In a submission that is bound to restart the ongoing conversations about gentrification, a Second Street NW resident wrote in to the Bloomingdale listserv:
To all:
I am sick & tired of reading things like this day in [and] day out, and every day there is the same old rap sheet. We need to make Bloomingdale a Gated Community—I can't understand how so many of these thugs are continuously in our neighborhood. This robbery occurred at the same bus stop that the woman was murdered last year. After my mugging last year, I am now terrified to come home at night, especially now that it is getting darker.
Elizabeth
Now off the top of my head, there are no DC neighborhoods that are currently gated off. There are planned developments, such as Park Place, Beekman Place, and Hillandale, that could be considered gated communities, but nothing like what our neighbor is imagining for Bloomingdale. Frankly, if neighboring LeDroit Park couldn't do it from the start, it's a fair bet to say that it's not going to happen here and now. With several major thoroughfares running through the area (First Street, North Capitol Street, and Rhode Island Avenue, just to name a few), it would wreak havoc on traffic as well.
Crime and safety issues tend to inspire some pretty heated debate, so I'll be watching the listserv to see how the neighborhood responds.
6 comments:
many nearby public housing projects are gated communities.
My eyes also widened a bit when I read that comment on the listserv. I understand the fear and unhappiness the original commenter at the crime in the neighborhood -- I share it and sadly am also quite cautious after dark. But it is impossible to gate Bloomingdale for the reasons you listed and others (does she notice the problem of this troubled bus stop laying within a gated community? Sort of defeats the purpose), as well as that it is also rooted in some pretty nasty assumptions. I love that Bloomingdale is charming, quiet and friendly, but also very much a part of the city. I'm new to the neighborhood, and I am happy to have found a great spot -- I want to become more a part of its community, not make a huge sweeping alteration to its profile. I do not know how long the commenter has been in the neighborhood, but it certainly seems to reek of the worst bits of gentrification. (Side note: to be honest, I'm not sure why Scott Roberts publishes some of the things he receives, when they are much more about being inflammatory than creating a helpful dialogue.)
That's idiotic. Putting up a gate in the middle of the city? It's unfeasible and given the nasty and racist connotations associated with gating in DC communities (LeDroit Park), I think it sends a very bad message to people within and outside our neighborhood.
I sympathize with the crime concerns, as I'm sure everyone in the neighborhood does. However, Throwing up walls, literally and metaphorically, is not the way to approach solving this issue.
This is appallingly socially tone-deaf. If you want absolute safety, live in Crystal City. Oh, what's that? You don't want to? Crystal City is expensive and mind-numbingly boring?
When you enter a neighborhood you take the good and the bad. There are great things here, not the least of which being the cost of living. While that is going up every day, I guarantee your apartment or house wouldn't be as big or nice in a safer part of the city. That's just the basic reality of why gentrification happens.
God, this is why i hate gentrification. Fucking crackers!
racial slurs are a sure sign of a deep person.
way to be anon 10:18! nothing like a good bigot.
also, the blame the victim mentality is quite warm hearted. nothing to say about the mugger?
personally i'm sorry the person was mugged. to me thats far worse than an off-handed comment about feeling unsafe and a not well thought out solution. whats worse for our neighborhood? i know the answer for me. and i know that people that insult victims are part of the problem.
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