Stamped on the Sidewalk: Median Income Data
Sidewalk stamps in Friendship Heights compare the median income of Montgomery County with that of Washington, DC's Ward 8.
Photos
They're almost too easy to miss, with their black letters set against the grooved and spotted gray pavement.
But, these sidewalk stamps are quite telling, if you stop long enough to read them.
The next time you're standing on the southeastern or southwestern corners of the Friendship Heights intersection of Wisconsin and Western avenues, look down before crossing, and you'll see this:
MEDIAN
HOUSEHOLD
INCOME
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY
$93,774
DC WARD 8
$44,076
It's an ironic place for such comparisons—on the Maryland-DC border, surrounded by luxurious shopping plazas. Perhaps the sidewalk stamps might make one think twice about strolling along the "Rodeo Drive of the East Coast" with a Bulgari or a Tiffany & Co. bag in-hand.
The Ward 8 statistic is from U.S. Census Bureau data for 2005 to 2009. Bloomberg reported last year that Ward 8, "about four miles from the White House and home to the Anacostia neighborhood ... [has a poverty rate of] 35 percent, compared with 18 percent for the city as a whole, according to the Washington-based Urban Institute, citing U.S. Census Bureau statistics for 2005-2009. Average household income for Ward 8 during the period was $44,076, compared with $115,016 for the District of Columbia, according to the institute."
Median household income in Montgomery County between 2006 and 2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, was $93,373. The median household income in Maryland during this time was $70,647.
Have you noticed any other sidewalk stamps in the Friendship Heights, Chevy Chase or downtown DC areas? Tell us in the comments.
In This article
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Bulgari
5481 Wisconsin Ave, Chevy Chase, MD -
Tiffany & Co.
5481 Wisconsin Ave, Chevy Chase, MD
Gideon Zogin
8:08 am on Monday, September 10, 2012
wow! this is some WWII disgustingness. #camps
i know CC wants to be Beverly Hills. that's pathetic.
Jane
8:51 am on Monday, September 10, 2012
I think you are missing the point of the stamp. It is not someone proudly replying yes we are rich, but pointing out the disparity; trying to show the avarice of those in the area.
I admit I don’t go to Friendship Heights; you are more likely to see me at the museum district. I can’t afford Tiffany. OF course what they are failing to take into account is that Montgomery County is a large area that includes the suburbs and a lot of home owners. That being said I am surprised it is as low as $93,000. I’ve seen some of the houses out in Chevy Chase. And ward 8 is specifically low income housing, museums and business. Of course their will be a disparity. I am sure when they were dividing up the area they were drawn that way.
My sister lives off of about $10,000 a year less and has two kids. It’s awful, I hate it, and I am constantly pushing her to go to school and make her life better. She makes so little the government literally will pay the entire bill for free. I on the other hand make enough to get nothing and have enough bills so I can’t afford school, live pay check to paycheck too (sometimes not even that far), but I look better off because I’m in a high tax bracket.
Off topic rant = not every number is the same.
Gideon Zogin
1:45 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
I'm mega poor. I point out the disparities of this neighborhood by sharing these pages on my Facebook page. People thought I was making this stuff up about the people in Chevy Chase.
Andy
9:37 am on Monday, September 10, 2012
Why does it compare Ward 8 to Montgomery County...There is a bigger diparity between Ward 8 and the rest of DC...
Laura L Thornton
9:43 am on Monday, September 10, 2012
I'm not sure - I don't know who did the stamps... But I'm thinking that these stamps are comparing Ward 8 to Montgomery County because they're on the border with Montgomery County. I'm attempting to find out if there are similar stamps elsewhere in the city that might compare other statistics, like Ward 8's median household income with the median household income of Ward 3, or NW DC, or even just all of DC, as you point out, Andy.
Corbin Dallas Multipass
9:59 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
Immediate suspect would be Occupy DC or Occupy MD since it's on point with their message, though I imagine vandalism might be frowned upon so it might not be something they actually sanctioned or planed but rather a member acting individually.
Wasn't there a story about Virgin spray painting the sidewalks in Bethesda or something a few months ago?
PrimMom
2:03 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
It's not meant to be there as county or neighborhood installation. If it were, I'm sure there would have been a neighborhood meeting about it beforehand?!
It is someone's "political graffiti."
Strange to compare those two areas, yes.
But now my tax dollars will have to go toward cleaning up that black painted lettering on, what looks like in the photo, newlly paved sidewalk!? Irony...gotta love it.
Laura L Thornton
11:01 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Good points, Corbin! I hadn't thought of the Occupy DC folks, but perhaps that is one good possibility.
Last fall, Bethesda Patch reported that Virgin Mobile was doing some ads on Bethesda sidewalks: http://bethesda.patch.com/articles/advertisers-target-bethesda-sidewalks. Was that what you were thinking of? I'd forgotten all about that...