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]I'm aware of the opposition in Wards 5 and 6. It comes from a different place than the Ward 3 issues. I am not a fan of Ward 3, it's true. Don't live there. Don't want to live there. But it's not "an obsession or vendetta" because I was speaking about the specific concerns being raised on this thread about that location. If you'd like to talk about the concerns with the shelters in Wards 1, 5 or 6, I'm happy to talk about those concerns, though what I have observed is that the concerns are not "don't want those people in our neighborhood" but "we have 3 shelters already in our neighborhood" and/or "that site is not a safe place for children either." Different conversation. Happy to have it.[/quote]

Ward 3 sounds like pure NIMBY, whereas it's a different situation in Ward 6, where residents have already borne the brunt of several decades of planning and policy that specifically CONCENTRATED poverty there.  And the proposed shelter in Ward 6 concentrates even more poverty there.  The shelter is being proposed within a few blocks of Greenleaf Gardens, James River and other public housing units, there are already hundreds of poverty-level people concentrated there thanks to city policies.  Ward 6 already has more homeless shelters and already has almost double the amount of public housing, and is already constructing far more affordable housing, as compared to just about every other ward in the city.  If Bowser's intent was to DE-concentrate poverty then she kind of missed the mark where it comes to Ward 6.  Poverty has, by policy, ALREADY been spread to Ward 6, before the DC General plan even came along.[/quote]

I get that the nearby Ward 3 residents think that this is a back-door scheme for a well-connected insider to get upzoning on parcel (and thereby increase its value substantially).  While Ward 3 may not have a lot of homeless shelters, where do you think that DC has been green lighting just about any development project to chase ever more and more tax revenue?  That's right.  Ward 3, which bears the brunt of impacts from such projects because that's where developers think they can make the highest buck   So in effect, Ward 3 as been the tax piggy bank and development field to fund a variety of expanding social services around the city.   So it's not as simple as you suggest.[/quote]

You don't seem to get out of Upper NW very much.  Are you aware of the massive scale of the development ongoing and slated for Ward 6 along the Wharf fronting Maine Avenue?  What about Near Southeast (Navy Yard), which is getting Class "A" commercial office space, hotels, a Whole Foods, a movie theater and marina at Yards Park, or H Street/Atlas District with its streetcar service and another Whole Foods, and appears to be a catalyst for projects on Bladensburg Fisd?  Soccer stadium and related development at Buzzards Point?  The Eastbanc project at the Hine MS site, which includes a Trader Joes?  The Fragers Hardware site?  The redevelopment of IGU and nearby industrial sites adjacent to Watkins ES.  Then there's nearby large-scale projects such as Union Market, Capitol Crossing and Ivy City.  Don't embarrass yourself.[/quote]

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