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Developer Geoff Griffis wants to turn a rent-controlled Congress Heights apartment complex into high-end condominiums. Before he can do it, he has to force all of the current residents out. They will not leave without a fight. . . . → Read More: Congress Heights Residents Bring Fight Against Slumlord to Cleveland Park 
Cross-Posted from ONE DC In a town rife with Non-Profits that seemingly have all the answers for what ails longtime D.C. residents as they face gentrification-fueled displacement, ONE DC’s July 26th meeting was a much needed breath of fresh air for me. I asked permission to record the meeting for my radio show This Light: Sounds For Social Change, thankfully permission was granted to me to do so. The meeting opened with a visual recap of June’s meeting. A 1950 to present timeline of redlining and economic cycles that lead to displacement hung on one of the walls. An adjacent wall held a visual that had the word “Concentrated Poverty” written in the center, surrounding those words were some of the commonly held beliefs about people who live in poverty; rampant drug abuse, crime, apathy. We all sat in a familiar “meeting circle,” introduced ourselves and said how long each of us has lived in D.C.; there was one man who has lived in D.C. since birth, 60+ years. Next we were led to do an exercise in which attendees were asked to present a physical movement that represents their perspective of gentrification and displacement. Some of the poses and movements included a young white woman who stood with her back to the rest of the group as she covered her eyes, blind to what was going on just behind her. A few people held stances of defiance, arrogance, indifference and helplessness. For the second part of the exercise, we were asked to physically represent empowerment, action and change. I was most struck by what one Shaw resident, who happens to be a black woman, did; she held an invisible protest sign high above her head, two young white participants quickly stood in support behind her holding their invisible placards up. What these three participants represented to me is the need for community lead, driven, and sustained movement for equity in housing, work, and education. Before the meeting, I interviewed longtime community activist Linda Leaks who handed out Terms of Empowerment, a seven page glossary of housing-related terms in which residents should become familiar when trying to remain in neighborhoods besieged by gentrification. I also interviewed Patricia Trim, a 40+ year Shaw resident. During our conversation Ms. Trim told me how her mother would come to D.C. during the week for her job with the Federal Government and leave her with relatives in Virginia. Ms. Trim’s mother couldn’t afford to have her stay here in D.C. until she was sixteen years old. Ms. Trim and her mother moved several times, Champlain Street in Adams Morgan, 18th and Wyoming, 17th and T Sts., each time staying in apartments until the rent was raised to a prohibitively high amount. Ms. Trim recently drove to Columbia Heights to see a dentist on 14th Street. As she drove to her appointment she realized she was in the neighborhood where she grew up. After her appointment, she decided to drive around a bit and was astonished at and dismayed by all the changes that have taken place in recent years. She couldn’t bring herself to drive down Champlain Street the street where she first lived when she and her mother moved to D.C. When she arrived back home that day, she went to her bedroom to pray. She tearfully asked “What I have done to fall so far from grace to be treated less than a human being.” I fear too many D.C. residents people are asking that same question. You like living near good schools, parks, well-stocked grocery stores, bars, restaurants, etc., but you believe that if one more high-rise condominium goes up in your neighborhood you’ll get priced out. Is it possible to have development without displacement? Are you concerned about how the DC Zoning Regulations Rewrite is going down and will affect you and your neighborhood for the next 100 years? Are you upset by the fact that DC Library officials are considering putting luxury condos on top of our central public library downtown? Are you outraged by the purposely poor planning happening around our City because City officials have put a major corporate welfare program in place which gives away public property for pennies, offers tax gifts to mega corporations, and grants significant zoning entitlements to corporate developers without proof of need? Are you shocked by the ever-widening income gap between the wealthiest and poorest DC residents? Are you worried that you will be priced out of your DC neighborhood because rents and housing costs are skyrocketing? If the answer is yes to any of these issues, and you want to find solutions together, please join the next gathering of DC FOR REASONABLE DEVELOPMENT Saturday April 12, 2014 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Meet at MLK Library Great Hall Please RSVP by email: dc4reality@gmail.com or call 202-810-2768 For more information go to http://www.dc4reality.org  One comment - (Comments are closed)  Gentrification  DC for Reasonable Development, development, displacement, gentrification 
Posted on Behalf of Empower DC Comments are closed Affordable Housing, Gentrification, Public Housing Choice Neighborhoods, displacement, gentrification, New Communities, public housing 
The Issue as told by the Washington Post in their article Developer Seeks to Give Adams Morgan a Taste of Luxury with Hotel Project: First Church of Christ at Euclid & Champlain Streets in Adams Morgan. For the past six years, developer Brian Friedman has been pushing a complex project that he says would reinvent Adams Morgan as a bustling attraction at all times of day, not just in the evenings. He has proposed transforming a historic church, formerly the First Church of Christ, Scientist, into a 174-room luxury hotel. His plan calls for preserving the church building and constructing a 10-story connecting building behind it, where there is now parking. And he is asking for the city’s help, suggesting that the new hotel not be required to pay property taxes for 15 years after opening. The problem as defined by the Champlain Street Neighbors: We are largely immigrant families who have invested blood, sweat, and tears to make Adams Morgan the hip spot it is considered today. We have lived through the rough times of this neighborhood and persevered despite crime and poverty so to forge a foundation of diversity and vitality that very few, if any other DC neighborhood possesses. Yet, despite our rich history and investments here, we have been left almost entirely out of the process and discussion of one of the biggest projects in recent Adams Morgan history. Whether purposely or not, our voices have not mattered to local decision makers at all. The treasured diversity of Ward One and Adams Morgan has already been under attack, but now this luxury hotel project will be take displacement issues to new heights, literally, with a proposal which seems to defy logic for a residential community and threatens our very existence in the neighborhood we helped to build. There are countless problems with a project of this size and of this proposed use for our families, some of whom have lived here for thirty years. A luxury hotel will increase our rents or put pressure on our landlords to evict us and sell their buildings. It will bring traffic of major proportions to a street full of kids who attend the two local schools within two blocks. Taxis will be streaming up and down our narrow residential street effectively reducing pedestrian safety while giving rise to more exhaust pollution as vehicles idle at the hotel entrance on Champlain Street. Hotel waste will pour into our collective sewers and other hotel uses will seriously tax our residential water, gas, and electric utilities. The small businesses we patronize will face increasing rents and taxes, forcing them to close and be replaced with chain stores. The noise of the 18th Street Party Zone will come further up into our residential community and hotel rooftop shenanigans will keep our families up at night. The multi-year construction will literally shut down our street and disrupt our lives in a major way — essentially harassing us out of our homes with nasty construction noise and dust. We do not want this luxury hotel which has been discussed without any heed of the concerns for our families which will be directly impacted. We need help! We want to protect what affordable housing and diversity we have left. Can you help us? Adams Morgan Residents for Reasonable Development Protest the Proposed Luxury Hotel at Unity Park Chanting, “Comunidad Si, Hotel No!” The local organizing group Adams Morgan for Responsible Redevelopment asks, “why has Jim Graham pushed through a $46 million tax gift for a luxury hotel, while small businesses get no help and social services are cut?!” Their list of concerns is even more extensive than Champlain Street Neighbors’. According to Adams Morgan for Responsible Development the proposed hotel: Won’t create jobs that pay a living wage and won’t afford workers enough money to actually live in Adams Morgan, let alone raise a family. Won’t bring the day-time foot traffic being touted by developers–wealthy tourists won’t likely patronize mos neighborhood-serving ‘mom and pop’ retail and commercial stores. Won’t provide enough revenue from hotel guests to outpace increases in commercial rents and increasing costs of goods. Will increase residential rents and property taxes–eliminating what is left of affordable housing in Adams Morgan. Will displace families and residents living in affordable rental units in proximity to the proposed hotel location. Will significantly increase traffic and noise and pollution on residential streets_impacting pedestrian safety, especially the safety of our kids. Will bring the weekend . . . → Read More: Neighborhood Groups Oppose Luxury Hotel In Adams Morgan Comments are closed Public Property Adams Morgan, Adams Morgan for Responsible Development, audio podcast, Brian Friedman, Champlain Street Neighbors, Church of Christ Scientist, displacement, gentrification, Grand Festival of Justice for the People, Jim Graham, Latino Media Collective, luxury hotel, Unity Park, WPFW |
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