The Mount Pleasant business strip has become predominantly Latino, with a multitude of mercados, ristorantes, beauty shops, and other
services. A number of "Anglo", African-American, and Asian businesses are mixed in, creating a marvelously exotic mix. As one charmed
resident said, who needs to go to Central America, when we have this bit of El Salvador right here? Practice your Spanish! There are some residents who would prefer a more "civilized" Mount Pleasant Street. ("Mount Unpleasant Street", they call it.) Some residents want our neighborhood to be merely an eastern extension of Cleveland Park, sort of a residential suburb of that high-income Ward Three area. It's true, some of the men hanging about on the street can be unpleasant, and we will continue to work on solutions to that problem. But let's not make Mount Pleasant Street into a boring imitation of Connecticut Avenue. More about Mount Pleasant |
But not for one moment through all those difficult years did we ever regret choosing this neighborhood for our lifetime home. DC North, a monthly magazine for "north DC", wrote up this about me; I blush in embarrassment! |
While Mount Pleasant is well along the "gentrification" path, the 14th Street corridor of Columbia Heights is just struggling back to life, after decades of neglect following the terrible riots of April, 1968. The stretch between Euclid Street and Spring Road remains grimy, but the future is close at hand, with major new developments under way between Irving Street and Park Road. This photo shows the 7-11 at the corner of Columbia Road and 14th Street. This is the "old" 14th Street, a charmless spot, troubled by bands of teenagers who consider being disruptive great entertainment. Profound changes are coming, but what will the "new" 14th Street be like?More about Columbia Heights |
The two neighborhoods of Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights
are coupled by numerous cross streets -- Columbia Road, Harvard,
Irving, Park Road, Monroe, and Newton -- connecting the two neighborhoods. Pedestrians
cross at those streets, and at Lamont, and Spring Road, as well. We share the same problems
of gentrification, escalating property values, displacement of low-income people,
troublesome youth gangs, crime, traffic, and divisions of ethnicity, language, race,
and class. Mount Pleasant residents now routinely go to Columbia Heights, if only
to reach the Metro station. A significant number of Columbia Heights residents send
their children to Mount Pleasant's Bancroft Elementary. We all agree, I think, on
goals, namely improving our neighborhoods without turning them into enclaves
affordable only to the prosperous. |
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