Matt Rhoades is a native Illinoisan who moved to the District in 1992. He works in corporate communications and is the author of Borderstan, a blog about the Dupont-Logan neighborhoods. Rhodes and his partner, photographer Luis Gomez, own a border collie and a Cardigan Welsh corgi mix named Lupe.

What is Borderstan, and who coined the name?

Borderstan is a mini-hood — the western half is in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, and the eastern half is in the Logan Circle neighborhood. The middle of Borderstan is 15th Street, which is the dividing line between two police districts, two neighborhoods and two Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. We were having issues with police patrols, so we banded together across the divide of 15th Street.

One afternoon some of us were sitting around talking about a name. I came up with Borderstan. It stuck!

 

Your part of town has rapidly gentrified! Is it good or bad?

Both. There is so much more to do in the neighborhood — more shops, more restaurants and lots of new interesting people. Of course, housing is much more expensive.