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Mapping Gentrification in Washington, D.C.

The blog, DataLensDC, explores Washington, D.C. and its growth over time through open-source data and applications. The blog has discovered just how much worse commuting has gotten over the years and how plentiful farmer's markets are in the District. Just recently, the blog took a look at gentrification—more specifically changes in income, proportion of African Americans, and proportion of children. Some of the most surprising data found that the most changed neighborhoods include: near Southeast, Navy Yard; Shaw, Logan Circle; Howard University, LeDroit Park; Edgewood, Bloomingdale, Truxton Circle, Eckington; and Downtown, Chinatown, Penn Quarter, Mt. Vernon Square, and North Capitol Street. Check out the maps created by DataLensDC below to see how the numbers break down. In order to read the maps, know that neighborhoods above median income are in gray and neighborhoods with greater gentrification-like change are in dark green.



Above, you'll see which neighborhoods experienced the most changes in income from 1999 to 2008/2012. With green representing the highest amount of change and grey representing the least, DataLensDC discovered that the Near Southeast/Navy Yard experienced the highest change with a whopping 147 percent growth with median incomes spiking from under $38,000 to over $93,000. Other neighborhoods with the highest changed median incomes included Chinatown/Mt. Vernon (grew 138 percent) and Mayfair/Hillbrook (dropped 22 percent).



The above map measures the change in proportion of African Americans from 2000 to 2010. According to DataLensDC, no areas in Washington, D.C. saw an increase in African Americans. Near Southeast/Navy Yard experienced the largest decrease with 48 percent fewer African Americans.



While analyzing the changes in the proportion of children in Washington, D.C. from 2000 to 2010, DataLensDC found that the Near Southeast/Navy Yard saw a 51 percent decrease, while Woodland/Fort Stanton only decreased by 2 percent. With the above three maps, one can see that when median income grows, the proportion of African Americans and the proportion of children under 18 years of age decreases.

Be sure to check out DataLensDC for more crucial data on the District. You can read more about the gentrification trends here.
· DC Gentrification by the Numbers [DataLensDC]
· Here Are Washington, D.C.'s Safest and Most Dangerous Nabes [Curbed DC]
· Mapping the Wealth Divide in Washington, D.C. [Curbed DC]