‘I Don’t Want It to Be
U Street or Adams Morgan
or 14 th Street’
As gentrification
sweeps across D.C., one
neighborhood has found a
way to preserve its diversity
and character. How did
Mount Pleasant do it?
STORY BY JEFFERSON MORLEY
P HOTOGRAPHS BY LUCIAN PERKINS
Clockwise from left: Pedestrians cross Irving Street in Mount Pleasant in
Northwest Washington. Von Griffin and Isabel Dorneles dance i n front of Frank
Agbro’s house. Agbro hosts regular porch concerts. The Raven Grill, a
neighborhood bar owned by Merid Admassu. Admassu is an accountant
originally from Ethiopia.
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