http://www.rustikdc.com/
Folks in the Bloomingdale neighborhood are elated at tonight’s 9pm opening of Rustik, a pizza joint at 1st and T St. When I say elated, I mean it. Here’s one tweet I can’t show you because of language, but the relevant part of it is this: “Been living in #Bloomingdaledc 4 years w/ no restaurant the dark days are over!”
Four years with no restaurant? Talk about an under-served area. If you’re wondering about the menu, peep this blurb:
Continue reading
Yesterday, Prince of Petworth (a blog I respect greatly, run by Dan Silverman) published a guest post called “B.J. on the White People Moving in”, by Danny Harris of People’s District– another blog we’ll look at, later today. For now, I want to focus on PoP and the charged discussion this post generated; it got so hostile that at one point, commenters were attacking Silverman for even hosting it. What angered everyone so much? This:
“You can think what you want about what I am saying, but I see everyday how my neighborhood has changed, and how blacks and whites are treated differently. My neighbors, these white kids, threw a party with music until four in the morning with a hundred bikes locked up on the street that blocked people’s driveways and made a big mess. Didn’t no cops show up. I had a cook out with my friends in our backyard and the cops stormed through the alleyway and broke it up because we were being loud. How am I supposed to understand that? Tell me that I shouldn’t be angry about what I see. I’ve been living in this place my whole live and now some new comers tell me how to do what I do.
Stacie Joy for CTTC
Alex Baca, the blogger behind “Good Hope Anacostia” writes: “Latest Courtland Milloy column is ignorant, hypocritical“. It’s worth a read, especially because she includes reading recommendations, but she lost me when she complained that the term “Chocolate City” wasn’t inclusive enough. Maybe she isn’t a fan of P-funk.
I’m not trying to say that things are all warm and fuzzy throughout DC, but identifying problems is not as easy as saying “white people do this” and “black people do this.” Understandably, longtime residents of this city, many of whom (but not all!) are low-income African Americans, feel threatened by gentrification because there is the possibility of displacement. Though I don’t believe that gentrification always needs to equal displacement, it generally has in the past, which has cemented that fear. But, we can’t forget that the idea of a “Chocolate City” is not exactly inclusive of white people…There’s tensions on both sides, but until we get over these identity stereotypes—which are flattering to no one—we’re not going anywhere.
Remember that incendiary Milloy column? Borderstan gets it:
Yes, I guess Milloy was referring to this area of the city, to Logan Circle and U Street and the 14th Street corridor. We are, I suppose, the stereotype, of all things suspicious to Milloy. We have dog parks (two of them) and we have bike lanes (lots of them). “Chic eateries” and users of “social networks” abound…
On Tuesday, we collectively did as he suspects: Voters in precincts here gave Fenty 70 to 80% of the vote. But, while we supported him here, I don’t think you’d find many people here who would disagree that Fenty was the cause of many of his own problems….
None of this is meant to downplay the serious problems facing Washingtonians in other parts of the city, too many of them in dire economic circumstances. But wishing these newcomers would go away will do nothing to solve the horribly high rates of unemployment in DC.
I would also suggest—strongly—that many of my new neighbors make an effort to understand DC’s history. Only by doing so can you understand Milloy’s column and the frustrations he expressed.
The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates on Adrian Fenty:
A lot has been made of the role of race in this campaign, and the sense that Fenty is the tool of white interlopers seeking to turn D.C. into Seattle. Fear of the oncoming white horde of gentrifiers is old in D.C. and I do not doubt that the paranoia was an integral part of the political landscape. But having understood that landscape, it’s a politician job to navigate it.
…The business is politics, not debate club.
It is not enough to simply be right, if only because sometimes you aren’t.
twitter.com/TommyWells
Wells' reaction to Milloy.
I stumbled on to Tommy Wells’ (Council member for Ward 6) Twitter account because he is live-tweeting the “Unity Breakfast” which is going on right now, featuring local politicians, including Vince Gray and Adrian Fenty. Wells is sharing sentiments like this one, from Gray to Fenty, “I know you will help make me the best Mayor possible” while he simultaneously uploads pictures he is taking of everyone from soon-to-be Council Chair Kwame Brown to current Mayor Adrian Fenty.
That’s swell enough on its own, but I was more intrigued by the tweet I captured, which you see to the right. Continue reading
I know, this is southwestern food, not regional Mexican. But it was delicious.
Columbia Heights is getting a new, and hopefully delicious neighbor: a Mexican restaurant. Via Tim Carman’s “Young and Hungry” column in the City Paper:
The tiny, 800-square-foot operation will be located at 3313 11th St., in a former liquor store, and will not only sell regional Mexican foods but also snacks inspired by the L.A. street food scene.
They’re going to be open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and possibly late night. I hope they’re slightly more Vegetarian-friendly than Taqueria Distrito Federal. The proprietor, Jackie Greenbaum, had her reasons for picking the 11th Street location: Continue reading
In a feature titled “The Chocolate City’s Two Faces”, The Root kicks off a three-part series examining D.C.’s local political scene:
…(Harry) Thomas said there are pockets of the city and residents who are not benefiting from its new status, with a population that is steadily increasing as urban centers become more attractive. “The issue becomes not just about race but about economics, salaries and opportunities,” he said…
Some members of Congress “ran this city like a plantation until Marion Barry came into office,” said Bernard Demczuk, assistant vice president of District of Columbia relations at George Washington University. “Blacks made up 70 percent of the city and did not have those jobs.”
At a well-attended meeting last night at Busboys and Poets, local business leaders and citizens gathered to discuss branding the area around 14th and U as “Midcity”, to create a more cohesive, arts-centric identity for neighborhoods bordered by 7th and 15th Streets and Florida and Rhode Island Avenues, NW. During a question and answer period, concerns were raised about the lack of inclusion of the area of Columbia Heights above Florida Avenue (too poor?), and the focus on theaters and galleries vs. restaurant and retail establishments. The City Paper was there, and they captured some of the skepticism:
“I have nothing in common with a business down at the Convention Center,” Fales said, noting that she wouldn’t necessarily even recommend someone walk that way at night. “I don’t want to be part of an arts district, because I’m already part of something–the Midcity Business Association.” Applause came from the back of the room.
For those wondering if Midcity is as contrived as “NoMa”, see this post by DCist about the term’s history; it contains a picture of a map from 1937 utilizing the designation.
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