A few weeks ago, I ventured out for the first time into the Gateway neighborhood in Washington DC's Ward 5, not really sure what to expect. I drove up and parked in the middle of the neighborhood and started my exploration.
The first thing I noted was the overall lack of people. Coming from Old Town Alexandria which is always busy with life, Gateway seemed non-existent. Where were the people? Where was the life? Now, after studying healthy habitats, it is obvious. There is no reason for people to be in Gateway. The neighborhood is exceptionally isolated, both physically by the roads that border its three sides, but also in mindset by the looming fences that enclose it from the south and the high brick walls that separate the townhomes of Fort Lincoln to the east. Looking back on my first experience, I looked at Gateway as undesirable and painted it with a certain broad stroke of ugliness that I never fully reflected on after that first visit. This week, I examined Gateway with a different lens, looking at the people who live in Gateway and around, and tried to put myself in their shoes. Throughout this process, I had several moments where I was moved by what I found. Sitting on a plane back from Hong Kong, there were numerous times my research led me to verbalize my shock or disbelief, so much so, that the woman next to me became interested in what I was working on. I explained the Gateway neighborhood to her, and the overall CityLab project and she provided a unique perspective as a rural native Chinese woman who wasn't nearly as surprised by the neighborhood as I was. It was eye-opening for me to see how much perspective matters, and to be better equipped to analyze my findings from differing points of view. I think the data that surprised me the most was a map showing how many trips, per 1,000 people, to the ER a community has. Gateway had almost 800 visits per 1000 people! I couldn't believe it. The last time I set foot in the ER was maybe 10 years ago, and that was my very first time. That discovery led my research deeper into different map layers that showed debt, foreclosures, income, etc. and the picture became clear. Gateway's resident's are under stress - biological, social, economic, and otherwise and the health consequences couldn't be more obvious. These health benefits then had further impacts on where they could work, how much they could earn, education deficiencies, etc. that all feedback to the stress. That cycle is dangerous and requires us, those lucky enough to not have to face those same realities, to help.
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