oh IMGoph...shut up! What's your take? Nothing as usual other than something negative! Please either actually do something concrete and tangible for this city or shut up!
Well, i think it makes some good points from a gentrifier's perspective (and i guess i am one..i only moved to Bloomingdale in 2007) , but i'm unsure if the complex issues around gentrification are really addressed. From just having lived here for the past 6 years, i wouldn't consider myself or any of these folks except that one older gentlemen and possibly Ted McGuinn frankly "Long time" residents. All my neighbors where African American when i moved in.... as a white, i was in a fairly significant minority. However, all here except one is non-African American. Unsure if this really represents the "old timers." The things i hear are that life is getting harder for those old timers ...higher property taxes, their community have all moved, they feel increasingly isolated, increasingly poor (compared to the others here), people are less friendly, they know less about their neighbors, they miss that strong social fabric that was here despite the drugs, gangs, etc. Of course, they like the increased security, the amenities, the beautiful streets...but there are tradeoffs. I think it would have been more interesting to hear some of these folks talk about those things because only by understanding the complex perspectives can we really get our minds around how to make this a great neighborhood for everybody. One thing that i do think that this little snippet gets at is that Bloomingdale residents have long worked very consciously to cultivate their neighborhood...they are actively forming it rather than let it form on it's own. That's not a new thing here either. The older residents did the same thing too. They just had less resources and more daunting constraints and challenges. Also, it would be interesting to hear from folks like me who really could not afford to live anywhere else in DC which is why we came here. We fell in love with some of those same things and we also sort of miss the old Bloomingdale too and secretly hope that the gentrification will stop now (fat chance.).
which dictionary did they get their definition of "gentrification" from in the beginning?
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ReplyDeleteoh IMGoph...shut up! What's your take? Nothing as usual other than something negative! Please either actually do something concrete and tangible for this city or shut up!
ReplyDeleteBarrie, I was just asking a question. There was no negative intent there. If you see any, you're projecting.
DeleteWhy get your panties in a bunch?
Was a nice video! Thanks Chelsea
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ReplyDeleteWell, i think it makes some good points from a gentrifier's perspective (and i guess i am one..i only moved to Bloomingdale in 2007) , but i'm unsure if the complex issues around gentrification are really addressed. From just having lived here for the past 6 years, i wouldn't consider myself or any of these folks except that one older gentlemen and possibly Ted McGuinn frankly "Long time" residents. All my neighbors where African American when i moved in.... as a white, i was in a fairly significant minority. However, all here except one is non-African American. Unsure if this really represents the "old timers." The things i hear are that life is getting harder for those old timers ...higher property taxes, their community have all moved, they feel increasingly isolated, increasingly poor (compared to the others here), people are less friendly, they know less about their neighbors, they miss that strong social fabric that was here despite the drugs, gangs, etc. Of course, they like the increased security, the amenities, the beautiful streets...but there are tradeoffs. I think it would have been more interesting to hear some of these folks talk about those things because only by understanding the complex perspectives can we really get our minds around how to make this a great neighborhood for everybody. One thing that i do think that this little snippet gets at is that Bloomingdale residents have long worked very consciously to cultivate their neighborhood...they are actively forming it rather than let it form on it's own. That's not a new thing here either. The older residents did the same thing too. They just had less resources and more daunting constraints and challenges. Also, it would be interesting to hear from folks like me who really could not afford to live anywhere else in DC which is why we came here. We fell in love with some of those same things and we also sort of miss the old Bloomingdale too and secretly hope that the gentrification will stop now (fat chance.).
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