Walking America: Washington, DC (Anacostia and Alexandria) • Hacker News Board

Re: Walking America: Washington, DC (Anacostia and Alexandria)

#41

Post by moron4hire » Sat, Jan 29, 2022, 8:59 PM UTC

ble wrote: post #12

moron4hire wrote: post #4

The only uptight, hall-monitor-like people I know here in Alexandria are the few Republicans who have a chip on their shoulder about being Republican. Maybe taking a single walk through a town doesn't give one the insight one thinks it does.

I hope the piece wasn't a total turn-off for you. "Uptight" is a subjective judgment and a comparative judgment but I think the author is hitting on something real - though different people might perceive or phrase it in different ways. Do you think Alexandria might feel uptight compared to Anacostia and Benning Road? The author is partly expressing a comparative judgment - that's kind of the point, going for a walk…

Old Town is a small part of Alexandria. It's an historic district with a rather extreme past (one of the largest slave markets in the country), so his complaints about signs trying to "prove how right they are" is a mind boggling "missing the whole point" moment. He's painted Alexandria as a lily white suburb when we have many vibrant neighborhoods of all kinds.

Re: Walking America: Washington, DC (Anacostia and Alexandria)

#42

Post by xvedejas » Sat, Jan 29, 2022, 9:47 PM UTC

I find it interesting how many neighborhoods all across America I hear described as "just-beginning-to-gentrify". The neighborhood I live in has been described as that for thirty years now. Depending on who you ask, it's either entirely gentrified at this point, or it's one of the last holdouts yet to be affected.

Re: Walking America: Washington, DC (Anacostia and Alexandria)

#43

Post by rdtsc » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 4:33 AM UTC

lambdaphagy wrote: post #34

rdtsc wrote: post #16

> An in your face “be saved or suffer” religiosity. One that deeply informs the lives and realities of the residents, in a way that makes elites uncomfortable When government social services are ineffective or had broken down, the little churches in communities like that is often the only thing which keeps the community together. Family issues, an old person is sick and needs meals brought home, a place to meet. Yeah…

At the risk of overinterpreting your comment, I think most religious people would be surprised to see their religion characterized as an ersatz government social service.

Not necessarily. Religious communities have been taking care of the sick, the lonely, feeding the poor since, well, forever. Those who believe, of course, would think there is a higher purpose of them being there, but most, normally wouldn't ask for religious affiliation before handing people a plate of pancakes and sausages, or lentils and rice (https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sikh-pandemic-food-suppor...).

People shouldn't rely on religious organization for those basics - visits when sick, food when hungry, especially in a developing country, but the sad situation is that they are.