The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power

by Deirdre Mask

But another study found that statistically MLK streets weren’t any economically worse off than other Main Streets in the United States. There are more gift shops than bail bondsmen on MLK streets, more insurance companies than liquor stores. But does it really matter if the reputation is deserved? It might just be that MLK streets will always be perceived as bad, no matter how nice they are now, or how nice they will become. Never mind that many MLK streets run through commercial districts and college towns, pass through posh white neighborhoods, or circle government capitals. For many people, a street named after Martin Luther King can only be a black street. And for them, a black street will always be a bad street. No parks, no boutiques, no evidence to the contrary will ever make them feel any differently.