More on the G word, homelessness, and stepping up on housing policy

Location, location, location. The area around Sursum Corda. Washington Post graphic, which ran with the story Some of D.C.'s Poor Question Their Place in Housing Plan in May 2005.

Frozen Tropics blog links to a couple other blogs and their comments on the Nicholson article referenced below. One of the blogs, Republic of T, has a link to an LA Times series on "skid row" that I meant to comment on last week and I just didn't get around to it.

(Blogger seems to have destroyed an earlier version of this paragraph) I am always struck by the fact that when I go to other cities, such as for the National Trust conference, that I see a wider variety of housing options, downtown, and elsewhere than we see in DC. For example in Portland, on W. Burnside, on the edge of two upscale neighborhoods (Alphabet District and King's Hill) there is an SRO, a 5-10 minute walk from PGE Park and the light rail stops. In Downtown DC I bet there is not one SRO at all. Granted that there can be problems with this type of housing, and it often attracts lousy landlords, this is an option of many that ought to be available in an center city.

Rather than ensure the preservation of such housing, DC's primary government housing policy seems to be sell the land to the hghest bidder, at least in the core of the city, with the possible exception of Sursum Corda.

See these articles from the Post about possible redevelopment of that long troubled low-income housing community 10 blocks from the U.S. Capitol:

- Another Offer of Millions For Poor DC Residents
- Sursum Corda's Troubling Choice
- Residents Try to Rescue D.C. Co-op: Partnering With Developer May Bring Renewal to Sursum Corda
and this article, which isn't just about Sursum Corda, "Some of D.C.'s Poor Question Their Place in Housing Plan".

I will say, with great respect, that the DC Government has introduced a new program, a local version of the HUD Hope VI program, called New Communities. (Also see the report Hope VI: Community Building Makes a Difference.)

The city really should develop a comprehensive housing strategy that addresses the needs of a variety of segments of the "market," including those that may need additional assistance different from those able to take advantage of the $5,000 first-time DC home buyer federal tax credit, etc. This is a point made often by members of DC's Urban Housing Alliance.

Having sat on the ANC6C Planning and Zoning Committee for awhile, I have thought we could do more to raise this issue, but there is no systematic way to really bring forward such issues without a number of engaged and active Commissioners.

There is the DC Comprehensive Housing Task Force which has been "tasked" by the DC City Council with the responsibility of "study[ing] the city’s housing needs and draft[ing] a plan that provides policies and strategies to address them." I have not read the draft executive summary yet, but I need to, and I plan to comment on it, although such comments tend to have little effect.

As Leslie Gelb wrote about Vietnam, "the system worked" it just didn't achieve the desired result.