This week I was assigned by a local newspaper to shoot for an upcoming article on housing, development, gentrification, homelessness and poverty in the Nation’s Capital
There was particular focus on four residential buildings around the Congress Heights Metro Station along Alabama Avenue in Southeast Washington, D.C. that have been neglected by landlords for years -including no heat or hot water and no treatment for rodent infestation. In too many instances, it takes several phone calls to get even the most routine maintenance requests addressed. Residents have had to replace burnt-out hallway light bulbs on their own instead of waiting weeks for their landlords to do it. Security is also an issue as many of the empty apartments have been broken into and become havens for gang activity, including the use and sale of illegal drugs.
These mostly working-class, elderly and poor residents feel the neglect is intentional as part of a calculated plan to push them out in order to make way for new development.
#housingisahumanright #gentrification #development #congressheights #poverty #neglect #justicefirst #washingtondc
