A look at what's going on in Trinidad, on H Street, and in the larger area north of Capitol Hill.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Architecture News -Bowling Alone in the City
Check out this short piece that looks at whether urban living, rather than suburban life, leads to individual isolation.
19 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Interesting, but it's easy to over-interpret Putnam as establishing a linear relationship between density and isolation. Obviously, the poorest, highest density tracts will be most isolated, especially if the residents are elderly, as is often the case. But it's a huge leap to then say cities are less socially cohesive than suburbs, and in fact, that's probably wrong.
I've noticed that in DC, the most dense neighborhoods (Dupont, Downtown, etc, are more isolating than Cap Hill, Trinidad, etc. My friends in Dupont don't know ANY of their neighbors- perhaps because there are so MANY of them, and they probably have higher turnover rares due to the high # of rentals.
Not so in Cap Hill and Trinidad. We know lots of our neighbors, don't we?
In E.B. White's classic essay "This is New York," he writes about how the anonymity of living in a large city affords a sort of privacy that can't be had in a small town. Perhaps there is a fine line between privacy and isolation.
I moved to the Hill at the turn of the New Year from Reston. One thing I've commented to several of my neighbors whom I've met is that I actually know my neighbors here. In Reston, I lived in a eight unit condo building and only sorta knew one neighbor (crazy old lady next door). Here, I know almost everyone on both sides of the street and have been over to several people's houses and hosted evenings at my place. That's not to say that any of my new neighbors on the Hill are my new BFF, but I feel like I actually 'know' my neighbors more in the city than I did in the 'burbs.
I'd agree with the gist of these comments - that the level of density you have on the Hill and up through Trinidad offers a good opportunity to know a lot of your neighbors. I also know people in areas like Dupont and Columbia Heights that only know a few people on their block, whereas I know most of mine and people on adjacent streets. My friends in the suburbs know hardly any of their neighbors.
i think it depends on the area. as has been posted, a lot of folks i know on the hill are pretty social on their block. i might not know people around the corner but on the two sides of my street for a block, i know pretty much every face and quite a few names. i've hung out with most of my neighbors within four houses on either side of the street. the further away the house from mine, the less i know folks though.
but when i was on 16th street in an apartment building, i only knew a handful of people, mostly people i met outside the building...
Just to give a counter-example: my parents have lived in the same house in the greater Aspen Hill - Rockville area since 1976. The only interaction they've had with their neighbors "at the back fence" came when I was trimming the back hedges one day, and my neighbor of 20 some-odd years came over to say, "Welcome to the neighborhood! Say, it sure is good to have some normal people move into the neighborhood!"
So, yeah, "suburbs super-duper socially cohesive" not so much.
Yes, on the Hill, it's very easy to get to know your neighbors. But we also got to know our neighbors in Dupont. When I lived in South Florida, not so much. And that's one giant suburb.
The other difference: you also get to know various shopkeepers, and even bus drivers, in the city, because you go to smaller venues.
he makes a pretty valid argument. historically, small towns have been extremely close knit & cities had a reputation for being alienating. i think this reversed a bit when the modern suburbs became a haven for the terrified middle class.
it seems that a lot of people moving into the city are trying to impose their suburban way of life onto the long neglected landscape of the city.
"he makes a pretty valid argument. historically, small towns have been extremely close knit & cities had a reputation for being alienating."
That's true for the majority.
But in America small towns have been anything but close-knit for gay people, ethnic minorities (except I guess in their own communities), people that weren't Christian, etc.
I'll take the cold anonymity of the city anyday over some overzealous small town person messing with me because I'm gay or I don't go to the same church as he does.
That old view has changed quite a bit in recent years. I'm sortof astonished at how gays are now accepted (at least to your face) in many small town areas.
And even the supposed tolerance of the big city ain't always true. I've been called a 'faggot' more times in DC (mostly by the local black population) than I ever was in small town America. Of course, in fairness to a bigoted local DC crowd, I'm probably a lot gayer in DC than I am elsewhere.
And, of course, there is the black on white racism in DC.
But I guess for the most part the religious pluralism thing holds true for DC.
"Of course, in fairness to a bigoted local DC crowd, I'm probably a lot gayer in DC than I am elsewhere."
I loled when I saw this.
I lived in cities all my life first in NY and now here, and I can speak to the level of isolation that comes with living in a city. I enjoy it myself, but my wife from DE used to hate doing things outside here alone. Go figure.
I used to live in Delaware and I definitely feel a lot more isolated than I did there.
Everybody here just seems too busy to do anything fun. It was laid back in Delaware (at least where I lived) but here I feel like I can't be myself. I don't know if that's DC specific or a generically urban thing though.
One thing I forgot to mention in my previous comment is that even though I feel more isolated I have a much bigger sense of belonging and pride in DC. I get upset when people talk about DC in a negative way. I keep a lot more up to date on what's going on here than I did in Delaware.
All in all DC is awesome. I can truly say I love it (even when I am cussing it and saying the opposite).
19 comments:
Interesting, but it's easy to over-interpret Putnam as establishing a linear relationship between density and isolation. Obviously, the poorest, highest density tracts will be most isolated, especially if the residents are elderly, as is often the case. But it's a huge leap to then say cities are less socially cohesive than suburbs, and in fact, that's probably wrong.
I've noticed that in DC, the most dense neighborhoods (Dupont, Downtown, etc, are more isolating than Cap Hill, Trinidad, etc. My friends in Dupont don't know ANY of their neighbors- perhaps because there are so MANY of them, and they probably have higher turnover rares due to the high # of rentals.
Not so in Cap Hill and Trinidad. We know lots of our neighbors, don't we?
In E.B. White's classic essay "This is New York," he writes about how the anonymity of living in a large city affords a sort of privacy that can't be had in a small town. Perhaps there is a fine line between privacy and isolation.
I moved to the Hill at the turn of the New Year from Reston. One thing I've commented to several of my neighbors whom I've met is that I actually know my neighbors here. In Reston, I lived in a eight unit condo building and only sorta knew one neighbor (crazy old lady next door). Here, I know almost everyone on both sides of the street and have been over to several people's houses and hosted evenings at my place. That's not to say that any of my new neighbors on the Hill are my new BFF, but I feel like I actually 'know' my neighbors more in the city than I did in the 'burbs.
I'd agree with the gist of these comments - that the level of density you have on the Hill and up through Trinidad offers a good opportunity to know a lot of your neighbors. I also know people in areas like Dupont and Columbia Heights that only know a few people on their block, whereas I know most of mine and people on adjacent streets. My friends in the suburbs know hardly any of their neighbors.
You always know the nutcases on the block.
And the hotties.
i think it depends on the area. as has been posted, a lot of folks i know on the hill are pretty social on their block. i might not know people around the corner but on the two sides of my street for a block, i know pretty much every face and quite a few names. i've hung out with most of my neighbors within four houses on either side of the street. the further away the house from mine, the less i know folks though.
but when i was on 16th street in an apartment building, i only knew a handful of people, mostly people i met outside the building...
Just to give a counter-example: my parents have lived in the same house in the greater Aspen Hill - Rockville area since 1976. The only interaction they've had with their neighbors "at the back fence" came when I was trimming the back hedges one day, and my neighbor of 20 some-odd years came over to say, "Welcome to the neighborhood! Say, it sure is good to have some normal people move into the neighborhood!"
So, yeah, "suburbs super-duper socially cohesive" not so much.
everybody knows the guy that knows the nutcases, the hotties, and what cars they drive.
..and even if we don't know our neighbor's name, at least we know their dog's name.
Yes, on the Hill, it's very easy to get to know your neighbors. But we also got to know our neighbors in Dupont. When I lived in South Florida, not so much. And that's one giant suburb.
The other difference: you also get to know various shopkeepers, and even bus drivers, in the city, because you go to smaller venues.
he makes a pretty valid argument. historically, small towns have been extremely close knit & cities had a reputation for being alienating. i think this reversed a bit when the modern suburbs became a haven for the terrified middle class.
it seems that a lot of people moving into the city are trying to impose their suburban way of life onto the long neglected landscape of the city.
"he makes a pretty valid argument. historically, small towns have been extremely close knit & cities had a reputation for being alienating."
That's true for the majority.
But in America small towns have been anything but close-knit for gay people, ethnic minorities (except I guess in their own communities), people that weren't Christian, etc.
I'll take the cold anonymity of the city anyday over some overzealous small town person messing with me because I'm gay or I don't go to the same church as he does.
That old view has changed quite a bit in recent years. I'm sortof astonished at how gays are now accepted (at least to your face) in many small town areas.
And even the supposed tolerance of the big city ain't always true. I've been called a 'faggot' more times in DC (mostly by the local black population) than I ever was in small town America. Of course, in fairness to a bigoted local DC crowd, I'm probably a lot gayer in DC than I am elsewhere.
And, of course, there is the black on white racism in DC.
But I guess for the most part the religious pluralism thing holds true for DC.
So one out of three ain't bad?
is dc considered a "big city"?
are our low-rise neighborhoods considered "urban"?
"Of course, in fairness to a bigoted local DC crowd, I'm probably a lot gayer in DC than I am elsewhere."
I loled when I saw this.
I lived in cities all my life first in NY and now here, and I can speak to the level of isolation that comes with living in a city. I enjoy it myself, but my wife from DE used to hate doing things outside here alone. Go figure.
I used to live in Delaware and I definitely feel a lot more isolated than I did there.
Everybody here just seems too busy to do anything fun. It was laid back in Delaware (at least where I lived) but here I feel like I can't be myself. I don't know if that's DC specific or a generically urban thing though.
One thing I forgot to mention in my previous comment is that even though I feel more isolated I have a much bigger sense of belonging and pride in DC. I get upset when people talk about DC in a negative way. I keep a lot more up to date on what's going on here than I did in Delaware.
All in all DC is awesome. I can truly say I love it (even when I am cussing it and saying the opposite).
Someone needs to have a gay social night over in our area. There are enough of us where I think there would be a good turn out...
Anyone up for setting this up? Not I, but I will show up....
Richard Carson is hardly a great source. He lives in Vancouver, WA and is a constant critic of the planning paradigm in Portland.
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