It sucks that the mainstream press around here never covers anything like this. I guess blood and guts and doom and gloom are probably more profitable.

Low key there are a lot of people working really hard across the state on trying to make all kinds of positive things happen in their communities and beyond. They’re generally not on the news or getting major party endorsements, but they’re out there. Fighting the good fight.

It was certainly never a Chicago or New York-style ethnic patchwork. Especially historically DC had a lot of cultural influence from the US South (including, critically in the migration context and as you alluded to in New Orleans—zealous anti-Catholic sentiment. There historically are not many Catholics in the South, literally because of terrorist threats against them.)

My main point isn’t to explore in-depth how this developed, but rather to illustrate the way that explicitly-racialized patterns of poverty and privilege are much more apparent in DC, despite it being one of the nation’s most diverse. I think it also explains a lot of national political trends. I truly think most people in DC have only a superficial understanding of the extent of white poverty in the United States, and the McLean and Potomac types are just about the most privileged people in the entire world. It ain’t like that back home, or in much of the country. White people around DC will acknowledge this to some extent, but I don’t think they’re truly aware. The result is a national race and class narrative that is disproportionately influenced by the existing divides in the DMV, while simultaneously tonedeaf in terms of their own contributions toward upholding or benefitting from these inequalities.

I mean DC ran on slavery right up until the war, so much less of a white working class than comparable Northeast and Midwest, but it was certainly still present. Swampoodle (NoMA today) has a pretty well documented history of white working class settlement. In terms of the working class overall, large portions of the city saw the removal of small, affordable alley homes in 20th century urban renewal schemes. Not only did this erase naturally-affordable housing in dynamic, mixed-income areas, it also shifted the geography of poverty such that it became concentrated in the new top-down housing projects that were built in their place. Most of the poor whites gtfo’ed after this happened (the King riots basically closing the door completely).

I’m from the Rust Belt so it was a huge culture shock for me. The black culture in DC is richer (both financially and culturally) but otherwise not substantially different from my hometown. The white people in each city though live in completely different worlds.

White DC leads the nation in ‘talking the talk but not walking the walk.’ Only the Bay Area comes close.

Lol from experience avoid the lawyers. A litigious ex is an absolute nightmare.

Your parents owned land in the right place at the right time (the profiteers of the CoL crisis). Just a guess, but your economic worldview would certainly suggest a privileged upbringing. It’s not like you’ve done anything inherently wrong, but referring to $3Mn home prices as ‘nice’ is simply the most out-of-touch thing I’ve heard in quite some time. Shows which side of $3Mn you/your family is on, the other 99% of us will never have that privilege.

Sorry the rest of us don’t have $3Mn laying around. But how dare I ask you to contemplate your role in this.

I’ve lived in several cities and never seen a place that was as hypocritical as DC. It’s the most partisan jurisdiction in the United States, and there’s always all this high-minded rhetoric (performative), but then people are extremely reactionary to crime and homelessness. Every white person I’ve ever met in the District is a nakedly-ambitious socio-political chameleon from a comfortable upper-middle class upbringing. Like there is literally not a working class white neighborhood anywhere in the DMV. It’s caused me to resent many people here.

Houses going for $3Mn is the polar opposite of ‘nice’

The cost of living crisis is 100% exacerbating thr underlying issues of poverty, nihilism, and mental health.

I am a strong proponent for left-wing gun ownership. Game theory, homie.

Stay classy, bud.

Fuck gated communities. We literally don’t want people like you here, stop living in fear.

Is this a good use of taxpayer dollars?

Trains everywhere. To the point where people would laugh at you for being unreasonable if you were to suggest driving anywhere in the metro area

The answer is simple—you boot the car if tickets aren’t paid. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

New Yorker - Is Noise Pollution the Next Public Health Crisis?

Worth a read, with lessons from Paris (which has been incredibly innovative on reducing the disruption to urban life caused by motorists). Turns out it’s pretty bad for you to constantly be in a subconscious state of fight-or-flight almost every hour of the day.

I’ve heard that Camden, as rough as it’s gotten, is making genuine progress. Declining crime, job growth, etc. granted it’s a long uphill climb, but you at least hear about things starting to happen in Camden. I never hear anything positive about Chester

Fucking sad man. Those people deserve better

Karachi? No.

Peshawar? Villages? I’ll take my chances in Chester

The thing is that Chester once housed the poor, the rich and everything in between. I live in Pittsburgh, I know it takes years off my life but I do it anyway. We are all stakeholders in this here commonwealth. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Especially when you consider that like 10 Mn Pakistanis would give their left nut to have a home in Chester.

Thanks for your response. I had never heard of Widener before today but it sounds like they’re a real anchor in an otherwise suffering community. The potential is so clear to me, but the challenges are really intense.

Oh jeez exactly what that community needs

Yeah I knew about the enormous refinery complex next door in Marcus Hook, but wasn’t aware of the incinerator. Definitely isn’t helping matters. Does Chester at least get some money out of it? Are any civically-minded folks at the county level doing much to help Chester out or is it kind of an unspoken continuation of the status quo?

Whoa, I had no idea. 35,000 is A LOT of people. Did they tear everything down or are there at least cool industrial ruins to check out?