Race - Greater Greater Washington

Bonds' platform: "I'm black"

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:29:00 EDT

One of Anita Bonds' primary issues is that she looks like about half of residents and different from the other half. (Post)

Comment

Must social services and quality of life conflict?

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:11:00 EDT

by David Alpert

A DC official says that "white liberals" don't care about social services, while black folks "aren't as passionate" about services like recreation centers. Is that right? More importantly, does it matter? Can't we have both?

Photo by stu_spivack on Flickr.

Former DC resident Matt Bevilacqua talks about DC's black-white divide in a post for Next City. It's leading up to an in-depth Forefront story on DC gentrification that could either penetrate difficult subjects or rehash old, cliché tropes. We'll see!

That story includes a quotation by a "black city official who has worked on economic development policy":

On a national political level, we've always been and always will be Democratic," [the city official] told me. "But when you go down into the local landscape or subscribe to the policy of all politics are local, that liberalism has a divide. White liberals in D.C. don't give a shit about social services because they're not of that element. White liberals in D.C. are more about quality-of-life issues as it relates to the lifestyle they want to have.

It is bike lanes. It is dog parks. It is about state-of-the-art swimming facilities. It is about recreation centers. Capital Bikeshare. Car2Go. Streetcars. It's about a way of life. Black folks want this stuff, they're just not as passionate about it."

"Liberals" may not be the right word here, as it's not just liberals who want quality of life services. It's true, though, that a lot of newer white residents do want bike lanes, dog parks, swimming facilities, and rec centers. There's no reason black folks shouldn't want these too, since black folks own dogs, play sports, and have children who could benefit from pools just like folks of any other color.

But even if this official is right that black folks care about them less and white folks care more, why must these conflict? The city has not cut social services to fund dog parks; it cut both in bad times and is increasing both in good times. It does benefit certain politicians or columnists to play groups off each other, but they're not inherently at opposition.

Look at the debate on the 2011 budget, when DC faced a gap thanks to the recession and Mayor Gray proposed a small tax increase amid many cuts (cuts to things both black and white people like). Who opposed it? We had Jack Evans (white), Mary Cheh (white), and Muriel Bowser (black). The main crusader against the idea was Chairman Kwame Brown (black). Supporters included white members like Jim Graham, Phil Mendelson, and Tommy Wells, and black members like Michael Brown and Marion Barry as well as Mayor Gray.

On issues like growth, Michael Brown (black) and Phil Mendelson (white) have more in common in their voting, as do Tommy Wells (white) and Kenyan McDuffie (black). (And all are liberals, at least on national left-right issues.)

Elissa Silverman, a white liberal running for DC Council, has been one of the strongest advocates for social services in the entire city. Anita Bonds, the black interim councilmember, put out a press release about yesterday's budget which first praised its lack of tax and fee increases and the proposed bond tax cut.

We can group officials in different ways. There are black and white folks. There are also liberals and conservatives, and more urban-minded members and more suburban-minded ones. One of these divisions is easy to divine by looking at people; the others require paying attention to officials' actions.

Many voters do vote on the basis of race, but it does the city a disservice when people lump all white folks and black folks to be the same. It's not just white liberals and black liberals, but there's also white conservatives and black conservatives, or white supporters and opponents of a growing city and black supporters and opponents. We can't ignore race, but we can avoid looking only at it and ignoring every other more substantive difference between various groups of residents.

And we can absolutely have a budget that supports both social services and quality of life. Moreover, we have a mayor who won mainly with votes from black folks (and myself) who just proposed a budget that puts strong emphasis on quality of life while also growing social services.

47 comments

Bike sharing systems push to reach underrepresented groups

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:12:00 EDT

by Darren Buck

Bike sharing has been a huge success in many cities and received many well-deserved plaudits, but some have criticized bike sharing for not necessarily serving all segments of the population. What are bike sharing systems doing to expand their reach?

Photo by Eric Gilliland on Flickr.

Data on the demographics and socioeconomics of annual bike sharing users is only now emerging, and there are no comprehensive reviews of what bike sharing systems can do to ensure that they serve the entire community.

As a part of my graduate work at Virginia Tech's Alexandria urban planning program, I asked managers of current and planned North American bike sharing systems what they have done to increase access to bike sharing for low-income communities, and minority groups disproportionately underrepresented in bicycling.

The size and scope of measures to promote bike sharing equity vary, but all types of bike sharing systems are working to lower access barriers.Whether a large established system with significant government investment like Capital Bikeshare, a new small nonprofit system searching for funding like Kansas City B-cycle, or a for-profit system like Decobike Miami Beach, operators are expending the effort to lower access barriers. Here some highlights of how they are doing it:

Station siting: Lowering access barriers starts with placing stations where they primarily serve low-income communities. For example, systems might consciously place stations adjacent to affordable housing, or prioritize expansion to minority neighborhoods disproportionately underrepresented in bicycling.

Many systems reported doing this, including NiceRide Minnesota, which placed 30 stations (or approximately 20% of their system) in areas identified by the community as necessary for equity.

Community-specific marketing and outreach: By reaching out specifically to low-income communities, or by targeting marketing and outreach to the concerns and communications channels of minority communities underrepresented in bicycling, bike sharing systems might be able to tap into latent demand in those communities.

In Arlington County, VA, the largest low-income group is Latinos with limited English proficiency. Arlington is planning a special Spanish-language outreach program for all of the county's sustainable transportation programs, including Capital Bikeshare.

Financial assistance: Providing some variety of financial assistance was the most common way bike sharing systems promoted equity. Many lower-income people cannot afford the full cost of the annual membership at one time. To deal with that, several systems offer (or plan to offer) installment payment plans.

Bike sharing systems are also partnering with organizations to help qualified recipients obtain a bank account and debit/credit card. Capital Bikeshare introduced its partnership with Bank on DC over a year ago. This program combines a reduced membership fee with access to a credit card, and now has 90 participants.

Another measure that can relieve the financial barrier to bike sharing is not placing a temporary "hold" against a user's credit or debit limit. Many systems put a hold on the full replacement fee for a bicycle, to guard against bikes not being returned. For people with little money in their checking account, this can make it impossible for them to buy necessities. Arlington is investigating ways to allow for cash payments, which would obviate the need for a debit/credit card entirely.

Boston's Hubway provided over 550 annual memberships to qualified low-income recipients at a cost of $5 each, along with longer-than-normal free trip durations. Boston also investigated (but ultimately had to cancel) an idea dubbed "Prescribe a Bike," where medical providers would refer at-risk patients to subsidized bikesharing memberships. The Boston programs are administered and funded by an obesity prevention public health program.

Economic contribution to communities: Bikesharing potentially provides intrinsic economic benefits to all communities by reducing the personal costs of travel for users, and increasing economic activity by generating more trips overall.

But beyond this, I asked systems about ways the bike sharing operations might be directly contributing to the economic well-being of low-income communities, such as actively recruiting employees from low-income communities, locating facilities (and their associated jobs) in places easily accessible to low-income neighborhoods, and partnering and subcontracting with community-oriented nonprofit agencies.

Denver B-cycle partnered with a local Goodwill Industries nonprofit agency to recruit employees from low-income communities. Motreal's BIXI worked with a youth-service program to provide maintenance labor. Montgomery County, which is soon joining Capital Bikeshare, gave a preference for minority-owned small businesses in subcontracting procurement.

Safe places to ride: With the federal government investing fewer dollars for active transportation infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods, one possible barrier to using bike sharing could be the absence of safe places to ride a bicycle. I asked bike sharing systems to describe any efforts to encourage and promote installing new bicycle travel facilities near residents with lower incomes or disproportionately underrepresented in bicycling.

Kansas City B-cycle, a nonprofit bike sharing entity receiving less than half of its capital funding from government transportation funding (and among the smallest systems in the survey sample) is actively pursuing Safe Routes to School and other grants to directly institute bicycle travel facility improvements themselves.

Membership media: One way to make it easier to pay for bike sharing would be to integrate bikesharing payment media with other accounts that low-income people may already possess, including transit farecards and household utility billing accounts. A number of systems reported plans and efforts for farecard integration, but the hardware is not generally compatible, and there isn't money available to retrofit the stations.

One system to watch is the planned San Francisco system, which requested in its RFP that bidders discuss whether their systems could be compatible with the regional transit Clipper Card.

Overcoming bicycling barriers: If people have little experience bicycling or don't own helmets, it can create barriers to bicycling and bikesharing use. Several systems described programs to provide subsidized or free helmets and bicycle safety instruction workshops to communities they want to reach. They worked with bicycle shops, community colleges, and local bicycle advocacy organizations to deliver the helmets and provide the classes.

Boston's Hubway offers reduced-cost helmets in retail locations in close proximity to stations, and gives free helmets to subsidized low-income members. It also offers instructional bicycling safety classes, though one Boston official characterized attendance at these classes as "low."

For more details about the survey methodology, details on measures that each system is pursuing address access barriers, caveats, and some suggestions for further research, please take a look at the full paper (PDF). I hope that the report serves as a useful resource for existing and emerging bikesharing systems to broaden participation in this exciting new transportation mode.

20 comments

Boston and Washington increase access to bike sharing (May 11, 2012)
Let's stimulate with a major bike sharing program (Mar 6, 2009)
American bike sharing systems more than doubled in 2011 (Dec 30, 2011)
Are smarter bikes in the future for bike sharing? (Apr 30, 2012)
Capital Bikeshare introduces new 5-day pass (Mar 14, 2011)

Black gentrification vs. white

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 08:37:00 EDT

by David Alpert

In one gentrifying Chicago neighborhood, the gentrifiers are black, not white. That's meant more neighborhood enthusiasm for the demographic changes, but also, the press hasn't depicted that neighborhood's changes like they have in other, racially-evolving neighborhoods. (Atlantic Cities)

Comment

Taxis discriminate

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 08:26:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Undercover reporters found taxis discriminating against black passengers. They had a black man try to go to a destination east of the river, the driver refused, but then picked up a white man going to the same place. (WUSA9)

Comment

A taxi, Leon Swain, and me (Mar 19, 2008)
Gentrification east of the river, pt. 2: Economic development (Nov 9, 2010)
Historic post preservation: "A Taxi, Leon Swain, and Me" (Sep 25, 2008)
Taxi rules are too confusing, even for Congressmen (Jul 14, 2010)
Gentrification east of the river, pt. 3: Role of the community (Nov 11, 2010)

Commutes slower for black folks

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 08:43:00 EDT

by David Alpert

African-Americans in several cities face longer commutes than other people, because they disproportionately travel on buses. Cities can push harder for Bus Rapid Transit as one way to alleviate this. (Boston Globe)

Comment

There was history before you

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 08:38:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Some (usually white) newcomers to DC don't consider the history of neighborhoods before they arrived, but (usually black) "native Washingtonians" also forget the history of neighborhoods even farther back in time. (Post)

Comment

Gentrification east of the river, pt. 3: Role of the community (Nov 11, 2010)
Gentrification east of the river, pt. 2: Economic development (Nov 9, 2010)
Home of the 'father of black history' should be restored (Aug 4, 2011)
Dream City panel tonight (Oct 17, 2011)

DC gets whiter and moves downtown

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:10:00 EDT

by Thaddeus Bell

Most of the neighborhoods between Rock Creek and the Anacostia River grew much whiter over the last census period. DC was also had the 5th-most growth within 2 miles of a city hall. (City Paper)

Comment

ACS shows Ward 6 growing fastest, while Ward 1 shrinks (Dec 15, 2010)
Ward 2 now too large, wards 7 and 8 too small (Mar 24, 2011)
Downtown posts big gains in housing units (Dec 28, 2010)
DC breaks 600,000 (Dec 21, 2010)
DC funding depends on 2010 Census mail-back rates (Mar 25, 2009)

Too white to be mayor?

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 08:18:00 EDT

by Thaddeus Bell

Although the sentiment has eased over the past decade, many DC residents think it's important to have a black mayor. Candidates Jack Evans and Tommy Wells face a difficult route to election. (Post)

Comment

Knocked on our heels, it's time to broaden the urbanist tent (Jul 13, 2011)
Finding good candidates shouldn't be waiting for Superman (Nov 9, 2011)
Gorge yourself on streetcars (May 5, 2010)
Ask the Ward 2 Council candidates (Jul 8, 2008)
Weekend links: The end (Apr 1, 2012)

An attempted murder kindled DC's first race riot in 1835

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:19:00 EDT

by John DeFerrari

The 1830s are not a well-known period in Washington's history. Too late for L'Enfant and too early for Lincoln, they are a mystery to most residents. But hiding beneath the quiet surface were rising racial tensions, as vividly described in Jefferson Morley's new book, Snow-Storm in August.

Morley brings the 1830s to life with an account of dramatic events that would ultimately contribute to the Civil War.

The book's title derives from the so-called "Snow Riot" of August 1835, when a mob of angry young white laborers vandalized a restaurant at 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW that was operated by Beverly Snow, a free black.

Compared to the large race riots of 1919 or 1968, the mayhem and destruction in 1835 was almost negligible. Nevertheless, it was a shocking event for many Washington residents, and the underlying tensions were as strong as at any time in the city's history.

It all began when Arthur Bowen, a slave belonging to Mrs. Anna Maria Thornton, got drunk one night and seemed to be contemplating murder. He came home late that evening and entered the widowed Mrs. Thornton's bedroom carrying an ax. Maria Bowen, Arthur's mother, was also asleep in the room. She awoke and quickly restrained her son, pushing him out of the house through a back door.

Mrs. Thornton awoke as well and needless to say was terrified. She ran for help from neighbors, who returned to the house with her and heard, through the locked back door, the rantings of the inebriated young slave.

"I'll have my freedom," Arther shouted. "I'll have my freedom, you hear me? I have as much right to freedom as you do."

These were dangerous words for a slave in Washington in the 1830s.

Anxiety was running high in those days among slaveholders and white society in general. Just 4 years earlier the infamous Nat Turner slave rebellion had taken place in nearby Southampton, Virginia. Under Nat Turner's mesmerizing leadership, slaves rose up and killed some 50 or 60 whites before their insurrection was brutally repressed by the authorities.

Even more troubling for many whites was the seeming flood of anti-slavery literature arriving on a daily basis from the staunchly abolitionist cities farther north. William Lloyd Garrison's influential weekly anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator, had begun publication in 1831 and was soon being sent south to win over hearts and minds.

It was against this backdrop that the young ax-wielding slave, Arthur Bowen, had threatened Anna Maria Thornton. Mrs Thornton wasn't just anyone. She was the well-known and highly-respected widow of William Thornton, architect of the US Capitol.

It was plain to see, or at least so The National Intelligencer thought, that "incendiary publications" from the north were responsible for the "most ferocious threats" and "tissue of jargon" that Bowen had uttered. Bowen had initially fled in the night, but he was soon arrested. Crowds of angry laborers then gathered at the city jail demanding vengeance. It was these young white ruffians who attacked Beverly Snow's restaurant, smashing dishes and furniture. They later burned a black boardinghouse and several schoolhouses.

Morley's book evokes not just the tragedy of the Snow Riots themselves, but the complex stories of its key players, including Arthur and Maria Bowen, Anna Maria Thornton, and Reuben Crandall, a Georgetown resident with links to northern abolitionists who was swept up in the hysteria and accused of inciting insurrection.

It also brings to life Francis Scott Key, author of the national anthem. Key was district attorney for Washington in 1835, and was responsible for arresting both Crandall and Bowen. The prosperous scion of a wealthy slave-holding Maryland family, Key seems to have been torn between conflicting values. Though temperamentally disposed to ending slavery, he vigorously prosecuted both Crandall and Bowen.

It would be up to the juries and ultimately the president of the United States to determine the fate of the two men.

Perhaps the most entertaining character in this entire drama is Beverly Snow himself, the namesake of the Snow Riot. Morley begins his book with a vivid and remarkably detailed portrait of the young black entrepreneur, who opened one of Washington's first true restaurants in the early 1830s.

Snow had been born a slave in Lynchburg, Virginia and was granted his freedom when he came of age. He had learned the culinary arts at an early age but clearly had more extraordinary skills, including social dexterity, entrepreneurial drive, and ambition. He came to Washington to go into business for himself, and his Epicurean Eating House on Pennsylvania Avenue was highly successful.

Snow, of course, had no idea he'd be caught up in the fear-mongering that ensued from the Bowen incident. He fled the city after his restaurant was trashed and soon moved to Canada, where he started all over again in Toronto, with another restaurant that was as popular as his Washington eatery.

Snow's story seems at once tragic and hopeful. It's a shame that he was treated so badly in Washington, but inspiring in that he didn't let the experience ruin his ambitions. The vividly portrayed struggles of Snow, Bowen, Crandall, Key, and Mrs. Thornton (who never believed Bowen really wanted to kill her and fought to have him released from jail) all make for a powerful portrait of a lost era in Washington history.

Cross-posted at Streets Of Washington.

6 comments

Then and Now: Ben's Chili Bowl (Dec 7, 2009)
Lost Washington:The Knickerbocker Theater (Jul 7, 2009)
Lost Washington: The Savoy Theater (Jun 9, 2009)
Join the authors of Dream City on October 17th (Oct 4, 2011)
Lost Washington: Carroll Row (Oct 26, 2009)

More white families moving into Prince George's

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 08:59:00 EDT

by Christopher Honey

Prince George's became majority-minority in the 1970s as black families moved from the city into the county. Now, that pattern is changing as many white families move into the county. (Post)

Comment

Prince George's TOD is big business opportunity (Feb 14, 2011)
Prince George's bag fee not dead, but needs your help (Feb 10, 2012)
Prince George's totally missing the (train) boat (Aug 4, 2009)
Prince George's housing challenges call for new leadership (Nov 2, 2010)
New medical center belongs at a Prince George's Metro stop (Jun 14, 2012)

Some parts of DC get whiter

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 09:39:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Three of the 25 ZIP codes which gained the most percentage of white residents are in DC, basically all around the Green Line. Four were in Brooklyn, the others in cities that might surprise you. (Post)

Comment

Useful statistics of the day (Jul 24, 2008)
Brooklyn puts retail in municipal building (Oct 31, 2007)

Kwame divides, Brown unites

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:42:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Kwame Brown uses Chuck Brown's funeral to stoke divisiveness between longtime and new residents and use dogwhistle racial politics, while DC's historian notes that Brown united races rather than dividing them. (Post)

Comment

No 2:00 am budget surprises please, Kwame Brown (May 23, 2011)
Live chat: Kwame Brown, DC Councilmember at-large (Mar 27, 2009)
Breaking: Kwame Brown stripping transportation committee from Tommy Wells as retribution for SUV scandal (Jul 12, 2011)
Maps show racial divides in Greater Washington (Sep 21, 2010)
Ask Kwame Brown to maintain public access in downtown Ward 7 (Oct 1, 2009)

In defense of white Girls

Wed, 30 May 2012 08:38:00 EDT

by Thaddeus Bell

The new sitcom Girls has received highly-publicized criticism for the lack of diversity in its depiction of Brooklyn. But just because cities are diverse doesn't mean individuals' social networks are. (Next American City)

Comment

Brooklyn puts retail in municipal building (Oct 31, 2007)
New York's DC USA, but with a ferry instead of Metro (Aug 14, 2008)
America's melting pot (Oct 17, 2006)
A picture is worth a thousand activists (Jul 16, 2005)

Barry's improbable Monday

Tue, 22 May 2012 08:54:00 EDT

by David Alpert

After Marion Barry had a scare over a blood clot—he's fine now—the indefatigable councilmember said he was wrong for his comments about Filipino nurses. He still wants more District-grown nurses, but "truly didn't mean 2 hurt or offend." and "is truly sorry." (DCist)

Comment

Barry surprised at streetcar plan from Barry mayoralty (Jul 1, 2010)
Should Barry be worried about next year�s Ward 8 primary? (Jul 13, 2011)
Gray transition: bold innovators or a return to Barry? (Nov 4, 2010)
Is Barry Farm going Dutch? (Nov 18, 2011)
Rally questions Barry's leadership in Ward 8 (Dec 30, 2011)

DC's divide need not be black and white

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:15:00 EDT

by David Alpert

The DC Council passed a budget unanimously, approving most of Mayor Gray's initiatives and adding a few of its own. Kenyan McDuffie won an overwhelming victory in a special election, more than double any other candidate's vote total, in a ward that mixes young and old, black and white, urban and suburban.

Photo by stu_spivack on Flickr.

Could an end finally be in sight for the theme, and meme, that the District is hopelessly polarized along racial lines?

Whereas the narrative for the last few elections made it sound as though all white people voted one way and all black people another (even if that wasn't quite the case), people of all races, ages and income groups came to agreement about who should represent Ward 5 on the DC Council. Council members representing some very diverse and differing wards did the same on the budget.

Continue reading in my latest op-ed in the Washington Post.

Also in this weekend's Post local opinions: Is Pepco's zealous tree pruning hurting neighborhoods? We're the ones polluting the Potomac. And a marriage license doesn't protect against stupid people, but it means a lot when a spouse is in the hospital.

41 comments

Orange win would make DC Council most colorful in history (Apr 25, 2011)
Endorsement quick reference (Sep 13, 2010)
Crowded at-large Council race could help Orange win (Jan 4, 2012)
Have DC's black unemployed become invisible? (Sep 8, 2011)
Election day is here! Vote! (Apr 2, 2012)

"Degree density" maps show region's east-west divide

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:49:00 EDT

by David Alpert

What's the difference between Friendship Heights and Capitol Heights? The number of people with college degrees.

Degree density in and around DC. Each blue dot represents 1,000 people 25 and over with a college degree; each pink dot, 1,000 people 25+ without. Maps by Rob Pitingolo.

Rob Pitingolo has done a lot of research on which places have more or fewer people with college degrees. DC has the fourth most college degrees per square mile of any city in the nation, but that doesn't apply everywhere in the region or everywhere in DC.

Rob created these maps that show the locations of people with and without college degrees aged 25 and over.

There seems to be a fair amount of mixing in Virginia, but in DC and Maryland, the divide is starker. East of the Anacostia, blue dots are very few; west of Rock Creek and in the central city, they overwhelm the pink dots.

A lot of news stories talk about the DC region in terms of the division between black and white. The city's history of racial segregation has left a legacy of educational and socioeconomic inequality. As a result, many commentators use race as a simplistic shorthand for conflicts that are really about college educated versus not, or wealthy versus poor, or young versus old.

Race is immutable, but other characteristics are not. If our divisions are really about black versus white, they're not going to change unless some people move out of the city, and that's not what we want to happen. But education levels can change, and it's good for everyone if we can help all people in our region access better education.

48 comments

Maps show racial divides in Greater Washington (Sep 21, 2010)
A demographic portrait of the District: 2008 (Oct 5, 2009)
Thundersnow traffic illustrates east-west divide (Jan 27, 2011)
Gentrification east of the river, pt. 2: Economic development (Nov 9, 2010)
On the calendar: Biking west, retail/zoning north, buses east (Mar 2, 2011)

Green plan not black and white

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:47:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Councilmember Orange claims some African-Americans are "scared to death" of being displaced as a result of Mayor Gray's new sustainability plan. Orange also worried about adding more residents when it "takes 45 minutes to get downtown." (City Paper)

Comment

Orange win would make DC Council most colorful in history (Apr 25, 2011)
Gray administration holding up Reservation 13 for Redskins (Feb 16, 2012)
Don't use the incoming mayor's name in vain (on signs) (Dec 16, 2010)
Gray's Ward 2 town hall sidesteps divisions (Oct 15, 2010)
Have faith in our ideas and vote Gray (Sep 13, 2010)

And...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:49:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Fairfax is still willing to contribute to the Silver Line's second phase. (Examiner) ... The Anacostia River's quality is improving but is still not where it could be. (City Paper) ... A new website compares BRT systems from around the world. (Denver Post, Tom Quinn) ... Does DC have a racial divide? (NBC Washington)

Comment

Fairfax greasing the chain (Oct 8, 2009)
Biking on sidewalks is legal in DC (May 29, 2008)
VA-11 candidates on traffic, transit, and density (Jun 9, 2008)
Our transportation priorities (Jun 17, 2008)
New "Ministry of Bicycling" riding Saturday (Sep 9, 2008)

Reconciliation takes time

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 11:39:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

Councilmember Barry's comments on Asian-Americans and their stores expose the cultural and racial fault line between the African-American and Asian-American communities that has existed for years—a fault line that is slowly healing. (Post)

Comment

When a "ghetto" is not a "ghetto" (Jun 16, 2009)
Then & Now: Anacostia's Saint Teresa (Apr 6, 2012)
Maps show racial divides in Greater Washington (Sep 21, 2010)
Dream City panel tonight (Oct 17, 2011)
Barry surprised at streetcar plan from Barry mayoralty (Jul 1, 2010)

Culture of mediocrity rules

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:31:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

A new report from WMATA describes a culture that promotes the incompetent and leaves the qualified behind, that actively discourages innovation and change from the bottom, and often discriminates on the basis of color and sex. The problems have been going on for years. (Washington Times)

Comment

Sarles could provide useful stability for a few years (Jan 21, 2011)
NTSB blames track circuits, safety culture for Red Line crash (Jul 27, 2010)
Communication is everything on "Blue Line Realignment," a.k.a. the "Yellow and Orange Line Service Increase" (Jul 12, 2010)
O'Malley to replace WMATA Board members, wants rules limiting qualifications (Feb 17, 2011)
It's official, Metro has a new Chief Safety Officer (Apr 6, 2010)

Gentrification is complicated

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:56:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Some longtime black residents of H Street are happy to see the neighborhood adding white people as well. Maybe gentrification isn't the simple sound bite we're used to. (Post)

Comment

Gentrification east of the river, pt. 2: Economic development (Nov 9, 2010)
GGW discusses: Displacement versus gentrification (Feb 17, 2011)
Gentrification a matter of economics, not ethnicity (Jun 28, 2011)
Gentrification east of the river, pt. 1: Organic and inorganic (Nov 8, 2010)
Let's explore gentrification together with Clybourne Park (Jun 23, 2011)

What to call gentrification by non-whites

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:02:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

Gentrification is largely class-based, but are the outcomes the same when gentrifiers aren't white? (DCentric)

Comment

GGW discusses: Displacement versus gentrification (Feb 17, 2011)
Gentrification east of the river, pt. 2: Economic development (Nov 9, 2010)
Gentrification a matter of economics, not ethnicity (Jun 28, 2011)
Gentrification needn't displace if we do more than shrug (Oct 21, 2010)
Gentrification east of the river, pt. 1: Organic and inorganic (Nov 8, 2010)

Not terribly deliberate speed

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:45:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

In DC and nationwide, segregation is in decline. But DC is desegregating slower than other cities, with large tracts that are entirely black or entirely white not seeing much integration. (City Paper)

Comment

Maps show racial divides in Greater Washington (Sep 21, 2010)
Riotous Then and Now: Seventh and N (Apr 30, 2010)
Have DC's black unemployed become invisible? (Sep 8, 2011)
Community revitalization must start with persisently poor neighborhoods (Aug 10, 2009)
A demographic portrait of the District: 2008 (Oct 5, 2009)

Restoration used to be racist

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:59:00 EDT

by David Alpert

In the 1940s, efforts to restore Capitol Hill had a definite racist tone, with many people pushing restoration of homes to keep white families in them and opposing public housing which mainly held black residents. (SINM)

Comment

Racial differences in walking

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:30:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

DC's white population walks farther, faster, and more often than non-whites. This might stem from more white residents living in the city center and more non-whites in the periphery. (City Paper)

Comment

Black homicide rate drops but remains high (Jun 21, 2011)
A demographic portrait of the District: 2008 (Oct 5, 2009)
Maps show racial divides in Greater Washington (Sep 21, 2010)
Racial politics kept College Park Metro far from campus (Dec 4, 2007)
Md. only listening to car-bound suburban and rural citizens (Sep 4, 2008)

Shady realtors of history

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:10:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

In Capitol Hill, restorations were paired with segregation in the 1940s. Real estate agents used scare tactics to push out black families, allowing agents to restore homes, and used different tactics to push out white families, allowing them to make shady home loans. (Sociology in My Neighborhood)

Comment

A ghost, a bicyclist, and a streetcar (Oct 31, 2009)
Gentrification east of the river, pt. 2: Economic development (Nov 9, 2010)
Would mortgage tax reform slow sprawl and gentrification? (Nov 12, 2010)
Then and Now: Homes near AFRH (Apr 23, 2010)
GGW discusses: Displacement and NPR in Anacostia (Feb 16, 2011)

Test scores and the achieve gap rise

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:22:00 EDT

by Eric Fidler

Test scores at DCPS are up, but among the nation's urban school systems, DC suffers the widest achievement gap between white and black students. (Washington Times)

Comment

Cheh appoints self to school board by giving up on Hardy (Aug 19, 2011)
Online common application may help DC specialized high schools compete for top students (Oct 25, 2011)
How do you choose a DC public school? (Nov 29, 2010)
DCPS needs more than money to attract top teachers (Nov 8, 2011)
Rhee feared Hardy principal was weeding out poor kids (Mar 21, 2011)

Ehrlich blames everyone else

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:40:00 EDT

by Eric Fidler

Former Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich blames his 2010 election loss on high turnout among the state's black voters. He says he was unfairly associated with Tea Partiers and racists. (Post)

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Martin O'Malley for Maryland Governor (Oct 22, 2010)
Go vote! (Sep 14, 2010)
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Printed voter guides are a necessary service (Apr 30, 2011)
Nov. elections would strengthen Falls Church's democracy (Oct 13, 2011)

Maryland town sees a demographic shift

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 08:29:00 EDT

by Eric Fidler

Black Civil War veterans established North Brentwood as a safe haven. The town's demography is quickly turning Latino as older residents die and their heirs live elsewhere. (Post)

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Imagine a College Park/University of Maryland arboretum (Feb 24, 2011)
Prince George's great Heights (Dec 31, 2008)
Wheaton town square will stay public, emulate Bethesda (Mar 30, 2011)
Wheaton town square should belong to the public (Mar 7, 2011)
Improved access to Cafritz development is a step forward (Sep 27, 2011)

Montgomery may be diverse, but it's not integrated yet

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:08:00 EDT

by Dan Reed

Last year, Montgomery County became majority-minority for the first time. But neighborhoods there aren't as integrated as they could be, threatening the county's ability to grow and prosper.

Photo by the author.

An article in Sunday's Washington Post highlighted newly-diverse suburban neighborhoods across the United States, focusing on the Hillandale neighborhood of Silver Spring:

From one end of McGovern Drive to the other, and on adjacent streets, a boundless diversity continues: immigrants, or their offspring, from Jamaica and Haiti, Egypt and Israel; African Americans who have lived there for 20 years; and whites who bought their homes when Lyndon Johnson was president.

Since 1999, my family's lived in Calverton, which, like Hillendale, was until recently a predominantly-white community.

In 1990, whites made up almost three-fourths of Calverton's roughly 11,000 residents. Though the neighborhood has grown by more than half since then, whites and blacks make up equal shares of its population, at about 39 percent each. The Asian population's been steady, but the Hispanic contingent has tripled to become one-tenth of the community. This graph shows the shifts (numbers may not add up to 100% because Hispanics are counted as an ethnicity, not a race):

Yet as Montgomery County becomes more polyglot, it's not necessarily integrated. Two years ago, my brother graduated from Galway Elementary School in Calverton. Its nearly 800 students are half black, a quarter Hispanic, and just 4.3 percent white.

In a neighborhood where the median household income is $76,000 a year and the average home sells for nearly $400,000, 60 percent of students are on free or reduced lunch. In addition, test scores are generally lower than they are at elementary schools elsewhere in the county.

Signs at Galway Elementary are written in English and Spanish. Photo by Mark Doore, Calverton Citizens Association.

Where are Calverton's white and middle-class residents? Some of have moved to Rockville or Olney, which are generally more affluent and have higher-rated public schools. Those who remained chose to "opt out" of the system, putting their kids in private school. They also take part in other exclusive amenities, like the members-only Calverton Swim Club across the street from Galway. A quick look at the club's website indicates its demographic makeup.

The membership of Calverton Swim Club remains predominantly white, though the neighborhood isn't. Photo by Mark Doore, Calverton Citizens Association.

This isn't necessarily a problem for our family. My parents are very involved in my brother's education and are generally happy with his experience at Galway and now at Briggs Chaney Middle School, which is slightly more diverse. While my family aren't members of the Calverton Swim Club, we can go to the nicer and public Martin Luther King Jr. Pool, which has water slides and a lazy river.

At the same time, it's generally recognized that the United States will cease to be a predominantly-white nation in about thirty years. We're seeing the beginnings of that in Montgomery County. This actually puts us in the catbird seat: If we're going to compete in a global society, we must be able to understand and react to cultural differences. Your kids might be having birthday parties with Salvadorian, Iranian, and Korean kids today, but they're preparing themselves to do business with people from those countries in the future.

Montgomery County has the ability to use its polyglot population as a strength, to create better, unified communities, and draw investment and ideas from around the world. Yet it's frequently thwarted when more fortunate residents try to keep the less privileged out or, as in Calverton, "opt out" of the community altogether.

For years, the Columbia Country Club and the Town of Chevy Chase have fought to keep the Purple Line out of their community. A community group in Silver Spring tried to remove a soccer field in a local park because Hispanic teams from outside the neighborhood used it. And neighbors in Bethesda had a vacant home demolished rather than letting a homeless family live there. These actions may benefit a small minority, but in the end, they hurt everyone.

Montgomery County has long had a reputation for progressive politics due to our affordable housing program and agricultural preserve. As a result, we tend to take diversity for granted, assuming that having Hispanic Heritage Month each October or occasionally eating ethnic food in Wheaton is enough. (Meanwhile, some are afraid to eat in Wheaton at all.) But this isn't enough. In order to fully take advantage of the county's diversity, and to ensure that everyone has a place here, we have to create truly integrated communities.

How can we do this?

We have to work even harder to create an equitable school system, ensuring students in affluent "Green Zone" schools and struggling "Red Zone" schools get the same level of education. Meanwhile, we have to continue investing in older communities like Silver Spring where "Red Zone" schools are located to give people the option of staying rather than moving further out and self-segregating.

We have to create neighborhoods that are accessible to a broad swath of the population, by providing a mix of housing styles and prices. In addition, we have to make it safer and easier to get around by foot, by bike, and by public transit, which benefit all residents, not just those who can afford a car. And we have to make everyone feel welcome here, instead of scapegoating immigrants or teenagers

Most importantly, we have to have the political wherewithal to do these things, rather than capitulate to groups who fight to preserve the status quo.

It's been a long time since Montgomery County was the "perfect suburbia," and it's not always clear what we'll become. Nonetheless, we have the opportunity to become something even greater. It won't be easy, but if we want to ensure the county's continued prosperity, we don't have a choice.

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