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I don't feel any neighborhood turning around is impossible. Indeed, Logan Circle/U Street were absolutely destitute for decades after the riots. So, yes, anything can happen.
But in Logan/U Street you are talking about an area that had at one time been a thirivng commercial corridor and upscale residential neighborhood, and thus had the infrastructure to support its rebirth. An area such as that which is around eastern NY Avenue has never been anything other than what it is today: a largely industrial corridor surrounded by light commercial and working class housing. For it to turn into a Logan Circle would require drastic changes that would morph it into something the area has never been before.
So, no, such a thing is not impossible or beyond the bounds of credulity. But it will take an extensive amount of work, and it will not happen within 20 years.
Probably not. But I have seen major changes in my lifetime here. 3 out of 4 of the last administrations have been very pro-growth.
I still get a strange feeling on the rare occassion that I am on U street. Growing up here, it was the universal reference point amongst both blacks and whites as to what to avoid.
Probably not. But I have seen major changes in my lifetime here. 3 out of 4 of the last administrations have been very pro-growth.
I still get a strange feeling on the rare occassion that I am on U street. Growing up here, it was the universal reference point amongst both blacks and whites as to what to avoid.
I hear you. I had family members who lived in Logan in the mid-late 80s, they still can't believe that we go out there on a regular basis.
Gentrification actually solves DC's public school problems. The poverty gets shipped to the suburbs.
It's going to take more than that. DC's public school system problems have less to do with how much money is pumped in but how that money is used and that serious infrastructure upgrades are sorely overdue.
The fact is the more eastward gentrification progresses, the more resistance it will face. But think about the possibility if the entire city was gentrified. Here's how I would plan it:
-The NoMA and Edgewood neighborhoods around Rhode Island Station would consist of high rise skyscrapers, similar to that of Arlington, Silver Spring, or Bethesda. Of course we're seeing this happen as of now, at least for NoMa.
-The Eckington, Bloomingdale, and Truxton Circle neighborhoods would become the "next Shaw/Columbia Heights" as yuppies, hipsters, and bohemians flock for cheaper housing. I believe that even though these are the inevitable next places to become gentrified, a light rail or streetcar on North Capitol Street would be essential to the process.
-The Brookland, Manor Park, Fort Totten, and Queens Chapel neighborhoods could be established as an attraction for TRULY middle class families, perhaps those who lived in other parts of DC during their twenties and are ready to own their own (row)house but still want to be close to their jobs and amenities of Washington, or those who live out in places like Springfield or Gaithersburg yet are tired of the relentless traffic they battle on a daily basis. This middle-class demographic could eventually spread to neighborhoods like Benning, Deanwood, and Keniworth, especially considering how many of these commuters could use the I-295 (SE/SW Freeway) along with Metro to commute to work.
-Trinidad, Ivy City, and the neighborhoods around RFK would be an extension of the Capitol Hill setting and demographic. Along the Anacostia river, waterfront development and nature restoration parks would abound side-by-side, along with an extensive "environmental gentrification" of the Anacostia River.
-And the most ambitious yet unrealistic of plans: Ward 7 and 8 of Southeast DC would see the total annihilation of section 8 housing projects and most other lower-income forms of housing, and would be replaced with upper-income single family houses and mansions, basically to model all of Southeast like its Hillcrest and Lower Fairfax Village (fyi, the immediate neighborhood around Alabama Ave and Branch Ave SE), neighborhoods that consist of mostly upper-middle class single houses (an exception to the usual Southeast neighborhoods). Now the reason why I pick Wards 7 and 8 Southeast for this ambitious plan is that 1) it's in the greatest need of a socioeconomic transformation, and 2) Southeast is actually very hilly, at least compared to the rest of DC, and despite it's image, there are parts of Southeast where one could get very spectacular views of Downtown DC and even the skylines of Arlington County (this is from personal experience). As a result, there could be high-end single houses and mansions glistening over the Southeast skyline instead of bland block projects and apartments. We could replace all neighborhoods that ends in "Heights" with "Hills," Congress Hills, Hillcrest Hills, etc. It could even be seen as the "Beverly Hills" of DC...ok maybe not that lavish, but you get the idea. The only part that I could see being attempted to preserve is the historic neighborhood of Anacostia, in which would reflect more of how U Street and Columbia Heights look like today.
The fact is the more eastward gentrification progresses, the more resistance it will face. But think about the possibility if the entire city was gentrified.
I don't think about the possibility, I think about the problems that would create. Basically, what you're advocating for is a more gentrified San Francisco on the east coast, where nothing is affordable to anyone except the wealthy, and working class residents are forced to head for the burbs. This is not an ideal situation at all. A truly healthy city maintains a compliment of wealthy, middle class and working class housing options. We're already seeing where many of the latter two categories are being forced to the suburbs, which creates problems such as increased traffic and pollution, sprawl, an inability to retain employees, loss of culture, etc.
DC and its residents should be very concerned should the day arise when Deanwood is no longer affordable.
I don't think about the possibility, I think about the problems that would create. Basically, what you're advocating for is a more gentrified San Francisco on the east coast, where nothing is affordable to anyone except the wealthy, and working class residents are forced to head for the burbs. This is not an ideal situation at all. A truly healthy city maintains a compliment of wealthy, middle class and working class housing options. We're already seeing where many of the latter two categories are being forced to the suburbs, which creates problems such as increased traffic and pollution, sprawl, an inability to retain employees, loss of culture, etc.
DC and its residents should be very concerned should the day arise when Deanwood is no longer affordable.
so so true. I've seen a ton of posters on here complaining about the lack of middle class housing, and honestly what kind of metro area can function where anyone with a reasonable commute is wealthy? I mean, if it gets to the point where the metro area is alienating everyone but the wealthy, how is the area going to survive?
This area needs some serious, serious, serious, serious transportation infrastructure upgrades. Everything, metro, highways, everything.
It's going to take more than that. DC's public school system problems have less to do with how much money is pumped in but how that money is used and that serious infrastructure upgrades are sorely overdue.
I agree it has little to do with the money spent. Gentrification will change the character of the students and the parents of students. IMO DC's school problem is 80-90% caused by some of the intractable problems of poverty. Montgomery County and Fairfax schools aren't so good because of their "systems," they are good because of the demographics of the population.
I don't think about the possibility, I think about the problems that would create. Basically, what you're advocating for is a more gentrified San Francisco on the east coast, where nothing is affordable to anyone except the wealthy, and working class residents are forced to head for the burbs. This is not an ideal situation at all. A truly healthy city maintains a compliment of wealthy, middle class and working class housing options. We're already seeing where many of the latter two categories are being forced to the suburbs, which creates problems such as increased traffic and pollution, sprawl, an inability to retain employees, loss of culture, etc.
DC and its residents should be very concerned should the day arise when Deanwood is no longer affordable.
The fact that middle class and working class people being non-existent in DC is a problem, but if you saw my fantasy proposal of DC, I would reserve Northeast DC for middle and working class individuals. Even though I would highly advocate the removal of Section 8 Housing, I would preserve and revive the residencies of Northeast for middle class and working class families in order to have easier commutes.
I would preserve and revive the residencies of Northeast for middle class and working class families in order to have easier commutes.
And how would you accomplish this--through a wave of your magic wand? If the rest of DC changes as you described in your post, there is nothing that would inherently "preserve" working class housing in northeast DC--those houses would skyrocket in value as well, and would be scooped up not by the working class families you describe, but by other, wealthier individuals looking to get in on the urban utopia that DC had become. I know your concept is pure fantasy, but running with it for a moment...if southeast DC eliminates all Section 8 housing and replaces it with Fairfax-style McMansions (ugh)--thus further raising property values throughout all of the city--there is nothing that would prevent something similar from occuring in northeast. Oh, you may utilize zoning mechanisms to prevent McMansions from being built, but there's nothing you could do to prevent the inevitable transition of northeast DC into an area similar to the rest of the city.
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Growing up here, it was the universal reference point amongst both blacks and whites as to what to avoid.
