The Atlantic on SF: is DC too a failed city or about to be one?

[Anonymous]

But, she pumped on the dais! Trailblazer

She has to go, vote Czpary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I wish Columbia Heights had a bit more green space---the lack of public space isn't causing the decline. Columbia Heights has a cute splash park which is no longer used by children because it is a summer resting place for drunken derelicts. DC USA can't attract tenants to re-tenant spaces like the former Staples and Modell because (a) it is a tough market for retail anyway post-pandemic; (b) the unpermitted cart/table/tent vendors blocking the sidewalk and entrance to DCUSA are a huge turnoff to potential tenants; (c) DC won't arrest people for petty theft/shoplifting; and (d) there are shootouts in and around the metro. Granted, the shootouts are various bad guys targeting other bad guys, but sooner or later an innocent bystander will be shot. And all of this downward decline has happened on Brianne Nadeau's watch.

They are currently building out the former Modell’s and Staples spaces for Lidl. DCUSA will finally be about leased out except for maybe the Panera space. I don’t have many issues with the vendors, but they really need to just define areas that need to remain clear. The corner in front of Bank of America gets squeezed where I feel it invites conflict with people trying to squeeze through. The tents with the hot food need to put the burners on the non-sidewalk side, just a burn situation waiting to happen. Brianne wants to support these vendors but then does nothing to make it manageable on a daily basis for the general public trying to go about there business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I wish Columbia Heights had a bit more green space---the lack of public space isn't causing the decline. Columbia Heights has a cute splash park which is no longer used by children because it is a summer resting place for drunken derelicts. DC USA can't attract tenants to re-tenant spaces like the former Staples and Modell because (a) it is a tough market for retail anyway post-pandemic; (b) the unpermitted cart/table/tent vendors blocking the sidewalk and entrance to DCUSA are a huge turnoff to potential tenants; (c) DC won't arrest people for petty theft/shoplifting; and (d) there are shootouts in and around the metro. Granted, the shootouts are various bad guys targeting other bad guys, but sooner or later an innocent bystander will be shot. And all of this downward decline has happened on Brianne Nadeau's watch.

They are currently building out the former Modell’s and Staples spaces for Lidl. DCUSA will finally be about leased out except for maybe the Panera space. I don’t have many issues with the vendors, but they really need to just define areas that need to remain clear. The corner in front of Bank of America gets squeezed where I feel it invites conflict with people trying to squeeze through. The tents with the hot food need to put the burners on the non-sidewalk side, just a burn situation waiting to happen. Brianne wants to support these vendors but then does nothing to make it manageable on a daily basis for the general public trying to go about there business.

This is exactly the whole point and the problem. They could have reserved a third of that site for green space and a park and DC USA could have still built out the rest of the site. They could have pushed the building back from the street more to have an inviting place for people to congregate, instead “building to the property line” has led to space conflicts and misery.

Columbia Heights needs more space for kid. It’s needs more green space. Without those things it is uninviting and when the built environment is uninviting people that you would want to come there and spend their time and money will do so somewhere else.

I think Columbia Heights is the only neighborhood that I know of that has gentrified and then de-gentrified and it’s head spinning that it has all happened in less than 20 years. That’s bad planning and people responsible need to take accountability, particularly considering the canvas that they had to work with.

It could have been a beautiful, mixed income family oriented neighborhood. Instead they pushed out many families and then the upwardly mobile young people migrated to nicer parts of the city with better amenities and now this is what is left. Misery. And so utterly predictable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I wish Columbia Heights had a bit more green space---the lack of public space isn't causing the decline. Columbia Heights has a cute splash park which is no longer used by children because it is a summer resting place for drunken derelicts. DC USA can't attract tenants to re-tenant spaces like the former Staples and Modell because (a) it is a tough market for retail anyway post-pandemic; (b) the unpermitted cart/table/tent vendors blocking the sidewalk and entrance to DCUSA are a huge turnoff to potential tenants; (c) DC won't arrest people for petty theft/shoplifting; and (d) there are shootouts in and around the metro. Granted, the shootouts are various bad guys targeting other bad guys, but sooner or later an innocent bystander will be shot. And all of this downward decline has happened on Brianne Nadeau's watch.

They are currently building out the former Modell’s and Staples spaces for Lidl. DCUSA will finally be about leased out except for maybe the Panera space. I don’t have many issues with the vendors, but they really need to just define areas that need to remain clear. The corner in front of Bank of America gets squeezed where I feel it invites conflict with people trying to squeeze through. The tents with the hot food need to put the burners on the non-sidewalk side, just a burn situation waiting to happen. Brianne wants to support these vendors but then does nothing to make it manageable on a daily basis for the general public trying to go about there business.

This is exactly the whole point and the problem. They could have reserved a third of that site for green space and a park and DC USA could have still built out the rest of the site. They could have pushed the building back from the street more to have an inviting place for people to congregate, instead “building to the property line” has led to space conflicts and misery.

Columbia Heights needs more space for kid. It’s needs more green space. Without those things it is uninviting and when the built environment is uninviting people that you would want to come there and spend their time and money will do so somewhere else.

I think Columbia Heights is the only neighborhood that I know of that has gentrified and then de-gentrified and it’s head spinning that it has all happened in less than 20 years. That’s bad planning and people responsible need to take accountability, particularly considering the canvas that they had to work with.

It could have been a beautiful, mixed income family oriented neighborhood. Instead they pushed out many families and then the upwardly mobile young people migrated to nicer parts of the city with better amenities and now this is what is left. Misery. And so utterly predictable.

I watched the entire thing unfold (worked up by there). You are correct. It was horrible to watch the developer gold rush when metro came in. Yes it gentrified but was never "really nice". They didn't put a lot of thought to livability and communal spaces. I fear they will ruin parts of ward 3 now. They are doing the same ramrodding development thing. Remind me of locusts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I wish Columbia Heights had a bit more green space---the lack of public space isn't causing the decline. Columbia Heights has a cute splash park which is no longer used by children because it is a summer resting place for drunken derelicts. DC USA can't attract tenants to re-tenant spaces like the former Staples and Modell because (a) it is a tough market for retail anyway post-pandemic; (b) the unpermitted cart/table/tent vendors blocking the sidewalk and entrance to DCUSA are a huge turnoff to potential tenants; (c) DC won't arrest people for petty theft/shoplifting; and (d) there are shootouts in and around the metro. Granted, the shootouts are various bad guys targeting other bad guys, but sooner or later an innocent bystander will be shot. And all of this downward decline has happened on Brianne Nadeau's watch.

They are currently building out the former Modell’s and Staples spaces for Lidl. DCUSA will finally be about leased out except for maybe the Panera space. I don’t have many issues with the vendors, but they really need to just define areas that need to remain clear. The corner in front of Bank of America gets squeezed where I feel it invites conflict with people trying to squeeze through. The tents with the hot food need to put the burners on the non-sidewalk side, just a burn situation waiting to happen. Brianne wants to support these vendors but then does nothing to make it manageable on a daily basis for the general public trying to go about there business.

This is exactly the whole point and the problem. They could have reserved a third of that site for green space and a park and DC USA could have still built out the rest of the site. They could have pushed the building back from the street more to have an inviting place for people to congregate, instead “building to the property line” has led to space conflicts and misery.

Columbia Heights needs more space for kid. It’s needs more green space. Without those things it is uninviting and when the built environment is uninviting people that you would want to come there and spend their time and money will do so somewhere else.

I think Columbia Heights is the only neighborhood that I know of that has gentrified and then de-gentrified and it’s head spinning that it has all happened in less than 20 years. That’s bad planning and people responsible need to take accountability, particularly considering the canvas that they had to work with.

It could have been a beautiful, mixed income family oriented neighborhood. Instead they pushed out many families and then the upwardly mobile young people migrated to nicer parts of the city with better amenities and now this is what is left. Misery. And so utterly predictable.

I watched the entire thing unfold (worked up by there). You are correct. It was horrible to watch the developer gold rush when metro came in. Yes it gentrified but was never "really nice". They didn't put a lot of thought to livability and communal spaces. I fear they will ruin parts of ward 3 now. They are doing the same ramrodding development thing. Remind me of locusts

Ward 3 doesn't have the extremely dense concentration of low-income housing that surrounds the Columbia Heights Metro. That area is the highest density of low-income housing in the entire city, including Wards 7 and 8. And most of the neighborhood's crimes can be traced back to those developments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I wish Columbia Heights had a bit more green space---the lack of public space isn't causing the decline. Columbia Heights has a cute splash park which is no longer used by children because it is a summer resting place for drunken derelicts. DC USA can't attract tenants to re-tenant spaces like the former Staples and Modell because (a) it is a tough market for retail anyway post-pandemic; (b) the unpermitted cart/table/tent vendors blocking the sidewalk and entrance to DCUSA are a huge turnoff to potential tenants; (c) DC won't arrest people for petty theft/shoplifting; and (d) there are shootouts in and around the metro. Granted, the shootouts are various bad guys targeting other bad guys, but sooner or later an innocent bystander will be shot. And all of this downward decline has happened on Brianne Nadeau's watch.

They are currently building out the former Modell’s and Staples spaces for Lidl. DCUSA will finally be about leased out except for maybe the Panera space. I don’t have many issues with the vendors, but they really need to just define areas that need to remain clear. The corner in front of Bank of America gets squeezed where I feel it invites conflict with people trying to squeeze through. The tents with the hot food need to put the burners on the non-sidewalk side, just a burn situation waiting to happen. Brianne wants to support these vendors but then does nothing to make it manageable on a daily basis for the general public trying to go about there business.

This is exactly the whole point and the problem. They could have reserved a third of that site for green space and a park and DC USA could have still built out the rest of the site. They could have pushed the building back from the street more to have an inviting place for people to congregate, instead “building to the property line” has led to space conflicts and misery.

Columbia Heights needs more space for kid. It’s needs more green space. Without those things it is uninviting and when the built environment is uninviting people that you would want to come there and spend their time and money will do so somewhere else.

I think Columbia Heights is the only neighborhood that I know of that has gentrified and then de-gentrified and it’s head spinning that it has all happened in less than 20 years. That’s bad planning and people responsible need to take accountability, particularly considering the canvas that they had to work with.

It could have been a beautiful, mixed income family oriented neighborhood. Instead they pushed out many families and then the upwardly mobile young people migrated to nicer parts of the city with better amenities and now this is what is left. Misery. And so utterly predictable.

I watched the entire thing unfold (worked up by there). You are correct. It was horrible to watch the developer gold rush when metro came in. Yes it gentrified but was never "really nice". They didn't put a lot of thought to livability and communal spaces. I fear they will ruin parts of ward 3 now. They are doing the same ramrodding development thing. Remind me of locusts

Ward 3 doesn't have the extremely dense concentration of low-income housing that surrounds the Columbia Heights Metro. That area is the highest density of low-income housing in the entire city, including Wards 7 and 8. And most of the neighborhood's crimes can be traced back to those developments.

I thought that affordable, transit oriented development was supposed to be a good thing. Now it’s a bad thing?

[Anonymous]

The low income housing around Columbia Heights pre-dated the "transit oriented development". The Transit oriented development was the Class A (back in 2008) new buildings. Part of the problem with Columbia Heights is that the District should have redeveloped the low-rise garden style low income housing along Columbia Road into something that was more dense but also more mixed income. Instead, it was just Class A expensive apartments and then the existing very low-income buildings---there wasn't anything in the "missing middle".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should not be allowed to live in tents on public sidewalks.
People who threaten or harm others with dangerous weapons should be locked up.
People who walk into stores and grab things off the shelves without paying for them should be prosecuted.
Holding these opinions does not make one a racist or a republican.
So, so, sick of the sanctimonious progressives destroying the quality of life in DC.

Given that what you said is literally EXACTLY what the GQP says, I’d say that it does INDEED make you a racist and a republican.

It is this kind of rhetoric that is ruining us: Believe what we believe or else you are the enemy. The backlash is coming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The low income housing around Columbia Heights pre-dated the "transit oriented development". The Transit oriented development was the Class A (back in 2008) new buildings. Part of the problem with Columbia Heights is that the District should have redeveloped the low-rise garden style low income housing along Columbia Road into something that was more dense but also more mixed income. Instead, it was just Class A expensive apartments and then the existing very low-income buildings---there wasn't anything in the "missing middle".

Missing middle is housing type between 2-6 units. It doesn’t refer to IZ. What are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should not be allowed to live in tents on public sidewalks.
People who threaten or harm others with dangerous weapons should be locked up.
People who walk into stores and grab things off the shelves without paying for them should be prosecuted.
Holding these opinions does not make one a racist or a republican.
So, so, sick of the sanctimonious progressives destroying the quality of life in DC.

Given that what you said is literally EXACTLY what the GQP says, I’d say that it does INDEED make you a racist and a republican.

It is this kind of rhetoric that is ruining us: Believe what we believe or else you are the enemy. The backlash is coming.

Seriously. There is going to be a November blood bath because any deviation from any policy detail renders one a RACIST. Most people, myself included, are sick and tired of it. It’s incredibly condescending to minorities, many of whom appreciate law and order. To assume minorities want to tramp through human feces and be robbed is incredibly racist!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The low income housing around Columbia Heights pre-dated the "transit oriented development". The Transit oriented development was the Class A (back in 2008) new buildings. Part of the problem with Columbia Heights is that the District should have redeveloped the low-rise garden style low income housing along Columbia Road into something that was more dense but also more mixed income. Instead, it was just Class A expensive apartments and then the existing very low-income buildings---there wasn't anything in the "missing middle".

Missing middle is housing type between 2-6 units. It doesn’t refer to IZ. What are you talking about?

Sorry, I was using "missing middle" to refer to income brackets not unit sizes. Most of the Section 8 housing around Columbia Heights is 30% AMI, i.e., very low income. There needs to be affordable housing in the 60%/80%/100% AMI as well as the Class A top-market rents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is nothing like SF

…yet. But it is getting there. Just heard about another daytime robbery where people brazenly walk off with a full shopping cart of goods; cops are not even called.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The low income housing around Columbia Heights pre-dated the "transit oriented development". The Transit oriented development was the Class A (back in 2008) new buildings. Part of the problem with Columbia Heights is that the District should have redeveloped the low-rise garden style low income housing along Columbia Road into something that was more dense but also more mixed income. Instead, it was just Class A expensive apartments and then the existing very low-income buildings---there wasn't anything in the "missing middle".

Missing middle is housing type between 2-6 units. It doesn’t refer to IZ. What are you talking about?

Sorry, I was using "missing middle" to refer to income brackets not unit sizes. Most of the Section 8 housing around Columbia Heights is 30% AMI, i.e., very low income. There needs to be affordable housing in the 60%/80%/100% AMI as well as the Class A top-market rents.

Glad you did your research on housing affordability buzzwords and came back to save yourself from embarrassment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should not be allowed to live in tents on public sidewalks.
People who threaten or harm others with dangerous weapons should be locked up.
People who walk into stores and grab things off the shelves without paying for them should be prosecuted.
Holding these opinions does not make one a racist or a republican.
So, so, sick of the sanctimonious progressives destroying the quality of life in DC.

Given that what you said is literally EXACTLY what the GQP says, I’d say that it does INDEED make you a racist and a republican.

It is this kind of rhetoric that is ruining us: Believe what we believe or else you are the enemy. The backlash is coming.

Seriously. There is going to be a November blood bath because any deviation from any policy detail renders one a RACIST. Most people, myself included, are sick and tired of it. It’s incredibly condescending to minorities, many of whom appreciate law and order. To assume minorities want to tramp through human feces and be robbed is incredibly racist!

+ 1 brown voter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should not be allowed to live in tents on public sidewalks.
People who threaten or harm others with dangerous weapons should be locked up.
People who walk into stores and grab things off the shelves without paying for them should be prosecuted.
Holding these opinions does not make one a racist or a republican.
So, so, sick of the sanctimonious progressives destroying the quality of life in DC.

Given that what you said is literally EXACTLY what the GQP says, I’d say that it does INDEED make you a racist and a republican.

It is this kind of rhetoric that is ruining us: Believe what we believe or else you are the enemy. The backlash is coming.

Seriously. There is going to be a November blood bath because any deviation from any policy detail renders one a RACIST. Most people, myself included, are sick and tired of it. It’s incredibly condescending to minorities, many of whom appreciate law and order. To assume minorities want to tramp through human feces and be robbed is incredibly racist!

+ 1 brown voter

Non-descriptive “brown voter”. LOL. Let’s pretend for a that Hindu nationalists don’t exist, the Uighur genocide is fake, Bolsanaro is a statesman, etc. You think “brown” means you cannot be racist? What a joke.