Comments on Old Anacostia's spirit unshakable despite vacant properties - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by Don Lief

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:08:05 EDT

May a geezer in Portland OR comment? The highlighted notable example of 1326 Valley Place was my family's first dwelling in DC, in 1936!, and shared with another Depression-era family. Its condition, both physical and financial (owned by the city), surely asks the question: Why not demolish this eyesore which surely weakens the motivation of nearby property owners to maintain/upgrade their homes?

Comment by AWalkeInTheCity

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:12:02 EDT

(BTW, I confess to not having walked in Anacostia, yet)

I hear you, thanks for the info. However, from your post, the massive loss has been over 30 years. IF one believes the turn around is within two or three years, how much more decay will take place in that time? I can see a city govt with a lot of other things on its plate letting this problem solve itself (and yeah, I know about "broken windows though I dont think Ive actualy read the JQ Wilson paper)

Comment by Really? AWalkerInTheCity

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:32:51 EDT

Dear AWalkerInTheCity,

Clearly you have no sense of how much of Old Anacostia (or rather Uniontown) has been lost. See for example - http://www.shorpy.com/node/5323. Anacostia has not lost just one or two buildings. Rather, its community has been decimated by demolition by neglect for over 30 years. “Why should the DC govt spend a lot of time agonizing about it”. The problem is that until recently, they’ve spent little to no time addressing the issue, let along “agonizing” about it. See for eg, 1909-1913 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE.

Maintaining the integrity of our communities must be a priority to our elected officials. The blight not only thwarts any economic development efforts – but studies show that it also contributes to high crime levels. To put it simply – more blight = less jobs and higher crime.

Comment by AWalkerInTheCity

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:57:18 EDT

Devils advocate for a moment here (in this case the devil being not the libertarian pessimists commenting above, but the long term future optimists)

Anacostia's big advantages,besides the historic stuff, are proximity to the coming DHS campus, and proximity to near SE. Near SE has been delayed by the financial crisis.

Near SE is finally really picking up again, with several projects underway, including the first phase of the Yards approaching delivery in October, construction begun at the boiler shops, etc. DHS is well on its way, IIUC. There really is no way that Anacostia won't pick up in two to three years (and with all that new stuff its convenient too, its probably a safer bet than a lot of new transitional areas that could be sunk by macro econ conditions). Given that, why would the DC govt spend a lot of time agonizing about it? Seems that you are saying if they don't, the development will come too late to save the historic properties. But surely not all the historic properties are vacant, and some of those are not so decayed - and will still be subject to sale and rescue when nabe economic conditions improve. As a preservationist losing even one contributing house is a bad thing - but is this really a priority to DC govt? Im not sure.

Comment by Gangsta

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:43:28 EDT

The City is the worst offender of vacant and blighted properties in Old Anacostia. They not only own a ton of properties along the commercial corridor and throughout the historic district - but they have let the properties fall apart for years.

Why are the Mayor and CM not doing anything about such a known problem? What will it take to move them to action?

Comment by Fritz

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:00:22 EDT

Here's the dirty little secret of DC's demolition by neglect law: It's rarely enforced because the burden of proof is so high and when it is enforced, convictions are a rare occurrence. If a person doesn't have the money to pay for a massive renovation, what's a judge going to do? Throw them in jail? Force them to sell? Neither option is likely to survive either on appeal or in the court of public opinion. So most of these owners make bare minimum repairs and there's not much more the city can do about.

And just how serious is the city about dealing with vacant and blighted properties when all it pays for is a measly 2 inspectors to cover the entire city? How many slowly deteriorating properties are DHCD and DCHA sitting on? What's the downside to those agencies' inactions?

Articles like this are informative and may lead to the local politicos pounding a table and saying how outrageous it is. But will it lead to an increased budget for inspectors? Nope. Will it lead to anyone at DHCD or DCHA being fired? Nope. Will it lead to a re-thinking of the city's vacant property strategy? Nope. Vacant properties are simply not enough of a big problem in enough areas to get the city's political class' attention and money.

Comment by Mark Harrison

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 22:32:43 EDT

Agreed, this is a city where students propose a lively mixed-use project for SW Washington at Buzzards Point, and the city proposes a prison. Just hopeless.

Gonna get worse with the current ghetto mayor

Comment by Liz Hurley

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:32:42 EDT

DC is America's ghetto, and Anacostia is a basketcase. Let the market sort out these matters since we are not a socialist country, and stop throwing taxpayer dollars down the hatch.

Comment by Richard Layman

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:10:47 EDT

I argue that neighborhoods need to create their own multifaceted plans. I have been talking with someone in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood in Baltimore (I spent a day there last month, but haven't written anything publicly yet) about extending their greening approaches (http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-07-14/features/bs-gr-reservoir-hill-greening-20110713_1_community-gardening-reservoir-hill-improvement-council-greening-campaign ) to other areas of their program, housing, schools & youth, intraorganizational development and community capacity building, and local business development.

WRT housing, I suggested that they need to differentiate between foreclosure counseling, and recapturing already vacant houses and lots (they have a few hundred vacant buildings), and have a thumbnail action plan for each property.

They could start with this:

- http://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/326019814/
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/326019809/in/photostream/

And Mallach's _Bringing Buildings Back_.

Anacostia needs to do the same.

Comment by Tonya

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:08:14 EDT

@MJ I don't think the point the author is making is that Anacostia needs to delay development. I think he is saying that BUSINESS and DEVELOPMENT is what is missing with all the vacant stores. But I think he is also saying that it's pretty messed up this area is in this bad of a condition and new development and the vacant homes and stores are not mutually exclusive.

Areas come in and out of favor all the time as I've seen it in my 40 plus years. When it's in favor people from out of town and connected to the city politicans make money. When the neighborhood is out of favor the people leave town laughing all the way to the bank. It's happened with North Capitol Street , Georgia Avenue, and other places. I hope this isn't what is happening over there in Anacostia.

Comment by Jasper

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:50:03 EDT

Well, ok, I've had a long and boring day, so let me be the one that throws in the flare: Gosh, Anacostia can be happy with its CM. Luckily, he has been a great force for the good of the neighborhood..... Or maybe not.

Comment by Falls Church

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:41:06 EDT

Vacant unreported properties are just one of the many problems facing Anacostia but this one is easier to fix than most. The city has employed a lot of resources (including a contractor) to identify illegal basement apartment and bring them into compliance. Why not shift some of those resources toward identifying vacant properties and following up on complaints? Seems like vacant properties produce a lot more negative externalities than illegal basement apartments.

Comment by James Barry

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:34:57 EDT

There is some good and some bad in Anacostia. The city and the non-profits have made the area a social service ghetto. Thanks for telling the truth even if it hurts. The city only moves when it's shamed into action and their shameful treatment of Anacostia has been going on forever.

Comment by MJ

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:28:44 EDT

"The default inclination of many in our city is to frame and discuss development and revitalization in terms of identity instead of economics and investment."

Let's be clear: the "many" are often Anacostia residents. The author goes on to make the distinction between the problems of today versus the development of tomorrow. So we need to fix all the old building before constructing new ones? Eradicate all crime or poverty before advocating new investment? I'm really not sure what the author means to say. The truth is that there is no way to please everyone. Development always wins in the end, so instead of arguing about development taking place, we need to have real conversations about how that development can serve the most good.