Reply to Bowser Spreads the Wealth opens homeless shelters in each DC ward

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Alexandria City does the mixed use housing with mixed results.  The presence of public housing units does keep prices lower in the market rate properties compared to similar properties without public housing units.

Unfortunately, it is the reality of the new economy that people cannot earn enough to provide housing for themselves, particularly when they have children they cannot afford to raise.   The government must step in to provide shelter or the related social,problems will only grow worse

Those who benefit from the economy are subsidizing those who do not.  It is very simple and a reality that will never be changed.

[/quote]

Yep.

Decades and decades of segregated housing and ignoring the plight of lie income African Americans in DC has yielded a crisis. Truly.

Fortunately, Mayor Bowser gets it and is attempting to fix the problem.

[/quote]

DC wasn't "segregated" - it was overwhelmingly majority AA and AA run.  Gentrification didn't cause the problems - they were already there.  Whites suddenly became a convenient excuse and scapegoat for decades of pre-existing problems.[/quote]

Oy vey...I don't have time to break this down for you.

In short: zoning laws were historically driven by racism and classism. It's a thing. Google it.

I know that you know that generational poverty exists in the bad areas of DC that you would never live. And you realize that those areas have high crime, bad schools, poor housing stock, etc. Google food deserts.

Now google opportunity zones.

And stop painting white yuppies as victims. Jesus. If you don't want to live near brown people, then move to Chevy Chase View in Kensington. Literally everyone is white, catholic and republican. You'll love it there, but you'll need some money to afford a $1.3 million home. Home prices are high to keep out the riff raff...see how that works? [/quote]

Yeah, it's a "thing" in some places but here in DC you are at total odds with actual facts and history.  The fact is the city has been AA run since the late 1960s.  No matter how badly you want to, you cannot retroactively blame the white yuppies who only arrived a few years ago for the past 50 years of bad zoning laws, bad schools, poor housing stocks, food deserts, crime, and the last couple generations worth of multigenerational poverty in DC.  It was blacks - not whites - who had the power and position and opportunity and ability to change all that, had they wanted to.[/quote]

Sigh.

The bad areas of DC have been ignored for decades. Generations, actually. Fact.

I'm not placing the blame squarely on white yuppies, but you are naive if you think the city leaders haven't pandered to white yuppies and corporate interests.

The fact of the matter is that Bowser is the first mayor to proactively address homelessness by throwing money at the problem. She has a great team in place and I'm optimistic that her efforts will be successful. [/quote]

Ignored for the past 50 years by black administrations, who for decades didn't exactly have white yuppies or corporate interests to pander to in the first place.

Great that Bowser wants to do something about it but there's more to it than just throwing money at the problem, there's more to it than just randomly slicing DC General up and transplanting sections of it to different wards.  Not to mention, crony developers with their hands in the pie looking to further their own interests...  Thus far that's all the plan seems to describe.  Maybe she's well-intentioned but I just don't share your optimism.[/quote]

Sigh. Please read the thread.

Google Laura Zeilinger. She's the former head of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness. She left that sweet Fed gig where she was at the center of promoting best practices to lead Bowser's efforts to effectively address homelessness.

I don't care what you think, pp...I actually know that Bowser's plan will work. She is up to speed on the data and best practices. She's investing money in systems change. She's not stupid; she's doing all the right things. You should be proud that you finally have an effective leader.

I don't work for Bowser. I don't work in the DC system. But I know what's going on here, and this is the best approach. Let's resurrect this thread in 3 years and see where things stand. I'm betting the city will be able to document progress. I'm also confident that toddler crime stats won't be an issue. [/quote]

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