I was with a few colleagues celebrating the start to the new school year when one of them asked me: 

Do you live in Camden because you want to, or because you believe it’s the right thing to do?

I get it. I write a lot here about issues like segregation, white saviorism, gentrification, race and more. And my family’s decision to live in Camden is certainly grounded in my worldview — I do think there is something valuable about living where you work, especially if you’re doing work in communities that have so often been silenced, and in the middle of an unbelievably segregated region. 

And maybe, when I first moved here, it was in part because the activists involved in my research in New Orleans had been so insistent that you couldn’t truly do the work I was trying to do without being there. In that sense, the opportunity to live in Camden was also an opportunity to live my values. 

But I’ve been here 5 years now. And living in Camden is so much more than that (and so much more complicated than that). Camden is also a chance for me to walk to and from work. It’s where many of my closest friends live. It’s home to the restaurant that catered events for my wedding. 

And yes. It’s been important to my work. I tell people all the time — it’s one thing to write about how residents here don’t get to vote for their board of education, it’s another thing to show up to vote and feel the injustice of it. It’s changed the type of scholar I am. Being in Camden has deeply grounded my understanding of segregation and race in particular, I see the smallest part of how segregation impacts day-to-day life every time a new acquaintance says oh, you live in Camden. 

But living here makes those parts of the decision feel smaller. Yes, I’m here because of my values. But I’m also here because Camden, like so many places, is full of amazing people, amazing food, amazing culture and more. I’m more able to have day-to-day conversations about the real experience of living here — not just about systemic injustices but about the quiet things — the access to Old City in Philly, the pedestrian bridge closing at 9pm, or the restaurants downtown shuttering once commuters make their mass exodus. I can talk about my neighbors, or where the best places are to get away from campus. 

In many ways I look back at myself five years ago — so sure that this was the right thing — and I have to laugh. The stakes felt so high. But living here makes you wrestle with the mundane — Camden is not just a story of deindustrialization, segregation or redevelopment. It’s a place where I walk my dog, make my friends, and work. Like so many other communities, it has rich history and deep roots. 

Increasingly, I feel like Camden is less a referendum on my choices, and more a part of my daily life. And I like that.

I’d love to hear why you live here (or somewhere else), if you’d like to share!