Census Tract 74.01 | Barry Farm | Washington, D.C.

Tract 74.01 has been nearly all Black for most of the twentieth century. It transitioned from a community with a homeownership  rate  of about 50% in 1940 to having relatively few Black homeowners with the creation of the Barry Farm Dwellings housing project in the southern part of the tract. Starting in the late 1950s, the area was upzoned, meaning only multifamily housing could be constructed, and the poorest Washingtonians were funneled into the neighborhood. Today, it is facing yet another transition – that we can anticipate will include both socioeconomic and racial changes. In 2018, tract 74.01 was 92% Black - the smallest proportion of Black residents in this tract since 1970.

Between 2000 and 2018, the White population of Census tract 74.01 increased from 0.47% to 3.5% of the population and the percentage of people with college degrees increased from 1.9% to 7.8%. The median household income declined from $20,689 to $13,750 (in 2018 dollars). And, the median value of homes increased slightly. These incremental changes are indicative of a neighborhood that has not yet gentrified, but where gentrification is on the way. Before taking a look at the investment and disinvestment indicators, let’s continue to explore the history of this Census tract.

Caption: Terraces at Barry Farm Dwellings, 1944  Gottscho-Schleisner, Inc. , Public Domain

The Barry Farm community of Black landowners thrived for several generations. However, in 1941, the government used its power of  eminent domain  to condemn and destroy a 34-acre section of Barry Farm to build a public housing project for Black families. The 23 Black families who lived on the land they owned there were uprooted.

Barry Farm Dwellings opened in  1942 . The apartments had between two and six bedrooms, and featured large trees and windows that allowed in natural light. The housing project thrived initially. In 1959, the  Washington Post  ran a story on the fifth annual beautification campaign at the Barry Farm public housing project. After seeing their colorful flower gardens, William R. Simpson, general counsel of the National Capital Housing Authority “wished out loud that Washington’s other 15 projects were cared for as well” as Barry Farm.

Caption: Children at Barry Farm Dwellings, 1944  Gottscho-Schleisner, Inc. , Public Domain

Just seven years later, however, the area was showing signs of disrepair. A 1966 article in the  Washington Post  reported that tenants had organized to demand better housing conditions. The tenants reported overdue repairs to electricity and water, rats and roaches, bursting pipes, and a lack of adequate maintenance personnel. By  1981 , these problems had only worsened. After years of neglect, the properties did not have adequate trash pickup, screen doors and canopies were broken, there were holes in walls and ceilings, refrigerators and gas ranges were broken, and there were problems with rodent infestation.

This neglect, along with the arrival of crack cocaine into the city, translated into violence in the Barry Farm community – as it did across the city. In 1993, Troy Perry, Anttwon Rivers, and James Dunston began their day by playing  basketball  at Barry Farm Dwellings. By the evening, all three teenagers had been gunned down.  Perry and Rivers  were both new fathers and Dunston had recently finished high school and had a clerical job with the U.S. Navy. These three young men were among the thousands of young men murdered in Washington, D.C. during the crack epidemic. This violence was captured in the 1998 independent film,  Streetwise , set in Barry Farm Dwellings.

Caption: Still from 1998  Streetwise  movie, set in Barry Farm Dwellings.

With concentrated poverty, continued neglect, and the absence of places to buy fresh food, high rates of crime and violence continued in Barry Farms, as it was known, even as the homicide rate declined in other parts of the city in the late 1990s and early  2000s .

In 2013, the city government announced its plans to demolish Barry Farm Dwellings and create a mixed-income community. When the data for the Mapping Gentrification project was collected in 2018, Barry Farms was still standing. However, the 441 housing units were slated for demolition. The  redevelopment plan  included 480 units to replace those public housing units as well as mixed income housing. The Mapping Gentrification project focuses on the neighborhood prior to this redevelopment.

In  2019 , the demolition of the housing project began. Although the residents have been promised they will be able to return, the timeline for that is projected to take  years .

Caption: Barry Farms, May 2019, prior to demolition.

Photo credit:  Eric T. Gunther 

The D.C. Housing Authority selected Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. (POAH) and the A&R companies (A&R) to provide master planning and master developer services for the Barry Farm Redevelopment. This redevelopment will comprise 1,100 new residential units including 480 replacement public housing units as well as a long-awaited grocery store. Residents, like  Paulette Matthews , who lived in Barry Farms for 20 years, however, will have to wait ten years before seeing these plans come to fruition. If Ms. Matthews is able to return, the community she returns to will be unrecognizable.

“Townhomes proposed by POAH and A&R"  http://barryfarmredevelopment.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Barry_Farm_Community_10_22_2018_final.pdf 

In 1950, there was no high school that Black people were allowed to attend  east of the Anacostia River  as the schools in that part of town were for Whites only. (Check out this  map  by Prologue DC that shows the location of all of the public schools in DC from 1900 to 1954.) The residents of the Barry Farm area had to cross the river to attend junior high. Thus, when Sousa Junior High opened on the east side of the Anacostia River, Black residents of the Barry Farm area joined other Black residents to demand access to the new school. When school administrators turned them away, they filed suit. This led to the  Bolling v. Sharpe  case, a companion case to  Brown v. Board of Education  – which demanded that schools no longer be segregated by race. Two years later, on May 16, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and declared school segregation by race in the District of Columbia to be unconstitutional.

Caption: Integrated classroom at Anacostia High School, 1957 Public Domain

In the early 1980s, a group of boys from Barry Farms got together and formed the  Junkyard Band . They play a type of music native to DC – go-go music – and got started by creating music using soda bottles, tin cans, buckets, and whatever “junk” they could find lying around.

These young men attained local and eventually national fame with their funky beats. In  1985 , they signed a multi-year recording deal with Def Jam Records. They went on to tour across the country and in 2018, the Mayor of Washington, D.C. officially declared  January 15  “Junkyard Band Day.”

Caption: “Junkyard Band posing outside their van in the 1980s.”

Photo credit: junkyardband.us

This map illustrates locations with signs that associate with anti-loitering, anti-littering, anti-drug use, anti-vandalism, anti-graffiti, or neighborhood watch. The colored point symbols suggest signs discouraging disorder (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Vacant area or public street beautification includes well-kept landscaping/gardening work, street furniture, planters, and accessories beyond basic grass maintenance, as well as ground maintenance.

This is a Google Street View image that showcases street furniture/accessory that goes beyond basic grass maintenance at 2646 Birney Pl SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in June 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates locations with well-kept landscaping, gardening work, tree branch accessories, or anything beyond basic grass maintenance. The colored point symbols suggest vacant area or public street beautification (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Public courtesies signify an addition of either bus stops, bike racks, trash bins, or street lamps to the vicinity.

This Google Street View image shows the minimal presence of public courtesy in the vicinity of 2429 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in July 2011 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This Google Street View image shows the most recent public courtesies and accounts for a trash bin in the vicinity of 2429 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in October 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates locations that have an addition of either bus stops, bike racks, trash bins, or street lamps to the vicinity. The colored point symbols indicate the presence of new public courtesies within the vicinity (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Signs or structures controlling traffic indicate the addition of speed signs, pedestrians crossing signs, bike lanes, or parking signs within the vicinity.

This Google Street View image shows no presence of signs instructing vehicle drivers to stop for pedestrians in the vicinity of 2568 Martin Luther King Jr AVE SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in July 2008 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This Google Street View image shows improvement to the pedestrian crosswalk design and signs controlling traffic in the vicinity of 2568 Martin Luther King Jr AVE SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in July 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates locations where signs or structures controlling traffic indicate the addition of speed signs, pedestrians crossing signs, bike lanes, or parking signs. The colored point symbols indicate the presence of new signs or structures controlling traffic within the vicinity (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Large scale developments include any new large buildings that occupy at least 75% of the block.

This Google Street View image shows the area prior to the development of luxury apartments at 2640 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in July 2011 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This Google Street View image shows the new large development of structures at 2640 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in October 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

Affordable housing includes all large developments that are affordable housing developments - meaning that the development includes units where people making less than the local median income can afford. The data for this measure come from  Housing Insights . 

This Google Street View image shows the area prior to the affordable housing units in the vicinity of 2650 Birney Pl SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in August 2009 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This is a Google Street View image that shows a unit where people making less than the local median income can attain affordable housing in the vicinity of 2650 Birney Pl SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in June 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates new luxury apartments (coded yellow) and affordable housing developments (coded blue). The new structures were identified using Google Street View and then cross checked with the  Housing insights  tool to see if the new developments were affordable housing. The colored point symbols indicate the presence of large scale development within the vicinity (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Residences with new patio furniture or landscaping include patio or yard furniture or accessories that go beyond ordinary grass maintenance within the vicinity.

This Google Street View image shows the earlier conditions of residences indicate the minor presence of patio furniture or landscaping in the vicinity of 2641 Wade Rd SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in August 2009 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This Google Street View image shows a residence with a new presence of patio furniture in the vicinity of 2641 Wade Rd SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in June 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates residences with new patio furniture or landscaping that go beyond ordinary grass maintenance within the vicinity. The darker shades of color suggest an increased presence of residences with new patio furniture for landscaping within the vicinity (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Residences with minor upgrades include slight renovations such as: a paint job and window, ground, or structure improvement.

This Google Street View image shows the prior residences indicate the structure had uniform colored bricks at 2641 Birney Pl SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in August 2009 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This Google Street View image shows the modern residences with minor upgrades indicate a paint job and structure improvement to the building at 2641 Birney Pl SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in June 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates the presence of waste products such as paper, cans, bottles on a block. The colored point symbols indicate the presence of litter within the vicinity (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Unkempt vacant area or public street frontage includes unoccupied areas with untamed grass or the presence of overgrown weeds.

This is a Google Street View image that shows an unkempt public street frontage that consists of untamed grass in the vicinity of 1161 Sumner Rd SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in June 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates regions that consist of untamed grass or the presence of overgrown weeds. The colored point symbols indicate unkempt vacant area or public street frontage (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Abandoned structures are buildings that are uninhabited. Boarded up structures have boards on the windows and doors to protect the property from further damage and/or to prevent unauthorized access.

This is a Google Street View image representing an abandoned structure with boarded windows at 701 Howard Rd SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in October 2018 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates residences boarded up structures have boards on the windows and doors to protect the property from further damage and/or to prevent unauthorized access. The colored point symbols indicate the presence of abandoned or boarded up structure(s) within the vicinity (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Structures with minor exterior decay consist of slight deterioration, decay, or damage, such as faded paint.

This is a Google Street View image that shows a building with minor decay on the roof at 2403 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in October 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates residences with slight deterioration, decay, or damage, such as faded paint. The darker shades of color suggest an increased presence of structures with minor exterior decay within the vicinity (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

Structures with major exterior decay consist of significant peeling or faded paint, obvious necessary repairs, or deteriorated or discolored siding or brick.

This is a Google Street View image that shows a building with faded paint and deteriorated siding at 1152 Sumner Rd SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in August 2018 (Source: Google Street View 2020).

This map illustrates residences with major deterioration, decay, or damage. The colored symbols suggest an increased presence of structures with minor exterior decay within the vicinity (Source: ArcGIS). Please click on the double arrows in the upper-left corner of this map to access a visual detail of the symbols used on this map. Click on any indicator to access information about your chosen indicator.

A building or property that consist of metal gates around the structure or on the structure's windows.

This Google Street View image shows a closer look at the metal fences or gates where a building has metal gates around the structure and on the structure's windows at 2625 Wade Rd SE Washington, D.C. 20020, in June 2019 (Source: Google Street View 2020).