MOCO Map of the Week--Ethnic Clustering Part 2

Today's map is a slight variation on my last map, which showed the spatial distribution of the county's Black/African American population.  Today's map is a standard deviation map.  This means that each tract is categorized based on where the Black/African American share of the population fits in the wider distribution (i.e. within one standard deviation of the mean, within two standard deviations, etc.).


A bit on measurement:  In the tracts outlined in black the Black/African American share of the population that is greater than 2 standard deviations from the mean share.  The mean share of the Black/African American population is 16.62%.  The standard deviation is 13.58%.  Tracts outlined in black have a Black/African American share of the population that is greater than 43.78% (i.e. the mean + 2 standard deviations).  

So, what are the notable patterns here?  Unlike the earlier standard deviation maps I produced for the Asian and Hispanic populations (you can see them here), there are not multiple clusters.  Instead, all of the tracts with a statistically significant share of the Black/African American population are near one another and located on the eastern edge of the county.  In many ways the eastern orientation is not surprising given that Blacks/African Americans comprise a majority of the population in neighboring Prince George's County.  

Branding your 'hood--White Flint Edition

According to an article in Monday's Washington Post, White Flint is going to get a new name.  For readers outside the area, White Flint is wedged between Bethesda, a suburb that looks like a city, and Rockville, another suburb that looks like a city.  White Flint is flatter (fewer tall buildings) and less urban (more strip malls and parking lots).  But, it is ready for a make-over.  White Flint's main attraction--a 1980s era mall--was recently torn down, and the county hopes to redevelop the site and surrounding areas for greater density and walkability. 

So far so good.

Except for that 'pesky' name.  Apparently, 'White Flint' doesn't evoke much beyond the mall of the same name they recently tore down.  If the area's going to change, its name needs to capture those changes.  Or so say the developers.      

I get it.  I grew up in a neighborhood called Sherwood Forest and my friends lived in developments called Wildwood and Rainbow Forest.  The goal of the developers who built our neighborhoods was to sell the houses in them, and one way to do that was by giving their wider neighborhoods sylvan, vaguely British sounding names.  I say vaguely because I doubt my neighborhood's developer wanted to encourage any real Robin Hood behavior.  My sister, friends and I were as close to a merry band as it got, and the most we took from our neighbors was a little peace and quiet on Saturday mornings.    

In White Flint's case, the name game has higher stakes.  As one developer explained in the Washington Post article, the area needs a new brand to communicate the urban transformation afoot in the area.  

Poor White Flint.  I can see the session with the life coach/therapist now. 

White Flint:  I tore down my Mall!  I'm really making progress!
Life Coach:  Well, none of that matters until you've got a twitter handle to sell it to the people.
White Flint:  How about '#I Tore down my mall!'
Life Coach:  Too negative.  We need something that evokes who you are.
White Flint:  But, I'm White Flint.  Didn't you see my insurance card?
Life Coach:  It isn't about you, its about who people think you are.
White Flint:  I'm White Flint, dammit!
Life Coach:  We're going to have to start meeting twice a week. 

Developers are currently bandying about several possible names, including Pike Corridor, Pike District, Market District, and Slate District. 

Perhaps sensing a lack of inspiration, the County also has a website where you can offer your own new name. 

Here are my suggestions: 

1.  It's always Marsha Marsha Marsha!

2.  Say my name *#%$!

3.  NO, I am NOT trying too hard.

On second thought, how about White Flint?!

 

A Shout out for an upcoming event at the Atlas Theatre!

After my last post about H Street NE, I received a comment from a reader named Chris. 

Chris tells me that the Atlas Theater is "a great venue for seeing live music."  He also informed me that tickets are much cheaper than at the Kennedy Center.  And, as an added bonus, Atlas events are also family friendly! 

Since Chris plays at the Atlas every couple of months with Capital City Symphony, I promised to let my fine readers know about his group's next performance on Friday June 27th. 

And, it sounds delish!--They are doing a second round performance of "Go-Go Symphony" and they'll have repeat special guests Head-Roc and Da Originalz.

See this link for more information about the show and getting tickets. 

Random MOCO Pic of the Day--a Jaunt to H Street NE

We went to H Street NE for dinner on Saturday night with some friends.  In a lot of ways it feels like a flatter Adams Morgan--lots of bars without the hill to climb.  But, unlike Adams Morgan H Street has an old school art deco theater that's been revamped--the gorgeous Atlas Theater.  I snapped this picture on Saturday night.  

For newbies to the region, H Street was the site of intense rioting after the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior in 1968.  Things got so bad in DC that Lyndon B. Johnson sent the National Guard into the streets.  The Atlas managed to survive the chaos, but as the picture* below of a guardsman holding an M19 rifle at the corner of H and 7th Streets demonstrates, there was plenty of destruction to go around.

 Although the suburban exodus from DC began soon after the end of World War II, the riots hastened the decline in neighborhoods like H Street and U Street (also the site of intense rioting).  H Street was never without its charms, however.  The picture** below was taken in 2010 before gentrification hit the area like a ton of bricks.

* Photographer Unknown.  Warren K. Leffler / Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-04301
** Carol M. Highsmith.  Warren K. Leffler/ Library of Congress, LC-DIG-highsm-09816

Can Golf be Gentrified?

I swear, this isn't a joke.  I am asking a serious question here.  And, my answer is yes, golf can be gentrified.  I came to this topic after reading a front page article in the Washington Post metro section today about the fate of the 3 public* golf courses in DC.   

Let me state for the record that I do not play golf.  And, before I moved to DC I always thought golf was a game that only rich people in country clubs played.  However, my swim team practices at a public pool adjacent to one of the golf courses (Hains Point), and since golfers and swimmers both nosh on Cheetos and drink beer at the concession standclubhouse,** I've had a chance to observe the people who golf there.  

FYI:  Hains Point is a man-made island in the Potomac.  The picture*** of the island below is from 1935.  Except for the pool (built years later), and more trees, things look much the same today.  

The golf course at Hain's Point isn't quite as proletariat as the Washington Post article suggests.  Greens fees for all three courses--$31 for 18 holes on the weekend--are still too high for anyone on a tight budget, but they are substantially lower than fees charged at other locations in the DMV.  And, you don't have to join a club and pay membership dues to play there.   

For much of their history, Hains Point and the other two public courses have functioned as defacto country clubs for the city's black elite and middle class.  Indeed, the city's history of segregation (both formal and informal) meant higher end clubs were either off limits or unwelcoming. 

The city has changed a lot in the last few decades, though, so today you'll find all races, ethnicities, and genders at Hains Point.  The vibe is laid back and inclusive.  Cheap beer tends to do that. 

So, how will Hains Point be gentrified?  Well, it turns out DC House Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, usually a defender of the 'little guy,' wants to turn one of these 3 golf courses into a mini-Augusta National.  And, since Hains Point is on the water and has fabulous views, she has set her sights on it. 

In April Norton introduced a bill that would prompt the Department of the Interior, which owns all three courses, to negotiate a public/private partnership to turn one of the courses into "a world-class golf course".  The improvements at the course slated for major overhaul could then charge market rate greens fees, which would in turn finance smaller scale improvements at the remaining courses. 

Why, you  may ask, does DC need a world class golf course?  Norton told Mike DeBonis at the Washington Post, “You’ve got a bloc of lobbyists and other rich corporate types who come from across the country to this city every year. I think we would build a golf course and a clubhouse fit for those people used to world-class golf courses. I think it would pay for the others.”

Norton may see her move as 'sticking it' to the rich guy, taking their money to improve public infrastructure, but all I see is gentrification.  All three courses are owned by the feds, so fixes shouldn't involve city residents getting economically excluded from even one of them.    

But, I'm sure those poor saps who come to Washington to lobby Congress will LOVE her plan.  The poor dears already make so many sacrifices, like commuting to Virginia or Maryland to play golf.  And, imagine having to make a meal out of a hamburger and chips.  Oh the inhumanity. 

How about this Eleanor Holmes Norton--just write a bill that appropriates some funds to improve the courses.  DC's got enough gentrification.  Do you really have to gentrify golf too?  

Notes: 

* The National Park Service (part of the Dept. of the Interior) is in charge of all three courses

** Don't worry--we swimmers only drink beer after practice

*** The picture is from the Library of Congress, digital ID cph.3c35450.  

MOCO Map of the Week--Percent Black/African American by Census Tract, 2010

Today's map looks at the distribution of Montgomery County's Black/African American population by census tract.

People who identify as Black or African American comprise 16.62% of MOCO's population.  Their share in MOCO is lower than it is for the state (29.4%), but higher than it is in the country as a whole (12.6%).

A few spatial patterns stand out on today's map.  First, the Black/African American population is spatially clustered in two places in the county--Gaithersburg/Montgomery Village and along the border with Prince George's County.  Second, the top 5 census tracts with the highest percentages of Black/African American residents are all located on the eastern edge of the county (either bordering the county, or bordering a census tract that does). Finally, the county's Black/African American population is largely concentrated outside the beltway, despite a significant cluster along the northeastern border of DC.

Next map will look at statistically significant clusters of the Black/African American population.  Stay tuned! 

Map notes:  The data for this map is from the 2010 census.  The census does not disaggregate between people who identify as African American and those who identify as Black (usually, though not always people from other countries with African heritage).  

Random MOCO Pic of the Day--Summer's coming!

It's only Tuesday, but here's a Glen Echo throwback that screams summer (pun intended)! 

Photo Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C., 20540 USA.  Digital ID: cph 3c24438
Date: circa 1920s.  

Silver Spring Transit Center--Who Pays for Private Sector Screw Ups?

"That's a rhetorical question, right?" my husband asked when he saw today's blog title.  Yes it is.  But more on that in a second.  Let's start with introductions.

The still incomplete Silver Spring Transit Center is a concrete eyesore for many MOCO residents.  As far as transit centers go, though, this one isn't half bad.  The double decker bus platform doesn't just have a functional design--that second level meets people at the level they come off the train--it is also open air, so it doesn't look brutalist in the way concrete behemoths often do.   

At the end of the day, though, the transit center's aesthetics aren't the real problem.  The concrete that was used to build the structure started cracking during construction.  Further tests revealed weaknesses in the integrity of the concrete--not a good result for a structure designed to withstand daily bus traffic.   

Ever since, there's been a looming question--who is to blame?  The general contractors who built the project (Foulger-Pratt), the engineers who designed its implementation (Parsons Brinckerhoff), the County that assembled the team, or the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which approved the plans?  Two reports on the center's problems haven't helped shed light on the process. 

Answering this question is important because assigning blame will go a long way towards determining who pays for the fix.  

In that regard, it was troubling to see that the County will likely cover the upfront costs of the fixes.  It also appears that the County's strategy for recouping costs is to go to court.  As a report in yesterday's Washington Post noted, "although they expect the expense to ultimately be borne by contractors, they may have to put up the money and attempt to recover it through litigation, a process that could take years."

At the very least, you hope MOCO decides to refuse any future business with these two companies while the court system figures out who is to blame.  Unfortunately, if the shady game of government contracting is any indicator, these two companies will be first in line at the MOCO trough for future contracts.  And, it isn't a foregone conclusion they'll be sent away.  

The drawing of the transit station above can be found on MOCO's website for the project.  

Random MOCO Pics of the Day

One of my favorite places in Montgomery County is National Park Seminary.  Strangely enough, given its name, NPS has never actually been a seminary.  It started as a resort in the late 1800s, became a girls' finishing school, and later an outpost of Walter Reed Hospital.  It has beautiful, if quirky architecture with a mixture of styles (An auditorium with Greek columns, some buildings that look like they belong in Dublin, and a pagoda).   

Over time the maintenance of the property declined. 

NPS is in the process of being redeveloped, but as these pictures show, it is a work in progress.  In fact, the private property that has been developed next to the it provides an interesting contrast to the quirky, Faulkner-esque state of decline of some NPS buildings.

 

 

Purple Line Follies--spring 2014 edition part 1

How do people on different sides of the debate about the Purple Line settle their differences?

If this was Game of Thrones, one of them would invite the other to a wedding and then kill him, his wife, and the horse he rode in on.

Fortunately, Purple Line fights are more Gladys Kravitz than Kingslayer.  The results are more comical as well.

The most recent fight started when Wayne Phyillaier complained to the Maryland Department of Transportation that a homeowner along the Capital Crescent Trail had extended his backyard onto public property by building a fence on the shoulder of the trail.  For out-of-towners, the Capital Crescent trails is an old rail-line that has been turned into a hiking trail.  The Purple Line is slated to be built along the trail.

Montgomery County investigated the complaint and levied a $500 fine against the homeowner, who happens to be one Ajay Bhatt, the president of Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail, a group fighting the line.

Turns out Phyillaier is an outspoken advocate of the line.

It is hard not to laugh at these fifth-graders guys. 

The Purple Line is most likely going to happen, so Phyillaier is on the winning side.  He could have said nothing or reported all of the sheds and fences built in the trails' right of way (Bhatt apparently has lots of company in his sense of entitlement to public land).

For his part Bhatt has already gone to court once to avoid paying the fine.  He lives in Chevy Chase, MD and owns his own company so can probably afford the fine.  Instead, he'll likely pay more in court costs than the fine.

Well, at least they aren't jousting, sword-fighting or playing dodge ball.

On second thought, maybe dodge ball IS the way to solve this.  

Map of the Week Bonus Edition--Ethnic Clustering

This is for all you map lovers out there!

The last two maps I've made showed that the distribution of two minority populations--Asian and Hispanic--in Montgomery County.  Today, I thought I'd take a look at the degree to which these two minority groups are clustered in a statistically significant way.

Stay with me statistics phobes.  There are pretty maps involved!

One way to see evidence of clustering is to create a standard deviation map.  This means that each tract is categorized based on where the minority share of the population in that tract fits in the wider distribution (i.e. within one standard deviation of the mean, within two standard deviations, etc.).

Evidence of statistically significant clustering would be found in tracts where the Asian or Hispanic share of a tract's population is more than two standard deviations from the mean.  

For both groups--Asians and Hispanics--there a 12 tracts with significant spatial clustering.  On the maps below these tracts are shaded in dark blue and outlined in black (as opposed to gray).  For the Asian distribution this means tracts where Asians comprise 29.4% or more of the total population.  The comparable figure for the Hispanic population is 42% or more.

Although both groups have significant clustering, the clustering tends to happen on different sides of the county--north and west for Asians and south and east for Hispanics.

What to make of all this?  Montgomery county may be exceptionally diverse, but that diversity isn't evenly across space.


Map 1: Asian Share of the Population, Classified by Standard Deviation

Map 2: Hispanic Share of the Population

MOCO Map of the Week--Percent Hispanic or Latino by Census Tract 2010

This week's map shows the distribution of Hispanics in Montgomery County.  

The Hispanic share of the population in Montgomery County (17%) is slightly larger than it is for the US as a whole (16%).  By contrast it is double the share for Maryland as a whole (8%).       

In terms of the distribution of the Hispanic population, two patterns stand out on the map below.  First, Hispanics are clustered in a fairly narrow band running along a northwest-southeast axis.  The band doesn't follow one particular road, but it does run through three places in the county known for having large Hispanic populations--Gaithersburg, Wheaton, and north Takoma Park.  Second, most of the county's Hispanic population lives outside the Beltway (the black line at the bottom of the county).

MOCO Musings' next map will explore the degree of clustering for Hispanics.  Be on the lookout for a standard deviation map! (For map lovers a 'be still my beating heart' moment!)