I spent last weekend giving tours of my house in an event to rent out one of the other rooms. As part of the interview I would ask people what, if anything, they knew about the neighborhood. I definitely feel a need to address the issue knowing, in years past, of a few instances where tenants move into nearby group houses only to break their leases either after a week of walking from the bus stop at night, or after noticing the derth of neaby entertainment options. A good number of people I asked had heard that H Street was coming back, but none really new specifics.
On Saturday I met with a friend (who lives south of H Street) at R&B to discuss how my search was going. We also talked about a recent brea-in she and her housemates had experienced. The break-in was the second in a month at their place (the first happened while some residents were asleep), and it really had them spooked because the intruder had obviousbly spent time going through their things, in addition to robbing them. That, and he had also, um...defecated on a futon in the livingroom. So the house is breaking up. Some people are staying, others looking for other housing on the Hill, and one seeking a "safer" neighborhood.
After we finished our coffee we walked down H to about 11th and were saying our goodbyes and walking apart when a middle-aged African American male walking by turned to my friend and in the most unpleasant tone he could muster spat out "Yeah, have a nice day WHITE GIRL." (I think he said he said "girl"). It 's not like that's the first time that's happened, but it might be hard to pick a worse time for it to happen.
After that I countinued down H where I passed a man (this guy was not homeless) deciding to turn the parking lot of the H Street Connection into his own personal toilet (and I'll bet he wasn't coming from any bar). Heading home, I turned off H and stopped in the corner store. The man in the line next to me was causing a scene because he wanted to pay $1.25 for his malt liquor instead of the $1.75 asking price. Saturday was not showing my neighborhood in its finest moments.
On Sunday I showed the house again, and I ended up taking one girl (currently a resident of Foggy Bottom) down H Street to R&B Coffee. At the time, the place was really busy (it seemed to have a large crowd from the Atlas). The whole space just seemed really alive with this great energy. I'm very excited to know that these are only the early effects of the Atlas. We split a pannini and the girl seemed genuinely impressed by R&B. H Street was looking pretty good. The rest of the afternoon was even better. I've always liked that most people in this neighborhood are very friendly. They will make eye contact and say "hi" when people in other neighborhoods just look at the street and walk by. And when I was back on H Street a couple of hours later I saw Alphonso Morgan, the owner of R&B run out and yell at a guy across the street (again clearly not homeless! I saw his car, and I should have checked the tags. I'll bet they were Maryland) who was about to urinate on a building. I was so pleased, I could almost ignore the pile of junk that kept growing outside The Salvation Army Store all afternoon.
6 comments:
POWERFUL!
Great posting about H street and perceptions.
When renting out my room it was difficult because all sorts would call in and based on a short phone interview I could sometimes tell when it would be a waste of mine and their time to come out and look at it. I'm talking about fresh outta college kids from suburbia, never lived in a large city or moderate sized city, with no clue that locking the doors is manditory...
I'm glad to see that you have lived in the area long enough to blame bad things/behavior on Maryland residents. The first thing my kids learned when we moved here (from a much larger city) was to check the tags on any car that shot through a red light, failed to stop at a stop sign, drove too fast down a residential street etc. Unfortunately, their view of Maryland drivers was confirmed when a car doing 55 rammed into us on 4th St. (We were driving the legal speed limit and this guy came up fast behind us and just continued to drive at 55!) Since no one was injured (unless you count my ancient car -- totaled) we laugh about it.
H Street has a lot going for it, and I definitely see a bright future ahead. At the same time, we've got a lot of issues we still need to deal with.
The roommate searchs in neighborhoods like this one are complicated. People need to understand they aren't moving to Tenley Town (but then, I'd never want to live there). There are real dangers out there. At the same time, I really wanted to find someone who, rather than living in fear, or looking down on my neighborhood, could see the good points and the potential. I wanted to find someone who would interact with their surroundings (outside the house).
And the Maryland thing...I don't always blame stuff on Marylanders, but I suspect this guy was visiting from PG county. Maybe just because I have a hard time understanding why anyone would intentionally foul his own neighborhood (but then I don't really get peeing on the street when you could easily go into a business).
Hmm. Quite a post. I do think that new residents are targeted. It's part of an updating of the "defended neighborhood" thesis. However, living that change is difficult and there are a lot of painful losses (my marriage for one) that often occur.
This is very interesting. So, two years have passed. How are things there now? What do you think will happen as real estate slows?
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