Another reason why Barry Farm (re)Mixed is my favorite blog: "G" is for Gentrifier

If you are not following Barry Farm (re)Mixed you should be. It's a great blog and the writer is very insightful and I strongly suspect much smarter than me (or is that "I") lol.  Here's an excerpt and link to her really insightful article on that dreaded  of all "G" words - gentrification.

Five years ago, shortly after moving from Atlanta to DC, I bought a small condo off of Martin Luther King Jr Avenue. It is just south of the booming development at "The Front" in Navy Yard: fancy condos starting at $300,000 a pop, just west of Historic Anacostia and just east of St. Elizabeth’s Campus, soon to be home to the US Coast Guard and Homeland Security. Some would say, that I am smack at the epicenter of the gentrification of Washington D.C.’s south side. But does that make me a gentrifier?

My home is modest: a one bedroom den with a small kitchen, but if I crane my neck, it has awesome views of the District’s skyline. On July 4th, I can watch fireworks all over the city—from Alexandria to the Cathedral to southern Maryland—from my parking lot. I am proud. I own something, like my parents before me.

Years prior to moving to DC, I counted pennies and lived in crappy apartments so one day I could buy a home. You see, even for folks with “good” jobs, property ownership in expensive cities like Washington DC, is elusive. So, in my opinion, I worked hard for this little place.

I am not, a six-figure-earning yuppie. The residents of my condo association, which include three mid-level garden style buildings, are a mix of up-and-coming professionals, working class families, and some retirees. The population is mostly black, but also brown, white, and Asian.

And even though many of my fellow “gentrifiers” share skin color with the long-standing residents of our neighborhood, cohabitation is uneasy.

Go HERE to continue reading.
 
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