Gentrification

This is my neighborhood. I've lived here for, what, three and a half years now? And in that time, I have seen dramatic change. But that change has really accelerated in the last year or so. Just last night, coming home from work, I was walking down the sidewalk in front of the about-to-open Target, and was struck by how intensely different the neighborhood is than it was when we moved in. From where I was standing, I could see no less than five brand new (or extensively renovated) buildings. (On the little map that the article gives, I'm just off on the fuzzy right edge of things, at 13th and Monroe.)

I have mixed feelings about this gentrification. I am sometimes irritated at the number of BMWs I see on the street these days, and often think, "What the heck are they doing here?" I think it's terrible that people who have lived in this neighborhood for decades, maybe their whole lives, have been forced out by rising costs. I mourn the increasingly scarce parking, as condos go up and people with more cars (not all BMWs) move in. I worry that some of the smaller businesses that I like may not be able to compete with the new chains coming in, and rob the neighborhood of its character. I am concerned that the changes overall are making the neighborhood less diverse. And I am painfully aware that living on a border like this, where the rich are pushing the poor out, puts me at the "epicenter of crime" for DC.

But I also love the new grocery store just two blocks from my apartment. I am delighted by the fact that there are three really good independent coffee shops within a two-block radius of my place (and go one block further if you really, for some reason, want a Starbucks). I am hopeful that these changes will mean that the old crack dealer's place next to mine will soon be sold, and renovated. Maybe there will be a little less trash in my front yard. The article points out that this is far better than the desolation that the 60s riots left behind. And I predict that I will be shopping at Target within a week of its opening.

I think, on balance, that I like the changes. But I feel a bit confused, and sometimes like a bit of a hypocrite. And maybe it's just life, but it's weird to feel like you've moved to an entirely different neighborhood, when really, it's just that the neighborhood's completely changed, around you.

Recipes: dhal and curry

Tonight, dinner is dhal, a chickpea-okra curry, rice, and some homemade chutney. arvedui, I thought you'd like to have these recipes, and maybe someone else would too.
( Dhal )

( Chickpea Curry )

If the chutney-thing turns out - it's mostly mango & apricot, with a bunch of other things in it - I'll share what I can of the "recipe", or maybe I'll just give you my mom's recipe that I very loosely based it on.