Bowser proposes to add over 1,500 new affordable housing units to "Rock Creek West"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Oh well. Guess the joke is on you cause your position is irrelevant. The city wants to significantly increase dedicated affordable housing options in Rock Creek West and it’s gonna happen despite your alternative suggestions.
Looks like if you don’t want dedicated affordable housing in your neighborhood you’re gonna have to pack your shit and move.

No honey. It's not actually going to happen, simply because an administration produces a "report" describing an aspirational "goal" and then hold a press conference to announce an aspirational "proposal."

Okay sweetie. You can think whatever you want but the future of affordable housing in D.C. won’t be confined to the usual neighborhoods. When Mayor Muriel Bowser released the District’s Housing Equity Report, which will create 36,000 new homes by 2025, 12,000 of which will be affordable to low-income residents but guess what... they won’t be bunched together in the typical areas where you see low-income housing; they will placed to change the way things have been for a long time. The new low-income housing will be integrated throughout the District’s eight wards, giving those in lower income brackets access to the same transportation opportunities and amenities as those of higher income levels.

Now the public review period of the plan runs through Dec. 20 so if you got objections I suggest you get off DCUM and go find yourself a drawing board to get a plan together to poke some legitimate holes in the plan prior to that date - otherwise IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wants more low-cost housing in affluent city neighborhoods. The goal, officials say, is to correct a history of “racially discriminatory” housing policy.

How is this policy going to end up any different than when Bowser put formerly homeless people alongside long-term residents in apt buildings up and down Connecticut Ave? They think they are helping when in reality they are conducting social experiments without adequate support for the people affected. How is Lafayette or Murch going to accept hundreds of new students?? What about Deal and Wilson?

How can residents in "Rock Creek West" express their concern with this new policy? Is Cheh going to listen? What about those of us that are stuck with Bowser's lackey Brandon Todd in Ward 4??

I honestly don't understand the process in which someone's brain transforms a proposal for affordable housing into a proposal for housing the homeless.

Because it’s a relevant, contemporary example of how Bowser is interested in the appearance of change, not the actual hard work of providing supports so that real change can occur. She dumped mentally ill homeless people all over Connecticut ave without any concern for the impact on the new or existing residents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Because this ain't about PG County doofus. DC residents need affordable housing and it's not Angela Alsobrooks and the folks in PG County's job to take care of DC residents. Are you that stupid?

Why can't existing DC residents move to affordable PG county if they truly can't find an affordable apartment in the District? Why do they need to move to Cleveland Park instead?

Affluent DC residents leave DC all the time for Maryland. It's fine for poor people to move, too. This isn't an inherently tragic scenario.

Damn you just cold-blooded huh?

DC’s low-income families with housing challenges are working moms, people with disabilities relying on fixed incomes, and single adults in low-wage service-sector jobs. Many low-income renters are seniors or have a disability and must rely on low fixed incomes. Social Security benefits average just $15,000 in DC which is barely enough to afford $400 a month in rent.
But your attitude is basically, "Fcuk em, they need to pack their shit and move."

Struggling to make rent each month often means cutting back on groceries, putting off medical care, living on the brink of eviction, and being under constant stress which makes it hard for children to learn in school and for adults to perform well at work. Families may find themselves moving from place to place, losing belongings, and ending up in a neighborhood with even more challenges than their prior locale.
But your attitude is basically, "Fcuk em, they need to pack their shit and move."

Very young children who move frequently do worse than their peers on measures of behavioral school readiness, such as attention and healthy social behavior. They are more likely than others to fall behind and drop out of school. Families who have trouble paying the rent or live doubled-up are more likely to delay medical care or filling needed prescriptions, and are more likely to report being depressed.
But your attitude is basically, "Fcuk em, they need to pack their shit and move."

If this were happening to an area in West Virginia where all the pricey $300,000 condos going up were forcing low-income white families out of trailer parks I'm betting your attitude would be different...
"That is so awful they can't just come in and price people out of their own cities and communities"

But since the District’s severely cost burdened, extremely low-income renters are primarily African-American and most of the rest are Latino the reaction is significantly more subdued.
"Oh well, fcuk em. Those non-white folks need to pack their shit and move they can always just to go to PG County."

Cold-blooded.

This isn't a poetry slam, pal.

Yes, it is absolutely my position that nobody has a right to live at a particular address. There are many addresses currently available to lower income people. In fact, it's where they're already living right now. There isn't a housing shortage for low-income people in the general DMV.

My position

1. Concentrating poor people in already poor areas reinforces economic (and usually racial) segregation, and is bad for our society
2. PG County will NOT be able to provide all the housing needed by poor people in this region
3. Longer commutes for poor people is not a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's tons of affordable housing in PG country, but I guess we're supposed to pretend that doesn't exist.

+1

You buy a three bedroom house in Prince George's County that's a stone's throw from the D.C. border for $225,000.

I also find it shortsighted because costs overall are much higher here..Groceries, restaurants, services of all types are built towards the demographics of the area. Next we will need an aldi, shoppers, dollar stores, subsidized medical practices to service these residents.

I shop at Aldi's from time to time. Having one in W3 won't kill you.

Speak for yourself.

Real estate costs are too high for that type of lower end retail. So where are these people going to shop?? Where are there services?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Then you should also be worried about the commuting costs. Once you factor in the cost of the commute from Prince George's County, that supposedly affordable housing becomes a lot less affordable.

Red herring. the SmartTrip along the Orange/Blue lines and bus lines is no more expensive than the SmartTrip along the Red line / 30 bus lines. Try harder

Not if they are commuting to jobs in W3. Of which there are plenty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Because this ain't about PG County doofus. DC residents need affordable housing and it's not Angela Alsobrooks and the folks in PG County's job to take care of DC residents. Are you that stupid?

Why can't existing DC residents move to affordable PG county if they truly can't find an affordable apartment in the District? Why do they need to move to Cleveland Park instead?

Affluent DC residents leave DC all the time for Maryland. It's fine for poor people to move, too. This isn't an inherently tragic scenario.

Some poor people WILL move. As they have. The point is that DC should not have ALL the poor people leave. And Ward 3 should not be a reserve for the affluent.

[Anonymous]

Are people here really arguing PRO economic segregation? Especially with our history of wealth disparities and racial segregation??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Because this ain't about PG County doofus. DC residents need affordable housing and it's not Angela Alsobrooks and the folks in PG County's job to take care of DC residents. Are you that stupid?

Why can't existing DC residents move to affordable PG county if they truly can't find an affordable apartment in the District? Why do they need to move to Cleveland Park instead?

Affluent DC residents leave DC all the time for Maryland. It's fine for poor people to move, too. This isn't an inherently tragic scenario.

Damn you just cold-blooded huh?

DC’s low-income families with housing challenges are working moms, people with disabilities relying on fixed incomes, and single adults in low-wage service-sector jobs. Many low-income renters are seniors or have a disability and must rely on low fixed incomes. Social Security benefits average just $15,000 in DC which is barely enough to afford $400 a month in rent.
But your attitude is basically, "Fcuk em, they need to pack their shit and move."

Struggling to make rent each month often means cutting back on groceries, putting off medical care, living on the brink of eviction, and being under constant stress which makes it hard for children to learn in school and for adults to perform well at work. Families may find themselves moving from place to place, losing belongings, and ending up in a neighborhood with even more challenges than their prior locale.
But your attitude is basically, "Fcuk em, they need to pack their shit and move."

Very young children who move frequently do worse than their peers on measures of behavioral school readiness, such as attention and healthy social behavior. They are more likely than others to fall behind and drop out of school. Families who have trouble paying the rent or live doubled-up are more likely to delay medical care or filling needed prescriptions, and are more likely to report being depressed.
But your attitude is basically, "Fcuk em, they need to pack their shit and move."

If this were happening to an area in West Virginia where all the pricey $300,000 condos going up were forcing low-income white families out of trailer parks I'm betting your attitude would be different...
"That is so awful they can't just come in and price people out of their own cities and communities"

But since the District’s severely cost burdened, extremely low-income renters are primarily African-American and most of the rest are Latino the reaction is significantly more subdued.
"Oh well, fcuk em. Those non-white folks need to pack their shit and move they can always just to go to PG County."

Cold-blooded.

This isn't a poetry slam, pal.

Yes, it is absolutely my position that nobody has a right to live at a particular address. There are many addresses currently available to lower income people. In fact, it's where they're already living right now. There isn't a housing shortage for low-income people in the general DMV.

My position

1. Concentrating poor people in already poor areas reinforces economic (and usually racial) segregation, and is bad for our society
2. PG County will NOT be able to provide all the housing needed by poor people in this region
3. Longer commutes for poor people is not a good thing.

I'd add that they're not good for any of us. They lead to more traffic, worse air quality, etc.

My cleaning lady owns her own small business. She drives in with her cleaning crew all the way from Gaithersburg to our NW DC home. I'd be totally happy if people like her could afford to live in my neighborhood via affordable housing.

[Anonymous]

Not sure why this argument is so focused on Ward 3 when Capitol Hill has been targeted for nearly as much affordable housing under this plan. Can't wait for the historic-preservation nuts to start shrieking about it.

[Anonymous]

The problem that faces Bowser is that for every unit of housing she builds in Ward 3, she could have built 3-4 units elsewhere in the city.

Ward 3 land is extremely expensive. There are no large, open plots of land just waiting to be developed by the city. This isn't NoMa circa 2007 with acres and acres of parking lots next to Union Station just waiting for housing and amenities to spring up.

Further, low income people in Ward 3 will still be car reliant. The public transportation is OK at rush hour, but pretty much non existent outside of those core hours. Low income people often have shift work which requires travel outside rush hour.

Further, Bowser still has not addressed the school overcrowding issues that are coming due to a demographic baby boom. She will need even more seats to accomodate the new low-income families.

The point I'm trying to make is that Bowser is doing this solely for political optics. She doesn't have a real concrete plan to make this successful for low income residents. And, even worse, these folks may end up geographically further from their places of work, child care, and support networks. I see no plan for resolving these myriad issues. I don't even understand where she will get the land to develop new housing.

She'd be better served by re-zoning vast swaths of the city to get rid of restrictions on SFH blocks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Oh well. Guess the joke is on you cause your position is irrelevant. The city wants to significantly increase dedicated affordable housing options in Rock Creek West and it’s gonna happen despite your alternative suggestions.
Looks like if you don’t want dedicated affordable housing in your neighborhood you’re gonna have to pack your shit and move.

No honey. It's not actually going to happen, simply because an administration produces a "report" describing an aspirational "goal" and then hold a press conference to announce an aspirational "proposal."

+1

This isn’t going to amount to a hill of beans. The DC government is so pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Residents interviewed about the Mayor's proposal Tuesday in neighborhoods west of Rock Creek Park were largely supportive.

“We are a very isolated, privileged area,” E. Laura Golberg said while strolling through her Friendship Heights neighborhood, where she has lived since 1983.

The 71-year-old thinks it’s a matter of “simple fairness” for affordable housing to be available in wealthy neighborhoods, especially given a legacy of racism that shut out generations of African Americans and concentrated subsidized housing east of the Anacostia River.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Oh well. Guess the joke is on you cause your position is irrelevant. The city wants to significantly increase dedicated affordable housing options in Rock Creek West and it’s gonna happen despite your alternative suggestions.
Looks like if you don’t want dedicated affordable housing in your neighborhood you’re gonna have to pack your shit and move.

No honey. It's not actually going to happen, simply because an administration produces a "report" describing an aspirational "goal" and then hold a press conference to announce an aspirational "proposal."

Okay sweetie. You can think whatever you want but the future of affordable housing in D.C. won’t be confined to the usual neighborhoods. When Mayor Muriel Bowser released the District’s Housing Equity Report, which will create 36,000 new homes by 2025, 12,000 of which will be affordable to low-income residents but guess what... they won’t be bunched together in the typical areas where you see low-income housing; they will placed to change the way things have been for a long time. The new low-income housing will be integrated throughout the District’s eight wards, giving those in lower income brackets access to the same transportation opportunities and amenities as those of higher income levels.

Now the public review period of the plan runs through Dec. 20 so if you got objections I suggest you get off DCUM and go find yourself a drawing board to get a plan together to poke some legitimate holes in the plan prior to that date - otherwise IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.

I like you

[Anonymous]

Remember this?

https://wapo.st/2ZfAKtq

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember this?

https://wapo.st/2ZfAKtq

Yes, and the city should learn from that, fix it, and do it better next time.