Comments on Farm Fresh Meat: Columbia Heights has come a long way, but...

@dcalex, thanks. I didn't like the article, bu...

2009-12-15T16:29:26.617Z

@dcalex, thanks. I didn't like the article, but it wasn't because I thought the perspective she portrayed wasn't a legitimate perspective. Obviously I am just as troubled by the opposite perspective from the young letter-writer.

It was because she picked and chose exactly who she wanted to talk to, and what she quoted, in order to make a point which I don't think is entirely accurate.

I think that this perspective is important to understand, but I also think that if her article had even a smidgen of balance to it, it would have passed the laugh test and been a lot more thoughtful. There was only a single passing comment to the effect that there were positive things as a result of the development for poor people, the guy who said "I'm not going to move out now."

All the development has certainly helped almost everyone here, particularly at the low end of the socioeconomic spectrum for whom shopping for necessities was certainly difficult if they didn't own a car. Jobs have been created. None of this garnered a mention in her portrayal, which to me just made it sound anti-development, anti-gentrification and axe-grinding. She didn't come out and say it, but it read like "we got all this new stuff but so what." That's totally unfair.

Most of the Columbia Heights blogosphere's rea...

2009-12-15T16:17:21.321Z

Most of the Columbia Heights blogosphere's reaction to this article was righteous indignation, as you say, no better than the original article. Your take on it is the best I've seen. Aside from the gratuitous insertion of the latte comment at the end, I thought the article represented a perspective that is too often ignored and needed to be heard.

Bulletin to the Washington Post and Yuppies: Movi...

2009-11-24T21:10:59.014Z

Bulletin to the Washington Post and Yuppies:

Moving to a neighborhood where a Target and Best Buy were jackhammered from Bethesda and dropped into DC in the middle of a neighborhood full of subsidized low-income housing will create a nasty, combustible mix.

The only thing that'll reduce crime will be real estate prices. When it becomes more lucrative for owners to sell than take vouchers, the overconcentration of low-income housing will fix itself.

I can't say I'm much of a Columbia Heights...

2009-11-24T19:40:12.794Z

I can't say I'm much of a Columbia Heights fan (I find the new development aesthetically lacking in charm) but I do think it's probably to the benefit of local low-income residents that the big box stores have introduced employment opportunities. Creating jobs *in* neighborhoods where people live is smart planning, and may help those residents who hold them in the long-term. Methinks it's a bit early to evaluate the success of development in CH either way.

These three blocks make me feel like I am in Fairf...

2009-11-24T16:22:13.133Z

These three blocks make me feel like I am in Fairfax. Don't like it!