Revival Marked by Hope, Mired in Snags

Plan Would Bring Mixed Housing To Northwest One

One sweltering night last July, D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams strode into a dilapidated school auditorium and announced the start of an intensive planning session for residents of one of the city's poorest and most crime-ridden communities.

Over the next four days, Williams (D) told the gathering, residents of the Sursum Corda housing cooperative and other properties in the rapidly gentrifying area just north of the U.S. Capitol would have a chance to tell city officials how to rebuild their neighborhood.

At first, the meeting, dubbed a "design charrette" by city officials, did not look promising. The mayor's delegation of nearly 60 planners, consultants and other city officials far outnumbered the 30 or so wary-looking men and women who sat quietly before them in folding chairs. But as the night wore on, more people trickled in, slowly filling the room with the productive buzz of faith, optimism and hope.

Four days later, city officials had a first draft of an unprecedented plan to pour $558 million in public and private funds into the area known as Northwest One, replacing 520 units of rundown low-income housing with nearly 1,600 apartments, condominiums and townhouses priced for people of all income levels. That plan is now pending before the D.C. Council, which is likely to approve it this spring, said council member Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6), who represents the area and chairs the council's committee on economic development.

If it ever gets underway, the transformation of Northwest One is expected to be a model for other troubled city neighborhoods, part of an ambitious mayoral initiative known as New Communities. The plan calls for the area to be transformed from bleak blocks of concentrated poverty into vibrant streets filled with shops, restaurants and parks, as well as a new school, recreation center and library. It also calls for a wide array of social services to lift up the area's residents, including job training, adult education and a cafe that would employ and cater to senior citizens.

The goal is to create "a community of hope and opportunity, promise and potential," as Williams put it in July. "This is a tremendous opportunity for our city, one of the most important things we've done in the last 10 years."

City officials say they plan to break ground within the year. But they acknowledge that substantial hurdles remain in Northwest One, chiefly persuading private owners of two apartment complexes to cooperate with the plan to preserve affordable housing in an area where property values are suddenly skyrocketing.

Early on, residents, too, were skeptical of the initiative, fearing that New Communities was just another government program aimed at clearing them off valuable land. But the city has crafted a careful proposal for relocating residents to new units without forcing them to seek interim housing elsewhere. The city's promise that everyone will be able to stay has eased many fears.

"We're trying to move forward. Some people are excited, some people are nervous," said Diane Hunter, president of the residents association at Temple Courts apartments. "The uncertainty now is when is it going to start. That's the most important question that's being asked now."

City leaders have high hopes for the project. Ambrose, who has scheduled a hearing in March, said she is particularly impressed by what she called the "wraparound services" for low-income residents. In a neighborhood where three-quarters of families earn less than $20,000 a year -- and 30 percent earn less than $5,000 a year, according to a city-funded survey -- the redevelopment plan calls for a network of programs to help people find jobs, learn to read, start businesses and stay healthy.

For example, two community nurses would be assigned to help people focus on primary care and on preventing illnesses instead of seeing a doctor only when they're sick. A mentoring program would be set up for budding entrepreneurs who now pad their income by braiding hair or selling clothes.

An early childhood education program could offer some a steady job, as well as badly needed child care. A new computer center would aim to provide e-mail accounts to 70 percent of neighborhood residents. And the senior cafe, modeled after a Chicago area program that provides meals and classes to senior citizens, would give some older residents a chance to socialize and earn a paycheck.