Chocolate City: Not So Chocolate Anymore
Housing Boom Displaces Long Time Residents
by Ugochi Onyeukwu
Some may say that gentrification is helping the city because low-cost and deteriorated neighborhoods are being torn down and new buildings are being put in their place, but it is actually hurting D.C. Gentrification is the redevelopment of urban, usually low-income areas (often where African-Americans live) followed by the increase of wealthier (often Caucasian) residents that displaces the poorer residents. Gentrification is unfair and shows that, although we have come a long way, racism and classism are still rampant today. D.C. is going through gentrification right now with old apartment buildings being torn down and high-priced condominiums being built in their place. In some areas of D.C., sometimes called "Chocolate City," there isn't much chocolate left anymore. With gentrification on the rise, D.C.'s culture is being changed along with it.
Condos being built very close to Cardozo Senior High. (Ugochi Onyeukwu)
Gentrification began to affect D.C. after the 1968 riots sparked by Martin Luther King's assassination. The riots caused many businesses to close and left many areas in shambles. The riots greatly affected the inner city. There was an increase in the departure of all races to suburban areas. But many people stayed. Even when crime rates were high and a lot of people lost their jobs, they stayed. And now what? The city is beginning to become better, and the people who stayed and kept D.C. alive are now being displaced.
The District of Columbia is one of the most powerful cities in the United States, but its longtime residents are being treated like they don't matter. The people living in areas that are being gentrified often don't have an organized voice, like the people who are buying these low-income houses and flipping them. Gentrification can be a good thing because it does fix up the neighborhoods, but kicking out old residents that can't afford the better housing is just wrong. Allowing gentrification to go on is only going to result in one thing, the rich are going to get richer and the poor are going to have to move.
To fix the problem the D.C. government should ensure that a mix of housing is included in each new building so that families of different incomes can live in the city. If we provide more opportunities for work in the area it would reduce poverty that is plaguing parts of D.C. Also, the minimum wage should be increased, because the minimum wage now is not enough to be able to live in D.C. The city should also provide houses for the elderly who don't have the ability to work and earn money. This would protect them from the harmful side effects of gentrification.
By George Telzrow |
February 20, 2007; 5:37 PM ET
Editorials
Previous: Ready or Not, Here We Come? Announced Hall Sweeps Don't Work |
Next: Have You Caught The Bug?
Posted by: Sean | March 30, 2007 1:53 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
I think you are right as to what gentrification is doing to DC, but I think your blog entry missed the point. I dont think your suggestions will make DC any "blacker". Increase minimum wage wont help when you have expensive rents and taxes in the city. Second, providing houseing for the elderly would be great, but I elderly dont have a voice. I think DC needs to start attracting black single and couples with professional background to migrate to the city.