Who Lives in Ward 6?

To get an overview of Ward 6, I looked at the NeighborhoodInfo DC website, which has lots of great data. Unfortunately, the census data only goes up to 2000, but website also has public assistance, financial, and police data. Some interesting items:

1) Population: As of 2000, there were 68,000 in Ward 6. The Ward had 5000 fewer people in 2000 than in 1980. The percentage of children increased by 1% between 1990 and 2000. In 2000, 6.7% were foreign born. About 50% have lived in the same house for the past 5 years.

2) Poverty: Between 1980 and 2000, the poverty rate stayed about the same (20% or so), the unemployment rate increased to almost 10%, and the number of people without a high school diploma went down quite bit (38% to 21%), while 60% of families with children are female-headed.

3) Isolation factors: These days not having a car is encouraged for environmental reasons. In 2000, isolation was measured by whether you had a phone and/or a car. 63% of households didn't have a car in 2000. I wonder how many don't now.

4) Child Well-Being: Between 1990 and 2000, the number of children in poverty increased to 36%. By 2007, the percentage of births to teenage mothers had decreased to 8%.

5) The Great Recession: Subprime mortgages jumped up in 2005 and 2006 (6.7%) from 3.8% in 2004. Last year, the median house price was $506,000, the number of food stamp recipients are up (13,396 as compared to Ward 3, which has 331), and TANF recipients have decreased (4,042).

There is a bit of an overview. I am now ready to get some much more up-to-date data.