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Yeah it's the elitist attitude that I've noticed taking over the city a while ago. People come here thinking they're ish dont stink and they're better than everyone else. It's definitely a certain undertone to the entire thing. The comments in the post article make me laugh.
And that's the other problem. So far, I can see if they were turning these buildings where several people eat,sleep, and breathe in daily to turn it into something important. But all they're going to most likely do is either A) Tear down the PCS building to build more luxury condos or B) Turn the space into another Cava or Shake Shack.
I just don't understand how you move into a neighborhood that you KNOW people congregate at daily, you don't scope out the area to see what life is like there before signing to buy it, yet when you move in, you're entitled to create a new way of living because you don't like something. These are the same people who brag about moving to DC to "be around culture" yet complain about culture they don't like.
I think the elephant in the room is that the culture (it's probably been mentioned a million times) is dominated by black people so some new DC gentrifiers don't like that fact. As I said in my other post, you'll never hear gentrifiers from other major cities (NYC, la, Chicago, Boston, sf) pulling off a stunt like that because the culture isn't so much dominated by black people along with the industries that some dominate those cities. DC is known to be very risk averse so we attract those types of gentrifiers.
It's a sad, f*"&$ed up reality so I'm not sure what could change that attitude. And ironically, these are the same people that complain that DC has no culture. but then try to erase whatever little organic culture is left through litigious passive means. Ugh, DC makes me mad sometimes.
I think the elephant in the room is that the culture (it's probably been mentioned a million times) is dominated by black people so some new DC gentrifiers don't like that fact. As I said in my other post, you'll never hear gentrifiers from other major cities (NYC, la, Chicago, Boston, sf) pulling off a stunt like that because the culture isn't so much dominated by black people along with the industries that some dominate those cities. DC is known to be very risk averse so we attract those types of gentrifiers.
It's a sad, f*"&$ed up reality so I'm not sure what could change that attitude. And ironically, these are the same people that complain that DC has no culture. but then try to erase whatever little organic culture is left through litigious passive means. Ugh, DC makes me mad sometimes.
You're exactly right. I always think it's funny when someone tells me they moved to DC for culture then get mad about go-go music playing loudly but brag about moving near "historic U Street" and Howard for their "diversity". It's more like a pat on the back to them that they did something new instead of them actually caring about culture.
I haven't met anyone who get mad about the go-go directly, but I have seen gentrifiers scoff at certain areas of DC because they're "ghetto" (NE DC) when in reality, they are just more "black" neighborhoods.
I feel like this go-go thing is going to be the beginning of something bigger soon.
We always hear about music when it comes to DC culture but what else is being lost? Sounds like DC is turning into one of those cities being ran over by White suburban Midwesterners, like they always complain about in the New York forum.
We always hear about music when it comes to DC culture but what else is being lost? Sounds like DC is turning into one of those cities being ran over by White suburban Midwesterners, like they always complain about in the New York forum.
But I doubt NYC gentrifiers are complaining about the culture that is already there. They actually embrace it from what I see compared to DC gentrifiers.
Whether its a white or mixed working class or lower middle class neighborhood or a black neighborhood thats being gentrified, gentrifiers always end up imposing their own culture on it. Its just what happens. DC’s case is particularly stark though because its almost entirely transplant driven (and thus especially generic and corporate) and very visible due to the racial difference between that crowd and the one they replace. All of those factors exist in NY, LA or Chicago as well but not quite to the same extent. DC is a place of white newcomers and black locals, its not quite like that in most other gentrifying cities where theres also deep rooted white communities affected by gentrification.
I for one agree that there are a ton of mid-westerners moving in. Also people from the west coast. But I don't agree with what the new residents have done. They knew that music was playing when they moved into the neighborhood. I'm familiar with that corner. I think all DC residents are. I was never bothered by it. But of course, I'm a native.
It is sad that people who have never lived on that corner can shut it down.
But I doubt NYC gentrifiers are complaining about the culture that is already there. They actually embrace it from what I see compared to DC gentrifiers.
gentrifiers always end up imposing their own culture on it.
In DC I’m not sure what this NEW culture actually is unless your talking brunch, happy hours, soul cycling and small plates. In Brooklyn which was historically black and Puerto Rican the gentrifiers added a hipster culture to Brooklyn, I used to live in New Orleans and I can tell you the gentrifiers added to the already laid back, eclectic and quirky culture of the city, even in Philly where I’m trying to move to the gentrifiers have a hipster/punk/hippie culture depending on the neighborhood which has added to the culture to the City but I honestly can’t put a finger on this NEW culture that people say is emerging in DC.
Not so sure that gentrifiers in other cities care too much about the existing culture there either, though I'd agree the way they disregard it is more extreme in DC.
As far as midwest white kids overrunning everything...they need to stay where the f they come from. Imagine if they stayed home and built up what's there (or rebuilt, since many midwest cities have been thoroughly hollowed out). Maybe then they wouldn't need to flee elsewhere.
In DC I’m not sure what this NEW culture actually is unless your talking brunch, happy hours, soul cycling and small plates. In Brooklyn which was historically black and Puerto Rican the gentrifiers added a hipster culture to Brooklyn, I used to live in New Orleans and I can tell you the gentrifiers added to the already laid back, eclectic and quirky culture of the city, even in Philly where I’m trying to move to the gentrifiers have a hipster/punk/hippie culture depending on the neighborhood which has added to the culture to the City but I honestly can’t put a finger on this NEW culture that people say is emerging in DC.
I've noticed this too. When I visit NYC, yeah areas like Brooklyn are gentrified, but it's still has its own thing. I think that the gentrifyers killed Harlem, though.
I agree about the NEW culture. To me, it's just making everything being "trendy" or Instagram friendly. A bunch of brunch places (I seriously never heard of brunch until 2011), happy hours, Orange Theory and Soul Cycle on every corner, and Shake Shacks on every corner. But besides that, I can't figure out what's so special about the new vibe. I will say DC is nicer and crime is down, but there's nothing now that will want me to keep living in DC anymore besides my job being there.
Don't get me wrong, I still like DC. But my desire to live here is diminishing every year.
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