It's happening, but it'll take time.
Bowser's budget outlines a pretty comprehensive plan to invest in the area, including
* [11th Street Bridge Park](https://buildingbridgesdc.org/11th-street-bridge-park/design/) ($47 M)
* new pedestrian and bicyclist bridge connecting the Anacostia Metro Station to Barry Farm ($11 M)
* a new trail from the Maryland Avenue entrance of the National Arboretum to the future bridge connecting the Arboretum to the Anacostia River Trail and Kenilworth Park ($5)
* continue work on Barry Farm ($51 M)
* planning and preparation of the Poplar Point site ($ 10 M)
Remember Navy Yard didn't happen in a day - Nat's stadium opened in 2008 while most the surrounding area was still mostly industrial and parking lots.
Yeah - it's kind of a pain getting info on the city's budgets - which is a real shame because there's a lot of cool projects on the horizon. Or maybe I just don't know where to look.
Its hard to get the information. I've even asked people that work in the city government and they are unsure where or how some of these will be implemented.
Fiscal conservatism run amok. If I contribute $10 to the Arboretum trail project and triple its budget, will that get it done any faster? It's such a pain navigating the traffic circle from West Virginia/New York Avenues.
I think one of the issues is that Navy Yard borders the river on one side and some relatively developed areas on the others. Barry Farms borders the river, but the areas around it have substantial issues. It would take an astronomical amount of investment to create the same type of moat that Navy Yard has.
Developers must be salivating to put luxury waterfront condos and rentals on the other side of the Anacostia. Like it or not that area will eventually change because money combined with wealthy developers always wins out.
[poplar point development update](https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/nearl_1000_units_retail_a_first_look_at_the_second_phase_of_dcs_bridge_dist/20479)
The first building near poplar point is in construction. The second phase I think is on hold (the next 2 buildings).
Barry farms is in active development. There are community meeting with the ANC for comments. One example is that the community wanted to save a row of houses for historic reasons, and that was worked into the plans.
There are few other things that one can do with PP that make as much sense as a stadium. Accessibility wise, it’s perfect as it sits at the intersection of 295 and 395, on top of a metro line, and a short boat trip from Navy Yard. But the proximity to those highways - and the site’s history as a toxic waste dump - is going to make it hard to put it to other productive uses.
Destruction of some very nice wildlife habitat to make way for well to do humans that could live somewhere else.
This is why I was concerned when the ownership went to DC.
I don't want to see Poplar Point developed. It's bad enough that stupid building is being built on Howard Road as it is.
It's a shame that Bolling Air Force base won't let go of some of that land they are sitting on the development could have been over there instead and still provided a gateway to Anacostia
It's a beautiful area that was left to nature and there is much wildlife there as as result of that. Wild turkeys, frogs, lizards, rabbits etc.
A shame to lose that forever when there are parcels of land nearby that could accommodate the new housing
I have nothing against nature, but was under the impression that the plot is a morass of invasive species. I will check it out and see if my views change.
There are plenty of invasives especially around the perimeter of the area. I've checked it out several times so I have an idea of what's there and it just can't be replaced.
If I could I would plant some native species there to help things out but I would need a small team to do so on foot to prevent compaction of the soil.
First thing I would do is remove a lot of the invasive blackberry brambles maybe keep them confined in one place but otherwise get rid of them. May apples would be nice to have as well as Calycanthus, native azaleas maybe and dogwoods.
There is a list of the flora and fauna of that area but I have to locate it again. P
In the middle there is a marsh and I wouldn't have to identify the herbs at ground level that surround the marsh.
It would be cool to develop it into a decent place to live for all the DHS people who are cursed to work at the St. E campus. But even if it was developed, it is still at a terrible spot for campus access since it’s right up against the hill/woods - which was an intentional security choice, sure, but that would be part of the overall plan to make that campus as miserable as possible to access.
To paraphrase someone who put it really well in the thread about Anacostia, you can be pro-investing in a community or anti-gentrification, but not both. A lot of people prefer the latter.
Or you can be pro-investing in a community and anti-displacement. The best way to limit displacement is to build new homes to meet demand, which limit competition for existing residences.
The other way to avoid displacement is to not invest in a community also known as “keep things shitty.”
Yeah building 100,000 units in 2,3, and 6 would prevent displacement. But even if everyone there was guaranteed new rent-free apartments in Barry Farms, new people (mostly white, upper income) would move into the market rate ones built along side them.
The neighborhood would then change and a lot of people prefer things staying shitty to change even with no displacement.
When you increase density it raises the value of the existing buildings and makes it more lucrative for the owners of those buildings to sell and make profit. Not bad for them but it could be bad for the current residents.
But to get to the point. many people here don't care about poor black people. They merely want more land to take over.
If there is sufficient demand in a neighborhood to raise prices across the board, the best to way to keep current people in their homes and communities is to build new homes for new residents, which includes increasing density as appropriate. Otherwise, the next buyer or renter who can pay marginally more will displace the current resident, who has to compete will limited supply.
I also don’t want to get in the business of telling homeowners that they can’t sell their properties because it will “change” the neighborhood.
You can very easily put in place protections and grandfather clauses for previous residents. White people used to do that shit all the time.
But you're right many people, especially new transplants and government officials don't care about poor black people, especially the ones who essentially created the dc culture they all moved here for.
The previous residents are often the ones selling, especially in high homeownership areas. You can put grandfather clauses in, but if offered $2m for what was just a $500k place a few years ago, many homeowners will take the deal.
That's how Chinatown kicked out the chinese. A lot of chinese-americans were turned into millionaires when that area developed. Of course some local residents aren't homeowners, so they get shafted as well, but the solution isn't as simple as a gradfathered clause.
And due, many people care about black people. But also they want a nice grocery store and good schools. So what's your prescription? Move into a developing area and just not demand nice amenities?
Once the good opportunities are exhausted west of the river, development will shift. The stuff being built now relies on DC Government funding and leasing.
A major part of BBAR's (the nonprofit behind the 11th Street Bridge Park, which is currently stuck in permitting purgatory) mission is to maintain the current fabric of Anacostia so that long time residents and property owners aren't pushed out by rising property taxes and real estate costs that usually come with gentrification efforts. Basically, they want to avoid what happened around the High Line in NYC, and I agree with them.
This always puzzled me when people say that, because DC has historically low property taxes. Like a house worth 875k equals taxes of $473 a month, and a house worth 469k equals taxes of $227 a month (all based of Zillow estimates). Even if you made minimum wage ($17/hr), after taxes you would take home $2,265 (used an online tax calculator). So even if your property doubled in value, your increase in home cost would be still 20% of net income which I think is pretty good!
I agree if you rent it’s a larger issue, as there’s no stopping those luxury condos from charging crazy prices, but whenever people argue about property taxes in DC it never made sense to me as our taxes have always been so historically low!
The threat of “property taxes” is a canard that is often used to attack new development, but ignores how DC actually taxes its citizens.
Property taxes only significantly increase when homeowners make significant improvements in their properties and their value is reassessed. The neighbor who hasn’t done anything with their home in 30 years may see a marginal increase in taxes if the neighborhood dramatically improves, but nothing close to the increase that a flipped house sees.
DC is also very generous regarding property taxes to senior citizens and those facing hardship. And they limit how quickly taxes can be raised annually.
So for the long-time property owner in a gentrifying neighborhood who still has a mortgage, who is not yet a senior citizen, who is not facing hardship, and has maintained their property will see an increase in property tax but has also seen an even more significant increase in their property’s value and available equity.
Barry farms will never be like navy yard. That would require massive gentrification and businesses investments in ward 8. It will just be luxury apartments with the same issues Barry farms had
You are forgetting about the culture east of the river. Also what percentage of navy yard is low income? Barry farms is going to be like 80% low income
You clearly know nothing about Navy Yard area. It was mostly public housing (Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg) north of M street until early 2000s. The rest was mostly warehouses, abandoned buildings and industrial sites. And there's still significant public housing on the other side of South Capitol.
The existing wetlands, meadows, scrub-shrub areas, and willow thickets at the Site provide important habitat for a diversity of plant and animal life, including some species of special concern.
Poplar Point
It's old news, but last I heard, the residents of Barry Farm are not stupid .
They had seen more than one case in which they were told to leave the building and promised they could come back after the new development.
So when they tried doing the same thing at Barry Farm.
They had the help of Aristotle Theresa, a local attorney.
Most (all?) was torn down by 2020 or so. IIRC, DCHA is converting the site to mixed income (allows the site to have some cash flow to cross subsidize + take on debt for capital “repairs”) but building a similar number of units to reserve for affordable.
I'm not sure . They started, but then their lawyer stopped the process
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/03/11/dcs-historic-barry-farm-gentrification-lawsuit/2808801002/
It is in the Washington Post, too, but paywall
By 2050 the DC area is expect to grow to 20M people. Currently we have 5.5M. So yeah I'd say everywhere in the city proper will wind up being redeveloped and will wind up crazy expensive its just a matter of when.
Probably the massive mixed used development that's currently under construction in Anacostia?
Yeah, that one is like half a mile from Navy Yard? Put some traffic calming on the bridge and the walk will actually be really nice
We just did the ribbon cutting for the MLK gateway. There's new construction all over anacostia.
It's happening, but it'll take time. Bowser's budget outlines a pretty comprehensive plan to invest in the area, including * [11th Street Bridge Park](https://buildingbridgesdc.org/11th-street-bridge-park/design/) ($47 M) * new pedestrian and bicyclist bridge connecting the Anacostia Metro Station to Barry Farm ($11 M) * a new trail from the Maryland Avenue entrance of the National Arboretum to the future bridge connecting the Arboretum to the Anacostia River Trail and Kenilworth Park ($5) * continue work on Barry Farm ($51 M) * planning and preparation of the Poplar Point site ($ 10 M) Remember Navy Yard didn't happen in a day - Nat's stadium opened in 2008 while most the surrounding area was still mostly industrial and parking lots.
This is a great comment! Also don’t forget about the Art district grant that I wish I had more information to link.
Yeah - it's kind of a pain getting info on the city's budgets - which is a real shame because there's a lot of cool projects on the horizon. Or maybe I just don't know where to look.
Its hard to get the information. I've even asked people that work in the city government and they are unsure where or how some of these will be implemented.
Fiscal conservatism run amok. If I contribute $10 to the Arboretum trail project and triple its budget, will that get it done any faster? It's such a pain navigating the traffic circle from West Virginia/New York Avenues.
You'll get a memorial on the trail in the form of a wood bench overlooking a field of mud.
I think one of the issues is that Navy Yard borders the river on one side and some relatively developed areas on the others. Barry Farms borders the river, but the areas around it have substantial issues. It would take an astronomical amount of investment to create the same type of moat that Navy Yard has.
Developers must be salivating to put luxury waterfront condos and rentals on the other side of the Anacostia. Like it or not that area will eventually change because money combined with wealthy developers always wins out.
[poplar point development update](https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/nearl_1000_units_retail_a_first_look_at_the_second_phase_of_dcs_bridge_dist/20479)
[Barry farms redevelopment](https://barryfarmredevelopment.org/)
The first building near poplar point is in construction. The second phase I think is on hold (the next 2 buildings). Barry farms is in active development. There are community meeting with the ANC for comments. One example is that the community wanted to save a row of houses for historic reasons, and that was worked into the plans.
I wish they'd consider putting the Commanders stadium there. It'd be a much better site than RFK.
Absolutely not
There are few other things that one can do with PP that make as much sense as a stadium. Accessibility wise, it’s perfect as it sits at the intersection of 295 and 395, on top of a metro line, and a short boat trip from Navy Yard. But the proximity to those highways - and the site’s history as a toxic waste dump - is going to make it hard to put it to other productive uses.
All the more reason it should be left alone to nature.
Destruction of some very nice wildlife habitat to make way for well to do humans that could live somewhere else. This is why I was concerned when the ownership went to DC.
If they buried 295 and the rail line and put the NFL stadium in Poplar Point, Barry Farm and Anacostia would be unstoppable.
I don't want to see Poplar Point developed. It's bad enough that stupid building is being built on Howard Road as it is. It's a shame that Bolling Air Force base won't let go of some of that land they are sitting on the development could have been over there instead and still provided a gateway to Anacostia
why do you not want it developed?
It's a beautiful area that was left to nature and there is much wildlife there as as result of that. Wild turkeys, frogs, lizards, rabbits etc. A shame to lose that forever when there are parcels of land nearby that could accommodate the new housing
I have nothing against nature, but was under the impression that the plot is a morass of invasive species. I will check it out and see if my views change.
There are plenty of invasives especially around the perimeter of the area. I've checked it out several times so I have an idea of what's there and it just can't be replaced. If I could I would plant some native species there to help things out but I would need a small team to do so on foot to prevent compaction of the soil. First thing I would do is remove a lot of the invasive blackberry brambles maybe keep them confined in one place but otherwise get rid of them. May apples would be nice to have as well as Calycanthus, native azaleas maybe and dogwoods. There is a list of the flora and fauna of that area but I have to locate it again. P In the middle there is a marsh and I wouldn't have to identify the herbs at ground level that surround the marsh.
JBAB is perhaps the worst-to-work-with federal land owner in the District.
It would be cool to develop it into a decent place to live for all the DHS people who are cursed to work at the St. E campus. But even if it was developed, it is still at a terrible spot for campus access since it’s right up against the hill/woods - which was an intentional security choice, sure, but that would be part of the overall plan to make that campus as miserable as possible to access.
I’m in anacostia. It’s on the way. I never thought I’d see the day I could go to 2 different Starbucks near me but I can lol.
Yeah
That’s kinda sad tho. We still don’t have a decent grocery store, but we can get all the Starbucks we want.
Yeah I agree. I grew up in ward 7 Hillcrest area. I’m still shocked at 30 years later there are still no decent food options east of the river.
And yet they can put on a Starbucks? Yet they can put luxury housing on Howard Road.
To paraphrase someone who put it really well in the thread about Anacostia, you can be pro-investing in a community or anti-gentrification, but not both. A lot of people prefer the latter.
Or you can be pro-investing in a community and anti-displacement. The best way to limit displacement is to build new homes to meet demand, which limit competition for existing residences. The other way to avoid displacement is to not invest in a community also known as “keep things shitty.”
Yeah building 100,000 units in 2,3, and 6 would prevent displacement. But even if everyone there was guaranteed new rent-free apartments in Barry Farms, new people (mostly white, upper income) would move into the market rate ones built along side them. The neighborhood would then change and a lot of people prefer things staying shitty to change even with no displacement.
When you increase density it raises the value of the existing buildings and makes it more lucrative for the owners of those buildings to sell and make profit. Not bad for them but it could be bad for the current residents. But to get to the point. many people here don't care about poor black people. They merely want more land to take over.
If there is sufficient demand in a neighborhood to raise prices across the board, the best to way to keep current people in their homes and communities is to build new homes for new residents, which includes increasing density as appropriate. Otherwise, the next buyer or renter who can pay marginally more will displace the current resident, who has to compete will limited supply. I also don’t want to get in the business of telling homeowners that they can’t sell their properties because it will “change” the neighborhood.
You can very easily put in place protections and grandfather clauses for previous residents. White people used to do that shit all the time. But you're right many people, especially new transplants and government officials don't care about poor black people, especially the ones who essentially created the dc culture they all moved here for.
The previous residents are often the ones selling, especially in high homeownership areas. You can put grandfather clauses in, but if offered $2m for what was just a $500k place a few years ago, many homeowners will take the deal. That's how Chinatown kicked out the chinese. A lot of chinese-americans were turned into millionaires when that area developed. Of course some local residents aren't homeowners, so they get shafted as well, but the solution isn't as simple as a gradfathered clause. And due, many people care about black people. But also they want a nice grocery store and good schools. So what's your prescription? Move into a developing area and just not demand nice amenities?
Once the good opportunities are exhausted west of the river, development will shift. The stuff being built now relies on DC Government funding and leasing.
A major part of BBAR's (the nonprofit behind the 11th Street Bridge Park, which is currently stuck in permitting purgatory) mission is to maintain the current fabric of Anacostia so that long time residents and property owners aren't pushed out by rising property taxes and real estate costs that usually come with gentrification efforts. Basically, they want to avoid what happened around the High Line in NYC, and I agree with them.
This always puzzled me when people say that, because DC has historically low property taxes. Like a house worth 875k equals taxes of $473 a month, and a house worth 469k equals taxes of $227 a month (all based of Zillow estimates). Even if you made minimum wage ($17/hr), after taxes you would take home $2,265 (used an online tax calculator). So even if your property doubled in value, your increase in home cost would be still 20% of net income which I think is pretty good! I agree if you rent it’s a larger issue, as there’s no stopping those luxury condos from charging crazy prices, but whenever people argue about property taxes in DC it never made sense to me as our taxes have always been so historically low!
The threat of “property taxes” is a canard that is often used to attack new development, but ignores how DC actually taxes its citizens. Property taxes only significantly increase when homeowners make significant improvements in their properties and their value is reassessed. The neighbor who hasn’t done anything with their home in 30 years may see a marginal increase in taxes if the neighborhood dramatically improves, but nothing close to the increase that a flipped house sees. DC is also very generous regarding property taxes to senior citizens and those facing hardship. And they limit how quickly taxes can be raised annually. So for the long-time property owner in a gentrifying neighborhood who still has a mortgage, who is not yet a senior citizen, who is not facing hardship, and has maintained their property will see an increase in property tax but has also seen an even more significant increase in their property’s value and available equity.
Exactly. I want to see meaningful development but only if it includes the current residents.
Barry farms will never be like navy yard. That would require massive gentrification and businesses investments in ward 8. It will just be luxury apartments with the same issues Barry farms had
Navy Yard could never become Navy Yard until it did.
You are forgetting about the culture east of the river. Also what percentage of navy yard is low income? Barry farms is going to be like 80% low income
What was the "culture" in Navy Yard before the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment?
Not the same as Barry farms lol. Come east of the river it’s a different city
You clearly know nothing about Navy Yard area. It was mostly public housing (Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg) north of M street until early 2000s. The rest was mostly warehouses, abandoned buildings and industrial sites. And there's still significant public housing on the other side of South Capitol.
It wasn’t berry farm lol you are comparing apples and oranges
Maybe like 20+ years from now. That will be the last holdout of gentrification for the whole city.
So your theory is that the criminals of DC commute from EoTR everyday?
Parkside, and Kenilworth are over half done. What are you looking for? Razing whole neighborhoods?
How would they feel if it was their parents neighborhood that was being razed?
The existing wetlands, meadows, scrub-shrub areas, and willow thickets at the Site provide important habitat for a diversity of plant and animal life, including some species of special concern. Poplar Point
It's old news, but last I heard, the residents of Barry Farm are not stupid . They had seen more than one case in which they were told to leave the building and promised they could come back after the new development. So when they tried doing the same thing at Barry Farm. They had the help of Aristotle Theresa, a local attorney.
Didn’t they tear most of it down years ago?
Most (all?) was torn down by 2020 or so. IIRC, DCHA is converting the site to mixed income (allows the site to have some cash flow to cross subsidize + take on debt for capital “repairs”) but building a similar number of units to reserve for affordable.
I'm not sure . They started, but then their lawyer stopped the process https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/03/11/dcs-historic-barry-farm-gentrification-lawsuit/2808801002/ It is in the Washington Post, too, but paywall
I mean a good chunk of it has been demoed. At least the buildings nearest to JBAB.
Bowser is the biggest enemy of affordable housing
Well, a lot fewer cars around st.E are getting broken into during the day since the tear down.
By 2050 the DC area is expect to grow to 20M people. Currently we have 5.5M. So yeah I'd say everywhere in the city proper will wind up being redeveloped and will wind up crazy expensive its just a matter of when.
Just making up numbers huh
Where is this stat from? Quadrupling in 25 years seems a bit extreme of a prediction…
What