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Uptown is considered everything past Howard University north in N.W. D.C. Across the park in Tenleytown, Cleveland park all the way up to the line is usually referred to as upper N.W. Most people from S.E., N.E. and S.W. consider all of N.W. uptown. The worst neighborhoods in D.C. were 16th and W st in S.E. which was the murder capital of S.E., the Clifton terrace area including 14th and W st which was the murder capital of N.W., and the Rosedale area off of Benning rd in N.E.
Correct! Also don't forget Trinidad, Orleans Place and Morton Place off of Florida Ave, NE. It was one of the largest open air drug markets on the east coast, controlled by Rayful Edmonds.
My younger brother is in his early 20s and lives near Baltimore and I pointed out to him that DC in the Marion Barry era was just as bad if not worse than Baltimore and he refused to believe me. I'm not too much older but I vaguely remember how much worse DC was in those days. I remember anytime my parents drove thru DC, half the houses would be boarded up and everything looked rundown everywhere except Georgetown and NW.
What areas were way worse and more crime filled than they are now? In what neighborhoods did gentrification start when Mayor Williams came in? What neighborhoods were fairly safe and prosperous back then?
I had an argument with a co-worker from Baltimore and had to explain to her that New Orleans had a higher murder rate than Baltimore and she didnt believe me. Anyway if DC was worse than N.O in the 80's and 90's than it def was worse than Baltimore. Looking at the history, Baltimore had at the most 353 murders in 1993 with a higher population. DC averaged over 400 many times in the 90's, and didnt fall below 300 until 1997. A poster named FACTCHECKERDUDE summed this all up in a previous post that said from 1989-2009 DC's murder rate was 52/100k which was number 2 behind New Orleans 59/100k. Then follows Detroit, St. Louis, Baltimore, Atlanta
Some of the catalysts that really spearheaded the transformation of run-down neighborhoods were:
* at 14th and U Streets which had been REALLY skid-row, "crime central", in the mid or late 80's the D.C. govt. boldly opened the big Reeves Center office building. Live theaters soon followed.
* the opening in, I think 1997, of the Verizon Center in Chinatown, and the Spy Museum, really transformed that neighborhood into a mini Times Square. The area was not dangerous, as much as just shabby and below its potential, following the closure of nearby department stores in the 1980s.
* More recently, the opening of the Nationals Baseball Stadium at South Capitol and M has caused a construction boom in the Navy Yard area.
* the opening of a red-line metro station in the NOMA area has contributed to new condo's and offices going up there.
My theory is also that the 14th street porno district may have begun partly due to the old Greyhound and Trailways bus stations being nearby, which carried soldiers/sailers and other transients. Now the station has moved to First Street N.E.
Good points.
IMHO the transformation of 14th & U has been the most profound metamorphosis in DC in my lifetime. That place was synonymous with urban devastation. Hookers, addicts, and muggers all crawling around the torched ruins from the 68 riots.
Interesting theory on the porno zone. I wonder if the DC government helped push it out as did RG up in NYC?
IMHO the transformation of 14th & U has been the most profound metamorphosis in DC in my lifetime. That place was synonymous with urban devastation. Hookers, addicts, and muggers all crawling around the torched ruins from the 68 riots.
Interesting theory on the porno zone. I wonder if the DC government helped push it out as did RG up in NYC?
Do any of you remember DC vice squad detectives rounding up over 24 hookers on K street and marching them across the 14th Street Bridge?
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i’m writing a book about D.C. in the 90s
