The eclectic reality of development, racism, displacement, and dogma in DC: Supply & Demand Ain’t It

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Take a look at this brief list of DC stories on housing costs, rents, development, and displacement. 
 It's an eclectic list of information showing how dynamic the housing costs/displacement story in DC really is and how disconnected from these dynamics is the simple “supply & demand” dogma being projected by the #buildmore (without race and class analysis) troop.

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DC for Reasonable Development
(202) 854-8327‬
www.dc4reason.org

#BuildMore :: Without Any Race or Class Analysis

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We find it kinda funny, We find it kinda sad . . . that the people piping up in support of giving away public land for more (vacant) luxury housing are those affiliated with bankers, the banking industry, and cohorts in real estate or of similar interests.
In the past ten years of #buildmore championing, Ward One has lost another 25% of our Black friends, neighbors, and families (~~19k people). This level of gentrification is brought on by the luxury over development that drives up land values, taxes, and thus housing costs.

Source: US Census, DC, Ward Level analysis
Why do we continue to accept DC officials defining “affordable” housing as an Inclusionary housing unit available for those making $50/yr, when the living wage in DC is about $35k/yr?  And, why is it acceptable that someone making $80k/yr can qualify for an IZ unit?
Why is it any surprise to anyone given the huge wealth inequalities and structural income disparities in this city, that most working class people of color cannot afford the so-called “affordable” housing in DC.

How is any of this acceptable to you Greg or for anyone holding any of the levers of power to change things immediately, why isn’t it getting done?  Meanwhile the harm persists and you want to rail against those pointing it out and trying to find solutions.  Make it make sense. Please.

ggw_edit_1617ustreet1.png

How does DC Define “Affordable” Housing

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In trying to parse the efficacy of DC's affordable housing programs, we  first must understand how DC defines what an “affordable” housing unit is.
The three points below and sources help us understand the definition of “affordability” in DC.
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1. DC's premier affordable housing program, Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) in its ten years of existence has produced less than 2000 housing units, most of them studio/one bedrooms and most for single professionals making about $75,000 annual income.  To contrast, the families and individuals making the living wage in DC will earn about $35,000/yr and there are 30,000 DC people/families on the housing wait list seeking affordable housing.

Sources:
* Report, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, “Inclusionary Zoning Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2021” dated January 9, 2023, https://lims.dccouncil.gov/downloads/LIMS/52021/Introduction/RC25-0002-Introduction.pdf
* Article, Washington Business Journal, “D.C.'s inclusionary zoning program not benefiting lowest-income households, report finds” by Tristan Navera, February 6, 2023, https://archive.ph/ghkMx

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2. Beyond the IZ fail, recent reports show that DC's Housing Production Trust Fund has been similarly serving for the most part moderate income single professionals making $60,000+/yr.  And, this fact stands in the face of law requiring that the majority of the HPTF monies are to subsidize housing for the lowest income earners (aka those making the living wage annually or less).

Sources:

* Article, Washington Post, “D.C.’s housing fund falls short of requirement to aid lowest-income renters. It’s the first Housing Production Trust Fund annual report filed by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s administration in seven years” by Meagan Flynn, April 3, 2023, https://archive.ph/XFmnK
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3. In addition to the above two points, the bluest city-state in the nation actually extends the definition of affordability to those making $120,000/yr.  Yes, according to DC's regulations “affordability” is based on the ever growing Area Median Income (AMI), or the functionally equivalent Median Family Income (MFI) of incomes in the DMV as a region, including two of the wealthiest counties in the United States — Montgomery County and Fairfax County. This is why the developer for the highly subsidized Wharf Waterfront redevelopment in Southwest D.C. was able to (unjustly) qualify their “affordable housing units” as studio/one bedrooms for single professionals making upwards of $120k/yr.

Sources:
* DC Zoning Commission Case Nos. 11-03, A-K (https://app.dcoz.dc.gov/Home/ViewCase?case_id=11-03)
* Tweet, DC for Reality, “Let's not get it confused. When anyone (the Mayor; Developers, anyone) touts a project has 'affordable housing it may likely mean housing for individuals making $80-$120k a year as currently defined! DC needs to do better” dated February 10, 2023, https://twitter.com/dc4reality/status/1624111925494706177

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  • It's these stats that show why in DC “affordable” housing isn't actually affordable and why many of our residents are vulnerable to displacement and why many folks have to set up homes in tents.
  • There are solutions to DC's malformed definition of “affordability”  — one such is the Social Housing model.  Another, perhaps faster solution is for DC policy to be clearly shifted to define affordability as a percentage of DC-only incomes.
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Census 2020 :: Black Displacement from DC by Ward

DC Census Shocker: Ward 1 Shows Profuse Black Displacement While Ward 3 Has Grown in Black Population; Rest of City (except Wards 7, 8) Loses Significant Numbers of Black Residents & Families

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When the 2020 US Census numbers were published in 2021, local press guise the massive displacement of Black folks from D.C. as “integration” or “growing diversity” (over past 2 decades, 60k Black folks have been made gone from the city).

Also notably missing in any local census analysis is the fact that the ward scapegoated for being exclusive and segregated was one of two wards that increased in Black residents over the past 10 years.

CENSUS 2020 (WARD LEVEL)

DC lost 20,000 (-6%) Black population in the last decade by Ward,  Lost Black population:

  • Ward 1, -6,000, -24%
  • Ward 2, -3,100, -32%,
  • Ward 4, -7,200, -16% 
  • Ward 5, -5,300,   -9%
  • Ward 6, -3,200, -10%
  • Ward 7,  (0),  0%

    Gained Black population — Ward 3, +2,000, +58%  –Ward 8, +3,000,   +5%

In response to all the amazing comments to this post

Here are some of the key sources we can relay that support the Census chart demonstrated above and showing that Ward 3 increased in Black residents while the rest of the city (except Wards 7 and 8) saw the startling displacement of longtime residents who identify as “Black-alone” on the 2020 US Census.

First, going to OP’s index of all the sources regarding the 2020 census >> https://planning.dc.gov/publication/2020-census-information-and-data

From the OP index and one table in, find this chart.

Using the charts from OP, review the 2020 DC Census by Ward analysis provided by Blaine Stum, The Legislative Policy Advisor for the Office of Chairman Phil Mendelson :: https://mobile.twitter.com/Blaine_Stum/status/1425885669113712651

Then below, find snapshots of the US Census website demonstrating the startling numbers of DC Black displacement which you can access here >> https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html

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Also to note among the Census data points is the racial wealth income gap, a stark reality for those living and working in D. See the Washington Post Analysis, Economy, “The black-white economic divide is as wide as it was in 1968, Economy” By Heather Long and Andrew Van Dam, dated June 4, 2020, “… [T]he gap between the finances of blacks and whites is still as wide in 2020 as it was in 1968, when a run of landmark civil rights legislation culminated in the Fair Housing Act in response to centuries of unequal treatment of African Americans in nearly every part of society and business.” https://archive.ph/thnvI#selection-1621.0-1621.303

Moreover, there are 40,000+ vacant housing units conservatively citywide and likely more now!

(AOBA report 2019-2021 at p.13). Imagine now, how and why the blue-ist city in the nation can define “Housing Affordability” as a housing unit affordable for an individual making 120K/yr.

It is a preeminent policy failure that harms Black DC and increases displacement pressures each time you hear a developer, the Mayor, anyone say they are constructing “affordable housing.” See more here >> https://twitter.com/dc4reality/status/1624111925494706177

Build-Baby-Build

Compare and Contrast: Growth & Displacement

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Recently, the Mayor’s Office of Planning proudly announced that the city has started growing in population again.

There are apparently 3,000 new people in DC than there was in July 2021, pointing to U.S. Census numbers.

The local media quickly got-in-with-the-spin by parroting the executive to help spread the amazing word of D.C.’s “comeback.”

  • “U.S. Census Bureau Numbers Show DC’s Population Stabilizing”
    Prince Of Petworth, December 23, 2022
  • D.C. Sees Slight Population Increase After Two Years Of Decline
    WAMU, Jenny Garthright, Dec 26, 2022
  • D.C.’s population grew last year, reversing pandemic-related decline
    Washington Post, Fredrick Kunkle, December 23, 2022

Interestingly, it is the Federal City Council propped “think tank”, the DC Policy Center that checks the Mayor’s announcement pointing out there is still a net migration of single wealthy professionals (“urbanists”) to lands beyond the District and that the “new people” that are “stabilizing” DC’s population loss are likely babies.

Compare and contrast the recent heralding of new DC babies to two other data points:

D.C. isn’t constructing family sized units (3+ bedrooms) — Nearly 98% of all new housing units built in DC over the past 20 years are studio/1bdrm/2bdrm units (not family sized).

Many of the new young people who moved into the city over the past decade have hooked up, gotten hitched, and are starting families. With DC’s severe limits to DC’s unoccupied single family housing stock coupled with the almost zero new construction of family sized units, many newly productive DC families are leaving the city to raise their children.

What of the voluminous displacement of Black residents apparent with each major Census update ?

Contrast the recent DC baby news with the fact that the Mayor never puts out any press releases telling the tale of displacement of Black DC and working-families (maybe because its the policies of the city directly responsible for the harm). Instead, when the Census pops showing the horrible numbers of those being shown the door (60,000 Black folks made gone from the city over the past two Census cycles), the Mayor’s Office of Planning tried to spin this displacement as “choice.”

That is, the Mayor’s “planning” officials are suggesting DC’s vulnerable communities are leaving their Chocolate City, their homes, their families simply because they seek greener pastures. And, the local media went right along with this terrible trope, going further and suggesting that the Census shows better integration of the city (more mixing of races in DC’s neighborhoods).

Who do you believe it serves to champion population growth in DC while simultaneously downplaying the harms or worse rewriting the reality of displacement for tens of thousands of working families and Black residents who cannot afford the real estate speculation gold rush over the past two decades?!?

ARTICLES ABOUT GROWTH AND DISPLACEMENT OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS IN REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER:

D.C.’s population grew last year, reversing pandemic-related decline
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/23/dc-census-2022-growth/
By Fredrick Kunkle
December 23, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. EST

D.C. Sees Slight Population Increase After Two Years Of Decline
Jenny Garthright, Dec 26, 2022, 1:08 pm
https://dcist.com/story/22/12/26/dc-new-census-numbers-population-increase/

1 in 4 public housing units sit vacant during D.C. affordability crisis
Washington Post, Steve Thompson, October 19, 2022

DC’s Population Growth Has Affected the Racial and Ethnic Composition of Wards 6, 7, and 8
By: Elizabeth Burton, October 7, 2022
https://greaterdc.urban.org/blog/dcs-population-growth-has-affected-racial-and-ethnic-composition-wards-6-7-and-8

Meaningful Racial Equity in DC Zoning
Kymone Freeman September 16, 2022
https://www.weactradio.com/2022/09/16/dc-zoning-roundtable/

Leavin’ the region — Greater Washington faces threat of increasing departures to other markets
Washington Business Journal, Tristan Navera, Sep 9, 2022

D.C. Becoming ‘Chocolate City’ Again After Pandemic ‘White Flight’ Reverses Gentrification Trend — The Census Bureau released new data this week.
Bruce C.T. Wright Written By Bruce C.T. Wright, July 1, 2022
https://newsone.com/4364960/dc-white-flight/

D.C.’s White population has declined for the first time in two decades
By Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post
July 1, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
https://archive.ph/cFQWZ

Charts of the week: A pandemic-induced exodus has broken the District’s population boom
Sunaina Bakshi Kathpalia, March 25, 2022
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/census-shows-pandemic-exodus-has-broken-dc-population-growth/

Chart of the week: Are D.C.’s 25-34 year olds leaving the District because of pandemic telework? 
March 11, 2022, Bailey McConnell
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/young-professionals-leaving-dc-telework/

D.C.’s population is shrinking
Jan 10, 2022, Paige Hopkins
https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/01/10/dc-population-shrinking

DC had largest percentage drop in population in nation
Valerie Bonk | vbonk@wtop.com
December 23, 2021, 6:54 AM
https://wtop.com/dc/2021/12/dc-had-largest-percentage-drop-in-population-in-nation/

Why Is D.C. Losing So Many Residents?
By Christopher Jones • December 27, 2021
https://georgetowner.com/articles/2021/12/27/d-c-s-population-loss/

New census data finds D.C. had nation’s largest percentage drop in population
December 23, 2021
Héctor Alejandro Arzate
https://www.npr.org/local/305/2021/12/23/1067215177/new-census-data-finds-d-c-had-nation-s-largest-percentage-drop-in-population

Many fled D.C. during pandemic, halting city’s population boom
Washington Post, Tara Bahrampour and Marissa J. Lang, Dec 24 2021

1 in 7 residents of the D.C. area moved during the pandemic, poll finds — A larger share of area residents say they have seriously considered moving to a new community since the pandemic began
Washington Post, Luz Lazo and Emily Guskin, August 17, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Census Reveals Growing Diversity In Washington Region, Increasing White Population In D.C.
Martin Austermuhle, Aug 17, 2021, 4:15 pm
https://dcist.com/story/21/08/17/census-reveals-growing-diversity-in-washington-region-increasing-white-population-in-d-c/

2020 census numbers show where our region is growing and where it isn’t
By DW Rowlands (Contributor) August 18, 2021
https://ggwash.org/view/82241/2020-census-numbers-show-where-our-region-is-growing-and-where-it-isnt

VERIFY: Yes, data shows 17,000 more people left D.C. in 2020 than year before, amid pandemic
WUSA9 News, Evan Koslof, July 16, 2021

2020 Census shows U.S. population grew at slowest pace since the 1930s
By Tara Bahrampour,  Harry Stevens,  Adrian Blanco and  Ted Mellnik
April 26, 2021
https://archive.ph/yDQi1

Opinion: There can be no racial equity in D.C. when Black and Brown families are being displaced
The Washington Post/Opinion by Minnie Elliott
March 5, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. EST
http://www.dcfeedback.com/fit2print/dc/506

COVID Is Carrying Young People Away from DC — Whether They Want to Leave or Not
Hayden Higgins, Oct 15, 2020
https://medium.com/seventhirty-dc/covid-is-carrying-young-people-away-from-dc-whether-they-want-to-leave-or-not-e38ec01d6259

More than 92 Percent of D.C. Residents Have Responded to 2020 Census
by Stacy M. Brown September 23, 2020
https://www.washingtoninformer.com/more-than-92-percent-of-d-c-residents-have-responded-to-2020-census/

This GIF Shows How The D.C. Area’s Demographics Have Changed Since 1970
Jan 14, 2020, 4:32 pm
https://dcist.com/story/20/01/14/this-gif-shows-how-the-d-c-areas-demographics-have-changed-since-1970/

The Reason D.C.’s Once-Dramatic Population Growth Is Slowing Down (And Why That’s Not So Bad)
Jan 30, 2019, Martin Austermuhle
https://wamu.org/story/19/01/30/the-reason-d-c-s-once-dramatic-population-growth-is-slowing-down-and-why-thats-not-so-bad/

Census: In D.C., Black Median Income Is Now Less Than a Third of White Median Income And other surprising highlights from the latest U.S. Census data
by Andrew Giambrone September 15th, 2017
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/325548/census-in-dc-black-median-income-is-now-less-than-a-third-of-white-median-income/

Why do people move out of D.C.
Washington Post, Perry Stein, June 10, 2015

I have no proof that apartments in these towers are being warehoused and acknowledge that such a thing may seem counterintuitive in today’s allegedly red-hot market — or any market. But if demand for expensive units is softer than we’ve been led to believe, I wonder if landlords could be hiding supply to keep their rents up.

Lane Brown, writer for Curbed, in his Jan. 27, 2023 report, “New Yorkers Never Came ‘Flooding Back.’ Why Did Rents Go Up So Much? Getting to the bottom of a COVID-era real estate mystery.”
Affordable Housing

The D.C. Housing Production (Preservation) Trust Fund

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The Law — D.C. Code § 42–2802. Housing Production Trust Fund established https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-2802

Some important links to DC’s key touted “affordable” housing fund ::

DHCD — Website Housing Production Trust Fund
https://dhcd.dc.gov/page/housing-production-trust-fund

Housing Production Trust Fund Reports
https://dhcd.dc.gov/page/housing-production-trust-fund-reports

DC Chief Financial Officer report: 2022 UZ0 Housing Production Trust Fund
https://cfo.dc.gov/publication/2022-uz0-housing-production-trust-fund

2022

D.C. Housing Trust Fund to back McMillan redevelopment, other housing By Tristan Navera, Washington Business Journal Aug 12, 2022
https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2022/08/12/dc-housing-production-trust-fund-mcmillan.html

2021

D.C. misused nearly $82 million meant to provide housing to the city’s poorest residents, IG says, By Marissa J. Lang, Washington Post, October 1, 2021
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/10/01/dc-inspector-general- affordable-housing/

2016

New interactive map details where affordable housing has been created, preserved in D.C. (thru 2016) https://dc.curbed.com/2018/3/20/17144034/map-affordable-housing-interactive

What Happened with the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan?

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UPDATE ON THE CHEVY CHASE SMALL AREA PLAN AT THE DC COUNCIL

See below the expedient announcement from the Mayor’s Office of Planning that the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan (CCSAP) was adopted unanimously by the Council today (click here).

This small area planning process has shown that in the hands of the Mayor and Council Chair, growth of the city is fundamentally a factor of real estate speculation and online social media showboating and not actually about traditional planning.

The passage of the CCSAP demonstrates that desired profit driven private development takes far greater precedent over long term care of our public land, services, and communities, and that studying the interconnected planning issues and principles (as basic expectation in the American Certified Planning Code of Ethics) comes second to the parroted #buildmore dogma.

However, there is hope in a remaining layer of defense that you may not know about and I encourage you to examine and send me any questions: The DC Comp Plan lawsuit (click here).

WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY THIS RECENT WEEKEND CAMPAIGN ON THE CCSAP?

I want to share some results and news of this quick campaign to bring about some last minute measure of the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan:

  1. More than 70 DC residents, almost all from Ward 3 and Ward 4 sent letters for the public record to the City Council asking them to pause the vote, or simply vote down the CCSAP as not based on planning data and not including modern residential development alternatives such as “social housing.”

    Your letters represent an amazing wellspring of activity in just a few days time and it indicates others really care to a bigger degree than you may have imagined.  We put out a press release to this effect (click here).
  2. In response to your collective flurry of activity, at this morning’s legislative breakfast (the Councilmembers typically gather over breakfast to talk about the legislative session to follow), Council Chair Phil Mendelson was compelled to explain what the rush was with the CCSAP and he was moved to discuss the role and scope of what a Small Area Plan is.

    Mendelson’s meandering response and subsequent omission of what happens and doesn’t happen next (particularly at the Zoning Commission) is something to attune yourself to. Listen to Mendelson’s legislative breakfast comments (click here) and also listen to today’s City Council hearing debate (click here).
  3. Councilmember Janeese Lewis-George was moved by your letters of concern enough to try and pin down what role and effect the CCSAP Plan has on your community’s future and that of nearby Ward 4. Perhaps CM JLG is really someone to ally with so to eagle-eye how the Mayor’s planning officials and Zoning Commission act next.
  4. There was some interesting dialog that your letter writing caused among some heavy names in Ward 3, namely ANC Commissioner Lisa Gore (click here) and Ward 3 Council Democratic nominee, Matthew Frumin (click here). Mr. Frumin is on vacation, but he called me to say he can’t go from “0 – 60 mph” on issues like this and would not ask Phil Mendelson to pause today’s vote. His statements to me likely indicate he probably hasn’t been paying too much attention to the CCSAP process given the elections, however, he seemed open to a Zoom meeting with his constituents when he returns.

How did we get here — Some background

When I found out about ten days ago that the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan had been sent to the DC Council by the Mayor, I perked up. For, this was the first small area planning process since the Fall of 2021, when the Mayor signed into law sweeping changes to DC’s central planning document, the DC Comprehensive Plan and its planning maps.

Chevy Chase, along with the entire Ward 3 Conn. Ave. corridor, is located in a new Comp Plan policy map designation called a “Future Planning Analysis” area. Looking at the second map on this page, you can view all the “Future Planning Analysis” areas around the city as indicated on the new DC Comp Plan Generalized Policy Map.

The DC Office of Planning created these areas on DC’s planning maps back in 2020 to respond to DC’s good-planning advocates who said the Mayor wasn’t doing the evaluations and impact study needed to substantiate all of the Comp Plan changes, including 200 million square feet of land set to be upzoned (aka upFLUMed) around the city.  

The Future Planning Analysis areas legally require additional study and small area planning before any property owner in that area (including the city) can go to the Zoning Commission to ask that their properties be upzoned for more density.  

The CCSAP is the first such “future planning analysis” completed post-Comp Plan approval, thus fulfilling the new requirement. It’s safe to say that an avalanche of upzoning applications submitted by property owners along the corridor will soon be hitting the desks of the DC Office of Zoning and folks should be reviewing the Zoning calendar every week to keep watch.

The Zoning Commission is notorious for quickly approving upzoning applications (aka Map Amendments) and they do so in a way that also forgoes any premise of planning or study, just a rubberstamp for any density projects that comes their way.

CHANGING THE CURRENT HARMFUL UNPLANNED DEVELOPMENT POSTURE TO PLANNED SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

So, the above passages show how we got here now with the major theme of concern being the non-planning happening in this city.

All areas of the city that are upzoned for the Mayor’s desired density increases, like in Chevy Chase, means a substantial inducement of population growth. More people means more use and abuse of already at-capacity public systems and services. More humans means additional adverse effects on the environment. It means a dynamic change of the longstanding built environment that is a permanent decision.

All of these impacts, according to basic tenants of good planning, including many policies in the Comp Plan itself (click here), require evaluation and study to mitigate and plot the best course forward so that there are no surprises. 

City planning officials and some politicians have flipped upside down basic planning tenants — replacing planning with PR spin, substituting data analysis with popular tweets and social messaging madness, and walking back from real life scenarios to simply promulgating empty and redundant consultant-speak.

The planning data needed and expected to substantiate major planning initiatives and development changes are simply not on the record in this case or at all in DC. Planning seems something this city does as part of its growth culture, yet, but meanwhile permanent decisions are being made that will affect our lives very concretely.
We can change that if we continue to press the city to do better, collectively. 

THE ONGOING COMP PLAN LAWSUIT

I suggest taking a deeper dive into the complaint & arguments found in the ongoing Comp Plan lawsuit (click here).

Please consider joining as a plaintiff. We also need help with fundraising and donations, and are on the lookout for additional legal help, planning experts, and land use professionals, etc.  Please support us in any way you see best, but either way I strongly suggest getting involved in some way. Contact me using my info below.

The Comp Plan lawsuit may be the case that holds up all of this unplanned risky density-for-density sake construction, as our complaint has already survived the Mayor’s motion to dismiss.

IN CONCLUSION

I applaud all of your strong efforts, especially over these last few days.  I hope my assistance was of service and I continue to be available for any feedback, continued energy and ideas, tactical assistance, and seek your support on the Comp Plan lawsuit.

Chris Otten, DC4RD
Steering member, DC Grassroots Planning Coalition
202-810-2768
dc4reality@gmail.com

APPENDIX

Some Land Uses Don’t Mix: West End Library

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Quoting the architect of the MLK renovation Francine Houben of Mecanoo who in the February 2022 issue of World Architects said:

I never thought it was a good idea to add a residential volume on this particular public building. A library — a public building — has very different ownership, maintenance, and sustainability issues than a residential building. In the end DC Libraries canceled that idea, and changed direction. I think that was a good decision on the part of the city.

Francine Houben, Architect for MLK Library renovation

Ms. Houben’s statement rang true in spring 2022 at the West End Library (closed for nearly 2 months due to trouble with private housing units built above the library)

. . . cited from the source emails . . .

  ———- Forwarded message ———
From: Robert Oliver <lrlfriends2017@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, May 7, 2022, 8:55 AM
Subject: Temporary Closure of West End Library
To: DCPLFRiends <dcplfriends@googlegroups.com>  

Dear Members,   I am sharing DCPL’s official statement on the temporary closure of the West End Library.  

Due to a maintenance emergency, the West End Neighborhood Library will be closed for the next several weeks starting May 4. We will send an update when we have a specific reopening date.

Due dates for library materials checked out from the West End Library have been extended until reopening. Customers with active holds will be notified where to pick up their items next week, once they are moved.    

Martha Saccocio
DC Public Library Director, Community Engagement
(202) 604-8241 (M)   

DCPL ATTACHMENT BELOW:

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Pinto, Brooke (Council) <bpinto@dccouncil.us>
Date: Sat, May 14, 2022, 10:16 PM
Subject: RE: Temporary Closure of West End Library
To: robin diener <robinsdiener@gmail.com>, Hanson, Ella (Council) <ehanson@dccouncil.us>, Romanowski, Brian (Council) <bromanowski@dccouncil.us>

Robin – the information I received was that the damage was from an apartment above that led to water damages in the library. The repairs should take about 4-6 weeks (hopefully sooner!).  

My best, Brooke  
Brooke Pinto
Councilmember, Ward 2
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 106 Washington DC 20004
Office: 202-724-8058 Email: bpinto@dccouncil.us

From: robin diener
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2022 5:57 PM
To: Pinto, Brooke (Council) <bpinto@DCCOUNCIL.US>; Hanson, Ella (Council) <ehanson@DCCOUNCIL.US>; Romanowski, Brian (Council) <bromanowski@DCCOUNCIL.US>
Subject: Fwd: Temporary Closure of West End Library  

Hello CM Pinto,  
No one seems to know what’s up with the West End Library. Several weeks of “emergency maintenance” sounds bad. The library was built under a public private partnership. Perhaps that explains the terse notice. It is a public library, however, and information should be available to its owners – the public.
Hope you can find out for us.  
Thank you,  
Robin Diener 202 431-9254    

——- Forwarded message ———
From: robin diener <robinsdiener@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, May 25, 2022 at 6:14 PM
Subject: Housing over libraries
To: Romero, Gary A. (DCPL) <gary.romero@dc.gov>, Board of Library Trustees (DCPL) <BoardOfLibraryTrustees@dc.gov>, Richard Reyes-Gavilan (DCPL) <Richard.Reyes-Gavilan@dc.gov>, Saccocio, Martha (DCPL) <martha.saccocio@dc.gov>, Robert Oliver <lrlfriends2017@gmail.com>

In my capacity as Executive Director of the DC Library Renaissance Project

Housing Over Libraries

The latest difficulty (there have been several but this time it is flooding from a private living unit overhead) at the West End Library would seem to call for a hearing or roundtable on the pros and cons of housing being built over libraries, and of Public-Private Partnerships (ppp’s) generally. With three libraries — Deanwood, Rosedale and Northwest One — all proposed to be rebuilt with housing over them, we need a full understanding of what happened at West End and how we ensure it not happen again is needed. Options for our public library buildings such as combining with other civic uses should also be considered, as well as a complete understanding of land ownership and financing possibilities.

Under the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan recently published by OP, we have a large enough public property to combine the two civic uses — library and community center — together in one new building, while constructing affordable housing on the rest of the property around it, and thus avoid the potential for problems such as have occurred at West End. This exact concept was developed by Ward 3 Vision and is included in the Small Area Plan as one of three options. DCPL should endorse the concept proposed by Ward 3 Vision, and make clear that it is the best option for the Chevy Chase Library.

I would like to quote architect of the MLK renovation Francine Houben of Mecanoo who in the February 2022 issue of World Architects said: I never thought it was a good idea to add a residential volume on this particular public building. A library — a public building — has very different ownership, maintenance, and sustainability issues than a residential building. In the end DC Libraries canceled that idea, and changed direction. I think that was a good decision on the part of the city.

https://www.world-architects.com/en/architecture-news/insight/the-world-is-changing-we-have-to-update

For now, we can avoid the issues experienced at the West End Library simply by not putting public and private together in one structure, an option open to us at Chevy Chase because of the size of the property. In view of the likely limited size of the other libraries being contemplated for housing over them, further examination is needed, and can and should be had.

Thank you
Robin Diener
Library Renaissance Project
202 431-9254

Housing is a Human Right

YIMBY’s: D.C. “Desperately & Urgently” Needs More Housing

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We hear so-called YIMBYs constantly cheer on listserves and real estate blogs, #BuildMore housing quickly and voluminously. They say the city is desperate for new housing and we need lots of new units urgently. Any skeptics or detractors to this build-baby-build posture are quickly written off simply as NIMBYs.

Yet, the YIMBYs can never seem to answer these basic questions:

  1. New housing for whom? Is it the trickle down market rate housing being built everywhere or truly affordable for those making the living wage or less?
  2. What statistics substantiate the “urgency” for new housing? DC has some of the highest vacancy rates in the nation, will building more of the same help?
  3. And, why is the city tearing down the 0-30%AMI housing such as public housing to privatize and build more luxury housing?

Last we checked, the well heeled developer-class have collaborated with cohorts in city bureaucratic planning positions to usher in wave after wave of new construction, with areas of DC exploding with denser taller buildings consisting of expensive studio/one bedrooms.

Tens of thousands of new luxury units have been built in DC over the past twenty years and 9 out of 10 of these units are strictly targeted to wealthier single professionals.

But recently, it is this slice of the local demography (single wealthy professionals) who are parting with the urban core as they are forming families and being quite privileged and mobile they can move when things like pandemics unfold and impact our living collective conditions. Yes, it is these new residents who stormed into the city over the past decade who are now choosing to leave the big box luxury buildings that were designed for them and are moving into single family homes in outer city limits and back to suburbia. 

Thus, any urgency for more housing serving the professional-class  is quickly dispelled by the facts on the ground, with DC conservatively having 15% of units built (not just marketed) sitting vacant, and the new built-out areas such as Navy Yard having 1 in 3 units empty (all pre-pandemic numbers). 

[Pre-pandemic], the average vacancy rate in the District is 14.7%, with submarkets such as SW/Navy Yard, Capitol Hill, and Georgetown/Wisconsin Ave, are seeing vacancy rates at 31%, 27%, and 18% respectively .

DHCD Report, Saving DC’s Rental Housing Market Strike Force, citing from “The State of the DC Multifamily Rental Market” analysis by the Apartment & Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington (AOBA), published by Randi Marshall, Vice President of Government Affairs, D.C., February 19, 2021, at page 13.

Housing as commodity, not for community

In spite of mounting units being built but left to sit empty, its become apparent that the mega real estate companies don’t mind and are pushing to build even more housing that’s as expensive as ever before.

This is because housing is no longer necessarily for creating human community. Rather, new housing units are in large part serving as international investment commodities, that are essentially blocks of money in the form of new housing construction.

Moreover, any claimed desperation or “urgency for more housing” is a statement of perverse absurdity without doing the homework in understanding the type of housing the city truly needs constructed (see 40k person waiting list for affordable family sized housing).

YIMBY’s see no urgency to build housing that we actually need, instead they continue to chant and demand the city construct housing that only serves an elite professional-class.

DC desperately needs 0-30%AMI units and lots of them, so say the PHIMBY’s (Public Housing in My BackYard).

See links below for stats and research substantiating the points above.

Stats and Facts Supporting the Above Conclusions

Racial Inequity: 1990 60% of DC Black vs 2010 50% 2020 41% [2020 census | interactive DC diversity app] 60k Black people displaced from DC over the past twenty years of #BuildMore, these stats cannot be ignored!

  1. DC racial segregation through affordability gap as wide as 1968: White wealth surge; black wealth stagnation 
  2. Mythbust: we are not in housing crisis, other than an “affordable” housing crisis (we lack units for those in the 0-50%AMI range)
    1. Vacancies citiwide is 14.7% (Navy Yard; Gtown/Wis Ave up to 31%)
    2. Slow down of incoming DC residents
    3. Offices hit record vacancy high in 2021

Foreign investors snap up Washington real estate at an accelerating clip

“This is the normal world. You go to work in a city. All around you are enormous new buildings. They look alike. But you will never be able to afford to live in them. Because they are not really homes. They are blocks of money,  bought by global investors whose money has nowhere else to go.” https://twitter.com/rotten4eva/status/1492740361374121986

THE DC COMP PLAN IS RACIST

Maurice Cook, Director of Serve Your City, and community advocate out of Ward 6 discusses the DC Comprehensive Plan, the definition of racial equity and affordable housing, and what the Council Office on Racial Equity (CORE) report about the #DCCompPlan means to Black people living and working in the District of Columbia. Please Watch :: https://youtu.be/zDH96HFqfP8