Thanks for Publishing my Photo, Planet Forward, in Ivy City, Washington, DC USA: At the corner of development and gentrification

2017.03.19 Ivy City, Washington, DC USA 01737
2017.03.19 Ivy City, Washington, DC USA 01737 (View on Flickr.com)

Thanks for publishing my photograph, @Planet_Forward, in this piece written by Connor Nash, from Towson University.

Nash traces the history of Ivy City, in Washington, DC and its future redevelopment plans. The photograph above was taken at the back door of the Murray Hill Club – “backstage” as it were, to changes coming (always go behind the scenes).

I also grabbed a photo of the curiosity that I noticed at the time, which I now understand is the focus of significant dialogue, Crummell School:

2017.03.19 Ivy City, Washington, DC USA 01683
2017.03.19 Ivy City, Washington, DC USA 01683 (View on Flickr.com)

..in the context of a whole lot of changes that are visible in Ivy City today. See the photographs at the bottom of this post.

There’s an interesting quote from Chris Leinberger (@ChrisLeinberger), where he says

“The research shows that gentrified neighborhoods actually have less displacement than non-gentrified neighborhoods because they want to hang around, things have gotten better, why leave?”

I’m a fan of Chris’ work (and have posted on this blog about it previously), and at the same time, I’m not sure this experience has been borne out in a more advanced neighborhood redevelopment in the Shaw neighborhood, as covered in depth in Derek Hyra’s (@DerekHyra) book:

Thoughts and photos from the gilded ghetto | Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City, by Derek Hyra

Thanks to Connor’s scholarship, I took the time to look up the proposal that’s moving forward, from Ivy City Partners, Ivy City Partners – Crummell School Site Community Presentation | dmped, and a competing one that did not get selected, from Empower DC, Friends of Crummell School – Save Crummell. Review them for yourself, read the article, and see what you think.

The learning for me in this dialogue is that the growth and development of our society is never over. If people reminisce about times when their neighborhood was not so livable, it’s easy, in Washington, DC, to walk a few blocks and try things all over again.

I’m also here to support college scholarship and journalism, which is what Planet Forward does:

Planet Forward, a project of the Center for Innovative Media at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, teaches, celebrates, and rewards environmental storytelling by college students. It is the premier engagement tool for GW’s many sustainability initiatives.

It’s why we’re here, in the learning lab for the nation and world, in Washington, DC. Thanks for the exposure and for the exposure 🙂 .

The Crummell school in the Ivy City neighborhood in Washington, D.C. has decayed over time, turning it into a vacant plot of land. This article dives into the environmental, social, and political struggles to change the school for the better.Source: Ivy City: At the corner of development and gentrification

Ted Eytan, MD