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Today is Saturday, November the 18th. My name is Daiki Tsumagari. Do I have permission to record this interview? Yep, you sure do. And could you please tell me your name? My name is Samina and I live in North Petworth.

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In your experience, how has Petworth changed over time? We've lived in sort of this neighborhood for about seven years and I think there's a lot more families coming in. I think the older generations are sort of moving on and new, younger families are moving in and you see that a lot with the kids on scooters and bikes and families walking through the parks and going to the playgrounds. And are you originally from Petworth or the DC area? No, we've lived in DC for about 14 years and then, yeah we moved up to the Petworth area about seven years ago.

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So you mentioned how there are a lot more families, young families, moving into the neighborhood. Have anything been lost as a result of these changes or has anything been gained, do you think? I'm not sure about lost, but I think for sure a sense of community has been gained. With just people being outside more, you get to know more families and you get to talk with them more, and so you have this better sense of community around you and maybe a support system. And I think with list serves and community groups like that, I think that helps with families and helps you get a sense of who is in your neighborhood. And you mentioned this kind feeling of community. Would you say that there's any physical places that you would associate with community in Petworth now? I think just all of the small parks. There's also like Sherman Circle and Grant Circle, all the sort of little triangle parks that you see in between houses. I think a lot of times parents, especially after COVID, people are looking for a place to meet outside and gather. And I think all of those areas help. The playground down on Taylor Street also helps quite a bit with the water splash pad and the wonderful playground that's there.

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Do you have any favorite memories kind of associated with these places? I mean just the sense of just seeing your kids kind of meet other kids and having fun and what's really great, you know, having the-the playground on Taylor Street is that you can come up here, grab a coffee and a pastry and then go and enjoy a happier morning while you're watching your kids, which is great. And it's a great meetup spot with other friends there to hang out. And you mentioned kind of this the sense of kids, a lot of kids being in the neighborhood, and I guess growing up, what would you envision for Petworth five years from now, ten years from now, just going forward? I think, you know, maybe more, I think there are sort of, well, I don't know, Probably, I mean, for me, obviously more restaurants, you know, we have so many great restaurants on Upshur Street that I would love to see that grow and continue to grow. Obviously more activities for kids whether that's in arts or in math or science, but any sort of like more groups like that, although we have the library and other things which also are very wonderful. Yeah, I don't know I think there's a lot here I think we just maybe take what we have and just elevate it a little more.

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I like that. Well, is there anything else that you want to add, observe about the neighborhood, the community? No, I think it's just great. I think all the festivals are great. Porch Fest in April is wonderful. I think the neighborhood has really done a lot to sort of develop a lot of great things for people to come out, you know, whether you have families or you don't have families, just a lot of wonderful activities, like Celebrate Petworth, and all that kind of stuff. Thank you for your time and sharing your story.