DC’s New Communities Initiative
23 06 2008
The New Communities Initiative is a comprehensive partnership between the District, neighborhoods and other public and private stakeholders which focuses on neighborhoods where older public housing developments are located and where high concentrations of poverty and crime exist. While areas like Lincoln Heights and Northwest One have been getting a lot of attention lately, there are other areas that haven’t.
One such project is the Park Morton. The District, in collaboration with the residents of Park Morton and the Park View and Petworth community, initiated a process to plan for and implement the revitalization of the Park Morton neighborhood, which is bound by Georgia Avenue on the west, Warder Street on the east, Lamont Street on the south and Park Road on the north.
Consistent with the New Communities Initiative, the goal of this effort is to transform the public housing property and its immediate neighborhood into a mixed-income, mixed-use community. In this new community, residents will have access to high-quality housing options affordable at all income levels and to the human services necessary to help prepare them to take advantage of the new economic opportunities and changes that are coming their way.
We spoke with the District’s Office for Planing and Economic Development and currently the project is awaiting the finalization of financing details with HUD, having already completed an Initiative Plan (warning it’s a big PDF) back in February. With all the activity going on for some of the more high profile developments, projects like Park Morton sometimes get forgotten about by everyone but the actual residence. Hopefully this one will be finalized soon so that a solicitation can get issued.
That’s a nice picture and I’d love to see that kind of neighborhood emerge, but I have zero confidence it can be done in an area where large amount of concentrated public housing remain. I know that’s not PC, but just the way I see it.
that picture is from the Barry Farms / Park Chester new communities plan.
Hopefully once the solicitation goes out we will get some nice renderings of the project!
I do wonder why, whenever the project involves walkable streets or New Urbanism, or “community” or anything not aimed at commercial developers, does it have to be sketchy watercolors. Same thing with glass buildings being way shinier and sparkly than they ever are in real life.
[…] DC Metrocentric writes about The New Community Initiative: The New Communities Initiative is a comprehensive partnership between the District, neighborhoods and other public and private stakeholders which focuses on neighborhoods where older public housing developments are located and where high concentrations of poverty and crime exist. While areas like Lincoln Heights and Northwest One have been getting a lot of attention lately, there are other areas that haven’t. […]
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