School closing + the loss of affordable housing = DISPLACEMENT

That’s the equation that is behind the loss of many of DC’s low- and moderate-income residents to the suburbs. Empower DC exposed this equation for displacement in an Info and Action Summit, Saturday February 4, 2012. Over a hundred DC residents, all concerned about school closings and DC’s affordable housing crisis participated in the event. The result was a plan to have an organized presence at Mayor Vince Gray’s Citizen’s Summit on Saturday February 11, 2012, where we will bring the concerns of DC residents who are most vulnerable to the threat of displacement to the mayor’s attention. For more information contact Daniel del Pielago at 202-234-9119 ext 104 or email Daniel@EmpowerDC.org.

Prior to the action planning component of the day, Empower DC conducted a popular education exercise which revealed many of the factors that lead to displacement.   Some of them, like the a new Metro station or a Riverwalk, certainly sound like good things but far too often we don’t think about how these developments will impact residents who can’t afford the rising property values that accompany these changes.  Everyone wants access to public transportation, clean parks and recreation facilities, not to mention libraries and good schools in their communities.   Why is it that in Washington DC, these things seem reserved only for those who can afford the highest rents and mortgages?  The question we should be pondering is how can we have development without displacement?  I hope you’ll consider that question as you ponder the following factors most of which relate to the Riverside Community, which is facing a school closure and heightened interest from developers.  Even though these factors relate to Riverside, notice how similar they are to development happening in other neighborhoods that are facing school closures.

School Closings

CHARLES YOUNG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (820 26th Street, NE)

Young is located right next to the Langston Dwellings (public housing) and Spingarn High School, Charles Young Elementary sits atop a hill overlooking Langston Golf Course and the PEPCO plant. Young was closed in 2008 and the city is now planning to surplus this property.

SPINGARN HIGH SCHOOL (2500 Benning Rd. NE)

Spingarn High has been identified as a Tier 4 school in the recent study commissioned by the District (IFF study) and is recommended for closure or turnaround. Spingarn is right next to Charles Young elementary which the City plans to surplus and the Langston Dwellings (public housing).

Spingarn enrolls about 550 students

77% of students qualify for free & reduced lunch

68% of Spingarn students are in-boundary which means it is a neighborhood school

RIVER TERRACE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

In 2010 DCPS proposed the closing of River Terrace Elementary, the community organized and was able to get a year’s extension on the decision to close the school. This past December of 2011 Kaya Henderson/Mayor Gray announced they would close the school at the end of the 2011/2012 school year. The school and the River Terrace community sit directly next to the Anacostia River on a big plot of land, close to the Benning Road entrance of the Anacostia River Walk Trail.

 

Affordable Housing

Since 2000, the District government has allowed more than 7,500 housing units that costs $500 per month and under, to be lost without an equal replacement.

Prior to 2000, the District of Columbia had approximately 11,000 units of public housing, but between 2001 & 2007 – DC lost 1,300 units of public housing without one-to-one replacement.

Currently, the U.S. Congress want to raise the minimum rent on the lowest income residents who live in public housing and Section 8 housing regardless of their income.  In the District of Columbia approximately 4,000 households will be impacted and could be forced into homelessness. Families living in Carver Terrace, Langston Dwellings, the Pinnacle could all be affected.

 

Youth In DC

Since 2007, 4,000 children have been affected by home foreclosures in the District

In 2010, 16,000 children had a least one parent who was unemployed (15%).

Poverty

23.23% of Carver Terrace residents’ incomes are below the poverty level. In Washington D.C. 20.22% of residents are below the poverty level. In the United States only 12.38% of residents’ are below the poverty level.

Carver Terrace residents have an even lower income than the other residents in their neighborhood of Washington D.C. of $27,019, 36% lower than the United States median income.

 

Metro

A 2030 Metro map forecasts a metro station in the River Terrace community.  According to Metro:

Metro boosts property values—adding 6.8% more value to residential, 9.4% to multi-family, and 8.9% to commercial office properties within a half-mile of a rail station. 1 Property becomes significantly more valuable as a property gets closer to Metrorail stations.

 

Anacostia River Walk

“The Anacostia river Walk trail Project is a 20 mile multiuse trail that stretches from PG County, MD to the national mall. The river walk project is being lead by DDOT and the DC Metro rail system will interface with the river walk to create a full range of transportation alternative in the region.”

 

Streetcars

“The streetcar system would increase existing residential property value by $1.0 billion to $1.6 billion. Most property values would increase 5% to 12%, with values likely to rise even higher in areas that have many prime redevelopment sites. The strongest growth in demand for both existing and new development would occur adjacent to downtown:

• U Street/Logan Circle/Florida Avenue/NoMa/Howard University/western Rhode Island Avenue
• H Street/Benning Road
• Buzzard Point
• Capitol Riverfront
• Other significant increases in demand would occur in Downtown Anacostia, Washington Hospital Center, Takoma Park, and Georgetown

 

PEPCO

On May 31, 2012, the PEPCO power plant, located on 77-acres along Ward 7’s Benning Road in NE DC, plans to decommission. There have been several bids made on the land to redevelop it as a mixed use space with high priced condos.

If you plan to join us at the Mayor’s Citizen Summit here are the specifics:

Join the Empower DC contingent at the Mayor’s “One City Citizen’s Summit”

Saturday, February 11, 2012
Meet at 11 AM
At the Convention Center
801 Mt Vernon Pl, NW

We’ll meet at the Mt. Vernon Place entrance of the Mt. Vernon Square Metro, across from Carnegie Library.  Our plan is to deliver information about the proposed school closings and DC’s loss of affordable housing to summit participants.   More about the specific information we’ll be delivering in tomorrow’s post.