Who’s Up for Some Suburban Exploring?
On my first day at the City Paper, I went out to lunch with a few staffers. It took about five minutes for them to start debating the suburb/city divide. Wasn’t much of a debate, actually—three of the four were bashing the suburbs, and the one guy who didn’t live in the District kept that piece of information to himself until the check came.
The divide is new for me: I moved from what is essentially a giant suburb. But since I got here, it’s come up again and again. When I found a place, ex-D.C.ers told me the neighborhood was dangerous. My roommate broke up with a girlfriend because she lived in Virginia. Even the Post can’t seem to bridge the gap.
And now, the Atlantic has weighed in:
[A]s more Americans, particularly affluent Americans, move into urban communities, families may find that some of the suburbs’ other big advantages—better schools and safer communities—have eroded. Schooling and safety are likely to improve in urban areas, as those areas continue to gentrify; they may worsen in many suburbs if the tax base—often highly dependent on house values and new development—deteriorates. Many of the fringe counties in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, for instance, are projecting big budget deficits in 2008. Only Washington itself is expecting a large surplus. Fifteen years ago, this budget situation was reversed.
Christopher B. Leinberger's story is called “The Next Slum?”—I imagine the anti-suburb contingent will find it dreamy. Until, of course, they have to move into McMansions because they can’t afford rent on that studio any longer.
Photo by dospaz
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11:19 pm
One would do well to consider how housing trends in and around Washington, D.C. mirror those of the city it was modeled on---Paris, France, whose suburbs are notoriously dangerous.
12:03 am
DC compared to Paris? This "world class shitty" drivel again? You and everyone else waiting will be worm-food before DC is even close to anything like that.
12:53 am
One also should consider, as is the case with Paris, there is a specific reason certain areas of D.C. and suburbs are dangerous: minorities of non-European descent. In Paris it is the Muslims and Africans who riot and commit violent acts of crime, whereas here it is African Americans and Hispanics. And no this is not a racist diatribe, I'm merely stating the facts.
11:07 am
maybe, food for thought... you would also like to merely state other facts about why the non europeans are on the outskirts and the continued economic violence of europeans towards them in both france and here.
oh I guess you want to get into a diatribe about it and make white supremacy sound "rational". dont have time for it.
I will say at least you helped expose the latent negrophopia that justin displays frequently without his knowledge