Florida Market machinations

Well, the J Street Group and Gallaudet have acceded to changes in the legislation, likely due to extreme pressure (I've heard unseemly stuff that strikes me as illegal, but prefer not to repeat it, since I don't have first person knowledge).

There are many problems with the project. Mostly because there's a lot claimed that will happen without any real vetting (provisions calling for Office of Planning involvement fail to acknowledge the reality that OP gets clamped down upon by the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development in response to pressure from the developer and politicos) and planning.

For example, why build a YMCA as part of the project when Ward 5 is replete with recreation centers and in fact, two are located within 1.5 miles in Trinidad--the Cole Recreation Center which needs renovation and the newly constructed Trinidad Recreation Center located only a few blocks north of Cole--not to mention the relatively new Sherwood Recreation Center in Ward 6.

The reality is that DC is a small place and regardless of what people want to have located _in every ward_ from a "rational planning" standpoint it doesn't make sense, and isn't financially supportable besides.

But when you impose a plan by legislative fiat all that gets brushed away.
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I will post my testimony separately.