Neighborhood Spotlight:LeDroit Park

Any given day in the quaint, historic neighborhood of LeDroit Park in Northwest Washington is picturesque and today is no different. Sunlight beams onto the brick -paved block of 3rd and Elm streets as people from all walks of life travel up and down the residential street lined with colorful row houses.

The cries of cheerful children can be heard from the nearby park, as the boisterous bark of a dog somewhere in the distance bounces off the brick of the Victorian style homes.

"This is how we live," reads the colorful LeDroit Park mural on the side of a row house on Elm Street, and from the scenery alone one can gather that "living" in LeDroit Park is as easy as the breeze that is rustling the budding leaves on the trees.

LeDroit Park, founded in 1873 by then Howard University Trustee, Amzi Barber, is located Southeast of Howard University's main campus and was one of the first suburbs of Washington.

The area was originally developed as a white neighborhood, but has been historically African American since around 1893 when the first African American, Octavius Williams, moved into the area after a protest by Howard University students destroyed the fence that divided its black students from their white neighbors.

E. Gail Anderson Holness, Commissioner of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in Area 1B11, can't help but be regaled by the history of the area whenever she travels through.

"I can't help but get nostalgic whenever I'm in LeDroit Park," Holness said. "I remember walking through as a little girl. I loved the homeliness and warmth of the neighborhood and the people in it. It's such a historic place. It is D.C.'s hidden oasis."

The history of the area lies in its relationship with Howard University, as ex-home of the famed Griffith Stadium, and its residents, who are among some of the most prominent figures in African-American history. Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche, and former mayor Walter Washington were all once residents of LeDroit Park.

"The heroes of the black community that have passed through the LeDroit Park area, either to live or just to stay for one night are endless," Holness said. "There is a legacy here that can never be erased, no matter how the neighborhood has changed in recent years."

This sunny afternoon, throughout the streets of LeDroit Park people can been seen out and about, enjoying the weather peacefully and generally without harm. In the late ‘80s and ‘90s, however, LeDroit was a different place. Crime had ravaged the neighborhood and drug addicts and dealers could be found on every corner, causing the black professionals the area used to attract to find a home elsewhere.

In the age of Obama and throughout the Williams and Fenty administrations, the diversity of LeDroit Park area has grown tremendously bringing a new breed of residents to the middle-class neighborhood.

Ayo Handy-Kendi, the membership coordinator for the LeDroit Park Civic Association, and an 11-year resident of the area, has seen the neighborhood transform from a "haven for shooting and killing" to what she considers D.C.'s most beautiful and serene little hideaway. Kendi believes gentrification has had a lot to do with this change.

"When I first moved here, it was a predominately black area, people had been here for years and they were settled. Now there is a lot more different people, but unfortunately Gentrification has created a level of fear of change and a recognition of the different classes of people that there are now," Handy-Kendi said.  "But the older residents have a fear of letting go. There is a certain degree of stepping back that has come since white people moved in."

"At the end of the day, it is really a beautiful neighborhood," she said. "It has a sense of neighborliness, the people who have lived here for a long time have created a bond, like a kin ship and that's what keeps me here."

Howard University students live in the LeDroit Park area since it is located just south of the main campus and east of the Howard University Hospital. Tyesha Tucker, a senior insurance major, likes the diversity of the neighborhood, but enjoys learning from the experiences of her older neighbors.

"The members of the community are very diverse. They come from all walks of life, but the neighborhood brings them together," Tucker said. "I love that my older neighbors reminisce about their younger years and share stories of the old neighborhood and how D.C. has evolved. The greatest benefit has been gaining the knowledge and wisdom of those who have lived in the area before me. They have been witness to a lot of historical moments."

Emil Ali, 24, who considers LeDroit Park, Shaw and Truxton Circle his homes, enjoys the "walkability" of the area and the access it has to downtown D.C. He finds the architecture, his neighbors and the community to be the most appeasing aspects of life in LeDroit Park.

"I think our homes have great character, but our neighbors have better character. During the spring, we all maintain our yards and a few of us sweep the sidewalk," Ali said. "Everyone is friendly. I know half the people on my block and speak to them regularly."

The LeDroit Park area is still in the process of redeveloping, but it has managed to avoid the pains of overdeveloping throughout its history and has maintained its distinctive aesthetic. In fact, 50 of the original 64 James McGill designed homes still remain in the area, linking the area back to its 19th century establishment.

"There isn't a whole lot of area to LeDroit Park, but it seems as if its like a little community about itself, it has its own identity. I've lived in places like Anacostia, and I couldn't exactly say that," Handy-Kendi said. "The area also has some of the best architecture of houses in the city, if you're interested in looking at buildings, this is the place to walk around. It's fascinating."