Gun violence in Columbia Heights DC

[Anonymous]

Anyone with inside knowledge willing to share what can be done to reduce/end gun violence on the streets of Columbia Heights?

I've lived in Columbia Heights for about 25 years. I think the main root of the gun violence is the drug and gun sales happening in the building and parking lot of the apartments at 14th and Fairmont Streets. All these years, I've been on friendly speaking terms with the man who stands on the 1400 block of Fairmont every day -- he sells guns -- and he has warned me to never, never go into that parking lot. Now, I doubt any of this is news to the police or prosecutor's office. They do arrest people there and convict people of crimes. But the decades go by and nothing changes and I'm frustrated. When I talk with my neighbors about it, no one has any hope that it will get better.

A friend on the 1300 block on Fairmont was nervous that he wouldn't be able to sell his home because there were gunshots on the street every day that he held an open house. It took a month but he sold it, top dollar.

Before anyone asks, I am an active community member. I mentor teens, attend a local church, and donate to local nonprofits. I'm fully rooted here. What I would like to see change is that parking lot closed and the schools (Tubman and Cardozo) completely, radically transformed, in order to reach the kids and get them focused on a positive life.

[Anonymous]

"Vibrant density"

[Anonymous]

Preach OP! I’ve been here for 22 years. We’re very close to the recent shooting of the 15 year old. I think the first thing to work on is getting rid of Brianne Nadeau. She is worthless.

[Anonymous]

OP I thought it was all the guns coming in from evil Virginia that drive DC's rampant crime and murder. Now you're telling me it's a man who stands on the 1400 block of Fairmont? But how can I keep my hate Virginia narrative alive in light of this info

[Anonymous]

Shutting down the drug market would be a first step, and that is the job of police and prosecutors. No amount of community engagement will work without getting rid of the bad element.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I thought it was all the guns coming in from evil Virginia that drive DC's rampant crime and murder. Now you're telling me it's a man who stands on the 1400 block of Fairmont? But how can I keep my hate Virginia narrative alive in light of this info

There’s plenty of reasons to hate va, including unnecessary and obnoxious comments like this one. Wonder where this man gets his guns from? Most likely va

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I thought it was all the guns coming in from evil Virginia that drive DC's rampant crime and murder. Now you're telling me it's a man who stands on the 1400 block of Fairmont? But how can I keep my hate Virginia narrative alive in light of this info

There’s plenty of reasons to hate va, including unnecessary and obnoxious comments like this one. Wonder where this man gets his guns from? Most likely va

Perhaps you should fix your own community first. Gun shots every day sounds pretty bad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I thought it was all the guns coming in from evil Virginia that drive DC's rampant crime and murder. Now you're telling me it's a man who stands on the 1400 block of Fairmont? But how can I keep my hate Virginia narrative alive in light of this info

There’s plenty of reasons to hate va, including unnecessary and obnoxious comments like this one. Wonder where this man gets his guns from? Most likely va

Perhaps you should fix your own community first. Gun shots every day sounds pretty bad

That’s exactly what this thread is seeking to discuss. You woke up with a weird agenda and hate in your heart. No need to respond to you beyond this

[Anonymous]

Preach OP! I’ve been here for 22 years. We’re very close to the recent shooting of the 15 year old. I think the first thing to work on is getting rid of Brianne Nadeau. She is worthless.

This. To start with. Jim Graham was a mean-spirited vengeful corrupt AF crook, but he DID help get Columbia Heights rebuilt in the late 90s/early 2000s after the commercial area had sat decimated since 1968. He wouldn't have tolerated the collection of drunks who now occupy what used to be a child-friendly splash park.

But the problem then, as now, is that there is just too much concentrated subsidized housing along 14th Street. That was preserved, while the row homes turned over and the newer apartments/condos all catered to a higher income demographic. So Columbia Heights never got any "missing middle" housing---which it would get if low rise Columbia Heights Village got completely replaced with higher density but more mixed income housing. Concentrated multi-generational poverty breeds concentrated multi-generational crime.

And because Columbia Heights never had enough of one income demographic to really support the retail, the retail along 14th/DCUSA struggled even prior to the pandemic. The stores that survive are the ones that everyone shops at regardless of income: Target, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond. For restaurants it is chains like Chipotle or ChicFila. And the real nail in the retail coffin was when Pete's, PotBelly and Five Guys were replaced by the WaWa, which glazed over the windows so that there are less retail "eyes on the street"

[Anonymous]

I lived in CH when the the DCUSA site was a needle-strewn vacant lot, the Tivoli was still boarded up and every shopkeeper on 14th Street worked behind an inch-think wall of plexiglass.

I felt much safer then than I do in CH now. This is what happens when you build luxury condos and million-dollar renovated rowhouses right next to entrenched poverty.

[Anonymous]

"But the problem then, as now, is that there is just too much concentrated subsidized housing along 14th Street."

OP here. I agree with this statement and I'm glad you mentioned Jim Graham because I remember him proclaiming at community events that absolutely none of the subsidized housing would ever go away. People would cheer and I would think, really? It's just too much. I know there is a program that moves families to other parts of the city. The Washington Post has profiles some of these families and found that the adults have a hard time with it but the kids do better. I've reached a point where I focus my energy on helping the kids because I really don't know how to best help the adults so this program sounds good to me.

Another PP said the city needs to shut down the drug market as the first step. I would include the gun market. But I think that is more money and resources than the city wants to spend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I thought it was all the guns coming in from evil Virginia that drive DC's rampant crime and murder. Now you're telling me it's a man who stands on the 1400 block of Fairmont? But how can I keep my hate Virginia narrative alive in light of this info

At least people know where to buy guns now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in CH when the the DCUSA site was a needle-strewn vacant lot, the Tivoli was still boarded up and every shopkeeper on 14th Street worked behind an inch-think wall of plexiglass.

I felt much safer then than I do in CH now. This is what happens when you build luxury condos and million-dollar renovated rowhouses right next to entrenched poverty.

No, the crime was there before, but the lifers just lived with it. The gentrifiers want to change everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in CH when the the DCUSA site was a needle-strewn vacant lot, the Tivoli was still boarded up and every shopkeeper on 14th Street worked behind an inch-think wall of plexiglass.

I felt much safer then than I do in CH now. This is what happens when you build luxury condos and million-dollar renovated rowhouses right next to entrenched poverty.

In other words, you prefer concentrated poverty, and transplants should know their place. Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shutting down the drug market would be a first step, and that is the job of police and prosecutors. No amount of community engagement will work without getting rid of the bad element.

The community does not want police and prosecutors going after drug dealers.