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Okay. It is September 27th. Yes. 2024. We are at` Art All night, Mount Pleasant. Could you tell us your name? Hi, I'm Samiah.

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Samiah Davis. Samiah! Could you tell us about, um, your connection to the neighborhood? Okay, so I live on 16th Street, not too far away.

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Like maybe a two minute walk from here. Oh. That's nice. Okay. And how long have you been there? Officially a year.

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Last week I just renewed my lease, so I'm feeling really good about it. Congratulations. Yes.

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And what brought you to this neighborhood in particular? Honestly, I didn't know much about the neighborhood. I was very frantic trying to find

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an apartment last summer, last minute for a job. And I found, like, I just looked up apartments near me on Google, and I found my apartment and I walked in. I did a quick tour, and I was like, you know what?

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It's close to Rock Creek Park. Why not? And now I'm here for another year, so I like it. That's great.

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And so before that, you were somewhat nearby to be googling near me. Yes. Where were you before?

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So before that, I was at Howard University. I was doing my undergrad studying computer information systems and Spanish, so I found a full time job. Very thankful for that.

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And I was like, you know what? DC is a great place to kind of start my career and build a community. So I was like, I want to stay.

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That's great. And what what about what about the city? And maybe more particular, particularly about this kind of neighborhood, these neighborhoods

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kind of made you feel like you wanted to make a home here? Um, I got really big into cycling over the past year. It's been a nice outlet for me to kind of just listen to music and release from the day, and I found this area to be like 99 out of

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100% cycle friendly. And I was like, okay, you know what? I can do this. I can stay here.

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I saw how close it was to the park, how close it was to my job, and it just seemed like a really tight knit community. Even walking through it, people

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were saying hi to me and they've never seen me before. And I was like, okay, this is somewhere where I want to be. Oh that's. Terrific.

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So cycling is important to your sense of community? Yes. Are you a competitive cyclist? Oh, nothing competitive.

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I'm more like leisure sometimes. Work out, commute wise. So nothing. Nothing too serious yet.

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And do you cycle with others or you usually just-? Now, I do cycle with other people. And I think it's like the Saturday Mount Pleasant market. They have like a bike repair that goes on.

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And I did not know how to take off my front tire, and I was very frantic about it. I was about to go on the Amtrak and I went to them and I was like, you know, can someone just teach

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me how to do this really quickly? And they were so nice, so friendly. And I met a few ladies and they were like, you know what? If you want to come with us on

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Sunday, we do like a nice, very calm ride. You can join us. And I stayed in touch with them. I'm really glad for that.

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I had to overlook, like the age barrier of like, you know, we're a different age groups, different life settings, but that doesn't mean we can't connect and be friends.

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So after overlooking that, we go cycling. If I can commit to it almost every other weekend.

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So it's been really good. That's terrific. And so cycling is one important, important area where you've kind of built community.

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Yes. Are there others that kind of are important to you? Um, I think cycling is really big. I've been trying to really connect on my eating habits.

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So understanding where my food is being sourced and understanding what I'm putting into my body and I go to, I think it's like Each Peach Market that's on Mount Pleasant Street. Um, going to their cooking classes that they have.

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So finding communities and little ways on just the strip of my neighborhood has been so nice. Like I, I never would have imagined such a small community and a big city.

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But now being here and it's like I'm alone and I'm kind of navigating adulthood, it's nice to know, like other people have gone through the same and we're all, like, supporting each other through it.

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That's terrific. Yeah. So a lot of these places are right here.

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Yes. So close. Bringing bringing folks together both around food and cycling.

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Yeah. And are there friends that you maintain your connections with in the city from Howard? Yes. There's a few friends that I've maintained close connections with,

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but they live in NoMa. And honestly, when I go over to NoMa area, it's like I'm in a different part of the city, like, oh, okay, this is a city park.

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But where I live, I feel like it's more homey and kind of like a suburb feeling that it reminds me of home. Like, yes, it's very walkable,

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very easy to get around, but people are very close of who's in the neighborhood, what's going on, and something as small as, like the mailman understanding who I am. And I'm like, you know, there's like ten floors in my apartment

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building for you to be like, okay. "Hi, Samiah. How are you doing?" It's like, wait, "how did you know that's me?" So having that, I love it and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

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Oh that's. Terrific. And you said it reminds you of home. Yes.

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And what is home for you? Home for me is Long Island on the border of Rosedale, Queens and Valley Stream. So it's a mix of city kind of ish

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and also Long Island. So being here, seeing like little kids, I feel like that's not common from where I was at Howard and seeing young people.

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But I come here, I'm seeing kids run around. And I'm a firm believer of like, kids Being loud is a sign of happiness and joy.

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It's not a bad thing. And hearing kids scream and run around, there's like a burger friendly place and all the art on the walls decorated by the kids in the neighborhood.

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It's like, you can't, you really can't get that anywhere else. Oh. That's that's great. So it's kind of that multigenerational? Yes.

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Also knowing people, knowing one another. Yes. One another. And that that gives you kind of that reminder of of what it was

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like growing up. Yes, exactly. Well that's terrific. And, um, are there um, so we who

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are some of the people that you kind of stick out to you in terms of that are important to you in the neighborhood as far as community building goes? Um, I would say Lamia. Her name is Lamia West.

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She owns a or operates a organization called Black Eudaimonia, and it focuses on, like empowering black people and persons through nature, specifically through Rock Creek Park.

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And we were just I was just walking one day and she had a little sign that said free hugs. And I was like, you know, I could I could do a free hug.

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Like it was a rough day. And after getting that free hug, we remained in touch. And now I go on hikes with her organization. And I think that's really empowering for me, because you can

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find a community even when you're not looking for it. And it was at a time where I really needed support from other people and kind of like guidance of what's going on in life and so many changes.

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And she's just been a tremendous support for me, and I'm really thankful for her. So I hope she sees this. Oh that's wonderful.

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In five years from now, where would you kind of like to see both kind of yourself as well as the community? Um, in five years, I would love to still be here. Possibly in a different place.

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But the main obviously thing that is going to be a huge factor is the price and the cost of living, and even being here for just a year, I can rapidly see how things were one price a year ago, and this year it's an increase that

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is, you know, something that impacts my budget. So I want to stay here. I want the longevity of the neighborhood to stay here, the community, the familiness of it.

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I don't want anything of like that to change. But, you know, money is a big issue and the cost of living going up is hard. So navigating through that.

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Yes, yes. Thank you. Is there a question you wish I had asked you? Um, my favorite store maybe.

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Yes. I'm trying to think, um, my favorite store is. It's Leon's shoe and luggage place. Um, I've been trying to be more sustainable with my purchases and

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making sure it has longevity for it. So, um, I have like, like, leather boots and some leather purses. I was like, instead of donating it and getting rid of it, I can also just bring it to this locally owned shop.

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And Leon, he's he's honestly like my best friend at this point. Like, I go to him with my bags. I'm like, you know, I don't know what I did.

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Like, tonight I'm wearing one of my bags out in the rain, so I'm probably going to go to him like in a few days and explain, like, this is what's going on. But he's very cordial, very friendly, very honest.

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Like sometimes I'll bring something to him where I acquire at the Frugalista, another store on Mount Pleasant Road. It's like a thrift store, so I'll bring something from there and then kind of take it to him and say, like, can you just make it

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look a little nicer? And within a day or two he'll do something phenomenal. So me and him, I really appreciate him.

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Thank you so much. Yes, I appreciate it. Of course.