Median income and unemployment numbers are drastically different from one quadrant to the next. The results are visible in the homes and businesses that occupy 30th and M Streets in southeast and northwest D.C.
At 30th and M Streets in Northwest on any given day, you will find well-clad shoppers, hands loaded with bags and $4 lattes. They stroll down Georgetown's brick sidewalks with Christmas wreaths or potted plants adorning the street lights. What about 30th and M Streets in Southeast? M Street and 30th Street, SE meet at an intersection with Minnesota Avenue in a neighborhood known as Dupont Park. A used auto parts store and a small corner grocery with security grates over its windows sit nearby. M Street Southeast is residential, homes sit on a hillside. Some front yards are impeccable and the homes are tidy. Others have collapsing awnings, overgrown yards and rusting vehicles belonging to owners unable to pay for their upkeep. According …
38.90522
-77.05916
30th St NW & M St NW, Washington, DC
/articles/southeast-vs-northwest-30th-and-m-streets
/locations/5031728
38.87628
-76.96475
30th St SE & M St SE, Washington, DC
/articles/southeast-vs-northwest-30th-and-m-streets
/locations/5031729
In D.C. poverty can be correlated with race and is distinctly drawn in geographic terms. If you live east of the Anacostia River, there is a good chance you are poor and black. If you live in Georgetown, you are probably wealthy and white.
At 28th and N Streets, Northwest, in the heart of Georgetown, young families and professionals stroll along bricked sidewalks. At 28th and N Streets, Southeast, working class residents have concrete sidewalks. In Georgetown, the street signs are hung on quaint streetlights designed to evoke a bygone era. In Southeast, the street signs are nailed to creosote telephone poles. If the physical evidence is not enough, there are plenty of numbers to draw a vast distinction between the two quadrants. The most recent Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates data from the Census Bureau show that in 2009 some 17.6 percent of all D.C. residents were living in poverty. In that same year, 29 percent of children under the age of 18 lived in poverty. …
38.90687
-77.05706
28th St NW & N St NW, Washington, DC
/articles/southeast-vs-northwest-28th-and-n-streets
/locations/5031735
38.8746
-76.96777
28th St SE & N St SE, Washington, DC
/articles/southeast-vs-northwest-28th-and-n-streets
/locations/5031736
