Reply to Increasing density drives low-income minorities out of DC, new study shows

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[quote=Anonymous]Correlation is not causality.  As the author points out, displacement isn't happening on a large scale in nearly any other major city, yet those cities are largely doing the same things to develop as we are. So why is DC actually any different?  In my opinion, a couple reasons:

- The MLK riots.  Post-1968, large swathes of DC rowhouses and single family homes were considered undesirable to the middle class.  The crack epidemic only extended that legacy.  Lower-income people moved into those homes, and now lower-income people have been priced out.  But unlike other cities that had population declines, DC's economy wasn't very industrial and DC didn't have a commensurate economic decline, it just sprawled.  The draw to be close to downtown for commute and amenity reasons has remained pretty constant.  So, gentrification of the closest rowhouse neighborhoods to downtown (largely in Ward 6, as the authors note) has basically been the inevitable result of the passage of time and the gradual decline of racist sentiment.  The equilibrium of cheap rowhouses next to downtown was sustained only by our history or racism and unrest; it simply can't be maintained in any universe where those forces are not the most salient issues for homebuyers.  At least, not without trashing the city.  And, it's basically impossible to build more rowhouse construction in neighborhoods this close to downtown, so although building more large condo buildings can help a little bit, it's probably impossible to do enough to keep rowhouses affordable to lower income people.

- The height restriction.  All vibrant cities have lots of new apartment and condo construction. But here, that construction is eating up more land, because of the height restriction.  That displaces more people.

DC is pretty aggressive with its use if inclusionary zoning techniques, which is good.  Although there have been some missteps (e.g. Temple Courts is still an empty lot), a policy of limiting displacement by replacing low-density public housing with higher density development with large set asides to allow current residents to remain is a pretty good one given our options.

Two other things we should do in my opinion.  One, we should have a more sophisticated conversation about how we might revise and relax the height limit.  I don't think we need to get rid of the limit entirely in order to have some beneficial impacts.  The proposals I've seen are not very creative and don't take into account people's reasonable concerns on both sides.

Two, we should also be building more rowhouses/townhouses in neighborhoods that are currently more suburban, along with the transit infrastructure to make them not car-dependent, and we should be removing impediments to this kind of densification.  That won't eliminate displacement from existing rowhouse neighborhoods, but it will at least allow people who are displaced to replicate something closer to their current lifestyle.  Right now, the loss of quality of life associated with displacement is especially severe, because people are often displaced into neighborhoods with little transit access and poor social services.[/quote]

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