Thursday, May 10, 2012

Bloomingdale references in today's Washington Post Ward 5 special election article

Washington Post journalist Tim Craig penned an article on the Ward 5 special election.  I am not copying the entire article here;  I have only included the two sections that reference Bloomingdale.  You are invited to read the entire article.

There have been over 100 comments posted to this article.  I have copied the one response (so far) that references Bloomingdale.


Special council election comes at an anxious time for D.C.’s Ward 5
By Tim Craig, Published: May 9
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/2012/05/09/gIQAPZDSEU_story.html

....

McDuffie, a former Justice Department lawyer who worked as an aide to Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), is the favored candidate of self-described progressives who emphasize ethics reform, liberal social values and innovation. Their backing has given McDuffie a solid base of support in diversifying neighborhoods such as Bloomingdale and Brookland. City teacher and firefighter unions, the Service Employees    International Union and the AFL-CIO are also backing McDuffie, which helps him broaden his appeal.

.... 

Wilds countered that the term ``progressive`` is a ``code word that comes from Bloomingdale and comes from Brookland`` and is offensive to many African American voters.  ``I resent it. . . . You can be a progressive in Bloomingdale and a progressive in Brookland, but you are talking about Ward 5,`` Wilds said.``They are using it is a code word to divide up this ward.``


And here the lone comment from a Bloomingdale resident:

thadude33 wrote:
12:38 PM EDT

 It's simple economics. Many areas of Ward 5 have seen skyrocketing housing costs, whether you rent or own. Why? Because that’s what the market will bear. Skin color has nothing to do with it, but as usual, money has EVERYTHING to do with it.


I loved sleepy Bloomingdale when I moved here several years ago. It was quiet, and felt like a real neighborhood. Now there are 5 house on every block being remodeled and it’s noisy as hell. 


Now with a bar here and a pizza place there it's turning into a every other soulless neighborhood near downtown. Why can't we have a quiet residential neighborhood that's affordable near downtown? That’s what I resent about gentrifiers. They move in somewhere and start making all sorts of demands and trying to remake the community in their own image, most of them anyway. Most are clueless about an area’s history and tone deaf to long-established traditions. Why move somewhere if all you want to do is change it? Ah, right: just looking for a good investment regardless of how it effects other people who’ve spent years steadily improving the community.

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