting a new feature– the cultural mashup dictionary. Why?
Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Media, DCentric, Immigrants
April 12, 2011 | 3:07 PM | By

Forbes Reminds Us Of D.C.-Area’s Wealth Disparity

Flickr: The.Comedian

Forbes just came out with its list of top 10 richest counties, and guess what: four of them are in the D.C.-area.

And what isn’t on that list? D.C., of course. The richest jurisdiction is Falls Church, which boasts a median household income of $113,313. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, D.C.’s median household income was $58,553 — which not only falls extremely short of all top 10 counties on the list, but barely exceeds the 2008 national average of $52,029.

From the story:

In recent decades northern Virginia has become an economic dynamo, driven by a private sector that feasts on government contracting. These counties are also home to corporate lobbyists, lawyers and consultants who work in or around the nation’s capital, soaking up federal government spending. And government-related hiring manages to keep the unemployment rate in places like Falls Church City down to 5.7%.

That so many District-based jobs are held by non-District residents has long been a point of contention for D.C. leaders and community organizers, particularly since unemployment ranges from 10 to 15 percent in parts of the city.

FILED UNDER: Media, The People, Forbes, Wealth
April 12, 2011 | 11:06 AM | By

H Street NE Sitcom Casting Black Burglar But No Hipsters

Flickr: Daquella Manera

Which side of H Street NE will we see in this new sitcom?

Frozen Tropics alerted us to this open casting call for a sitcom called H-Street, set in the H Street NE corridor. Get ready for some serious plots involving race, gentrification and clashes over streetcars!

Hm, or maybe not so much.

The roles include some male and female characters in their 20s who are all D.C.-transplants. Some are out to save the world, others work on the Hill, and others are completely oblivious of politics and play kickball (!).

No race is specified for those roles, but it is specified for two other characters: a black burglar (really?) who is to be in his late teens or early 20s and can “pull off a terrible British accent” (no idea where that is going), and Charles, a D.C. native who runs a “clean, efficient” bar on H Street NE and is “annoyed by hipsters.” Notably missing is a casting call for said hipsters.

It’s not exactly clear who is behind this self-described low budget, independent project, but we will be watching with baited breath.

FILED UNDER: Media, The People, H Street NE
April 11, 2011 | 6:20 PM | By

Biddle Drops Brown From Campaign After ‘Hurtful’ Comments Aimed At Whites

Less than 24 hours have passed since the Washington Post story on the District’s declining black population ran, and already we have a political shake-up of sorts.

The story included comments from Marshall Brown, who is D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown’s father and a member of Sekou Biddle’s campaign to keep his At-Large seat on the council. Brown is quoted in the Post story as saying that new white voters in D.C. “believe more in their dogs than they do in people. They go into their little cafes, go out and throw their snowballs. This is not the District I knew. There’s no relationship with the black community; they don’t connect at church, they don’t go to the same cafes, they don’t volunteer in the neighborhood school, and a lot of longtime black residents feel threatened.”

Were those comments reflective of how Biddle feels? He issued this statement late this afternoon:

The District of Columbia is a better city because of our growing diversity. While change can be difficult and at times uncomfortable, these kinds of comments are hurtful. My wife and I choose to raise our children here because of the diversity the city has to offer. Marshall Brown does not speak for me or my campaign and his comments in Marc Fisher’s story do not help move our city forward. While he is a longtime family friend, I found his comments to be counterproductive at a time when I am working so hard to bring people in this city together and I have asked him to step down from any future involvement in my campaign.
FILED UNDER: Government, Media, The People, Race, Sekou Biddle
April 11, 2011 | 2:52 PM | By

Immigrants: D.C’s Other Black Residents

There’s much to be discussed about today’s Washington Post story on the meaning of D.C.’s changing demographics. But aside from the heated comments on gentrification — which even spurred a bingo card –  comes this comment on the actual story, from poster gardyloo:

What stories on the census don’t discuss is how many of the 300,000 Washingtonians identify as African Americans because they are immigrants from Africa, or children of immigrants from Africa. That number is probably as high as ten percent of the overall total of African Americans here now. Their story is, for the most part, the immigrant story, the story of a search for opportunity and a better life. They aren’t weighed down by the city’s history and golden-age thinking.

Screenshot of Washingtonpost.com

The Washington Post ran a story on D.C.'s changing demographics.

We’re not sure exactly where those particular figures come from (perhaps they refer to the African population in the entire D.C.-metro area, which numbers as 150,000 strong). But if we look at the most recent Census estimates, the District had about 74,000 foreign born residents in 2009. Of those, about 18,000 are black immigrants from African and Caribbean countries — accounting for 24 percent of all immigrants here in the District. Those numbers obviously don’t include the U.S.-born children of these immigrants, but they do speak to a sizable population of folks in D.C. who may check “black or African-American” on a Census form but perhaps don’t identify first and foremost with the American black experience.

FILED UNDER: Media, The People, Census, Immigrants