Chocolate City

Jeff and I went to see a documentary today called "Chocolate City". It is about the gentrification in Washington, DC, and focuses specifically on one neighborhood in Southeast DC. The public housing there was demolished to put in new, mixed-income housing. The residents were supposed to have the option to return, but prices were prohibitively high. In this way, a large number of people who have been DC residents their whole lives are being pushed farther and farther out of the city.

Check out the trailer: http://www.choc-city.org/trailer.html

The issue of gentrification is very interesting, and is easy to see day to day. Jeff and I moved into a neighborhood in DC that is already very different than what it would have been ten years ago. Walking down the street the other day, Jeff and I noticed a number of new stores and restaurants that had opened near us just in the few months we've lived here. Within the last month a new wine bar and chocolate shop have opened. There are still old buildings, with bars on their windows, but their numbers are decreasing as trendy new shops open up. On one hand, this is positive - the neighborhood is revitalized, safer, and inviting. But is it taking away from the sense of community and losing its history? The questions of how gentrification affects a city and understanding positive or negative effects are very interesting.

In low-income residential areas, like the neighborhood in the movie, is there a way to promote improved safety and public services and revitalization of businesses, without displacing the community? On one hand, people argue that "revitalization" is all about money - developers want to get rid of public housing and put in high-end condos to sell to wealthy people moving into the city. You could also argue that there are some people who are really interested in bringing down crime rates and improving living conditions. I'm curious if there have been cases of successful revitalization of cities without large displacements of poor residents.

The movie also made me consider my involvement in the community. In the movie, the women interviewed talk about how people in the community help each other out and look after each other. There is a very poignant moment when a woman describes her new living conditions, which aren't so much worse than the neighborhood she had started in, but she felt much less safe because nobody in her new neighborhood knew her, and she didn't know them.

Back in Minnesota, or in a college dorm, it's assumed that you know your neighbors. Now that Jeff and I live in an apartment, where people are constantly moving in and out, it seems like we don't know anybody. I wonder if new apartments and condos are fostering an environment in which people don't take any initiative to know their neighbors and care about their neighborhood. It's difficult in an environment like this to get to know the people that live around you. However, I'm going to try to make an effort to learn about the community here, and become a part of the city rather than just a visitor.