I think we've taken a leap forward in the past few days in our conversation-
A bridge that seems to get at a variety of issues we're exploring
and, at some of the discomfort this conversation can raise
is the question-
Who are you willing to live near?
which seems connected to the question-
How comfortable are you with people who are different than you?
which led us to...
Who, on a daily basis, do you choose to see
and not to see?
If a conversation is engaging issues of growth, and housing
which leads to notions of mixed housing, affordable housing and changing neighborhoods
it seems that attitudes, and then behavior, and then policy
are somewhat responsive to our own willingness, or not, to live amidst and among diversity...and a diversity defined in many different ways...
what do you think?
5 comments:
Those are interesting questions. I know that when I was selling my house in Portland and deciding that I would rent for a little while before buying again, where I lived - an apartment building with other renters, or a condo that I rented where the other's owned - was very important to me.
Funny, huh? I found myself saying, "Oh it's great, they're all homeowners!" Or "Well, I don't really want to live with renters, because well . . ." and then I'd catch myself and even though I knew what I was about to say was not correct in a community embracing sort of way, I really felt that of the two places I chose to live, being surrounded by homeowners would make all the difference. Especially if I was deciding to be a "renter" myself. I wonder how my new neighbors felt?
Perhaps I think this way because homeownership is revered in my African American family. And being a "renter" is almost taboo.
Which leads me, in this end of day blogging ramble, to the exercise you all are planning to do/are doing this evening that involves bringing in the objects. As someone who routinely makes my home by the objects that surround me, I'm curious what will come out of this exercise.
I can be at home anywhere, I've discovered, even a 530 square foot space, if I have my artwork, my carefully collected and curated furniture, my books, my pictures and my creatures. Oh and as long as I am surrounded by homeowners.
How do I know if an area is unsafe? I'm moving to New Orleans in a couple of months and soon after I will have to decide on a (relatively) permanent place to live. I want to contribute to the growth of mixed income housing and live in an area where I will be surrounded by those who are different than I am so that I can learn new things and be exposed to new ideas. I like not having total control over who I see on a day to day basis - it keeps things interesting.
On the other hand, I am facing some pressure from older family friends to make sure that I live in a "safe" area. Of course I want that for myself, but how do I know? I am willing to live next to a family who is poorer than I am, but if that area also happens to be crime-laden - I don't want to be excessive danger.
How do I, when moving to a new city, tell the difference between a sterotypical description of "danger" and just something that looks a bit different than a neighborhood that I grew up in?
How can I tell the difference between different and dangerous?
I can relate well to Rachel's anxiety and ambivalence. When I moved to Cape Town, South Africa about a year and a half ago, I faced a similar dilemma.
Crime is out of control here in SA. And safety was my top priority.
Of course, I also wanted to engage in the exciting diversity of this place. SA is an incredibly multicultural place. It boasts 11 national languages. The work of post-apartheid reconciliation, and relationship-building, is exciting, and I wanted to jump in.
But I am living in a lily white neighborhood, which was emptied of all its non-white residents about 50 years ago, as part of the apartheid govt's policy of creating white-only areas.
Because it is safe.
Am I a hypocrite?
How can I criticize White South Africans for failing to engage the non-White community here in a genunie, meaningful way, when I have chosen to live where I have?
There is so much more to say, but I will stop here for now. Excited that I found this blog --
I can't help but jump onto this one since I have lived in Portland and Cape Town. In Cape Town, I chose to live in one of the few racially mixed neighborhoods in the city. I felt like I gained a lot from that neighborhood but I also had the blanket on my bed stolen through the bars of my window and had our door broken in by another set of robbers. But, when we were waiting for our door to be repaired the local homeless couple slept in front of our open doorway to keep it safe. There's a give and take. I pride myself on living in mixed neighborhoods, but am I putting myself at risk by doing so? And, really, as an artist, can I afford to live in better neighborhoods so how much of a choice is there?
And then, in Portland, where I lived in a comparatively much safer neighborhood, I had someone shoot a gun 20 feet from my door. How much does the reputation (or to put it more bluntly, the class status) of a neighborhood actually determine how safe or comfortable you will be?
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