Tag: Housing

Sameness, is that a selling point?

So we’re driving to see the relatives in Laurel in some townhouse development. But before you can get to that townhouse development, you have to drive past a few other developments. I was struck with the sameness of it all. A good curve of large pointy roofed buildings close in the same repeating neutral colors, and there were so many of them. And I thought, even on college campuses, where you have to house a number of students (who have to take what you give anyway), there wasn’t that level of sameness.

How fair to make fair housing?

A few days ago Kris Hammond the ANC-elect wrote on the Eckington Listserv:

Of particular interest is that the Council voted to prohibit discrimination in employment and housing based upon a person’s criminal record. It appears that, for example, an apartment complex could not refuse to rent to a convict, but there may be some limitations to that prohibition. Criminal background checks might also be illegal, unless the purpose is to determine whether the person is a sex offender (a class excluded from the law protections). The bill number is B16-909, but the text of the new law is not available right now.

Considering what was needed to deal with problem HUD subsidized houses and other rentals where there were problem residents tearing down the ‘hood 5 years ago, this seems to take a tool away from residents. The criminal records, arrests made at a residence was what neighbors could try to use to deal with problem houses. Also this city has very renter friendly laws, this is worrisome if you are a landlord.
However I’d need to see the language of B16-909 because I do make a difference between recent criminal activity and past criminal activity. Recent seems to say someone may still be a part of the criminal scene and possibly could prey on their neighbors. Past, as in years past and nothing new since, seems to show that they have left that part of their life behind and are now productive positive citizens. I wonder if the law makes that difference?

House of the week

I want to see it painted, paint it black
Black as night, black as coal
I want to see the sun blotted out from the sky
I want to see it painted, painted, painted, paint it black, yeah
–Rolling Stones “Paint it Black”

Apparently Goths buy homes too. 514 R St. is the In Shaw house of the week (fortnight, whatever) because it’s owner/occupant decided to paint it black. Seriously, the house is black. As the song says, black as coal, black as night, BLACK.
Nothing says I ain’t selling the house like the color black. Daring I say. I take my hat, well head scarf for now, off to the people of 514 R St.

No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

Maintenance

The bathtub needs another treatment of the drain declogger. I suspect that there is a piece of soap stuck in the pipes, so it might need part of a stick as well to dig around. Anywho, this morning’s shower and clog got me thinking of maintenance and homeownership. Maintenance is drugery, and if we call a plumber, it’s expensive too. Maintenance makes the act of just getting a house look like the easy part, particularly if you have an older 100+ year old townhome.
When driving through New York City, my friend Nora B. pointed out a depressing looking apartments above a bridge. She said it looked liked someone designed it, built it and then didn’t keep it up. The once bright colorful paints were peeling, dingy and faded.
That could describe the history of many of the townhomes in my area. I’m still slowly, with fits and starts gathering census data for the area. I have recently stumbled onto 1880 households with white servants. The grand houses that held these important people and their live in staff, are a little less grand now. Big houses with ornate brickwork and large windows. Keeping up the brickwork, getting the birds’ nests out, removing that mini-tree that established itself in a crevice, costs either time or money or both. The building of the grand house, done. Keeping it grand, annoying and expensive.
This was a topic hammered home in those first-time home buyer seminars, maintenance, keeping the place up. So many people put so much energy and money into getting a house, and in this market, that is a requirement. Unfortunately, their spirits and bank accounts are drained by the time the first crisis comes around. Darned it, those crisises come early. Mine was a hole in the wall. $400. Second was running toilet. $200, and that was WITH the home warranty. Then the flood. Insurance took care of that. I guess I spent a coupla hundred just to deal with minor things like insulation, leaky valves, etc. Then there was taking time off to wait for the guy between 11 and 3 for the quirky phone lines, or to look at the furnace. Will the person who borrowed, scrimped saved, took on an extra job have the ability to deal with the $300 problem that shows up, followed by a $90 problem and another one, and another one. With homeownership, there is always something.

Tobacco Factory

Traveled along the Urban Land Company’s parade of homes tour yesterday with the troop from the fortress of tea and dirty laundry. We saw about 4 places, walked in 3. We hit the tail end of the tour, so some were closing up when we arrived. Quite a few were not completed. Meaning, there where still holes in the walls and ceilings for the ducts and electrical outlets. We did see some cool funky stuff.
The house at 1911 6th Street, did something with the kitchen. They put a wall up, but it doesn’t go all the way up. Oh and the kitchen is small. Very small. As it was unfinished, it was hard to imagine how the walk-in closets would be walk-in. We could walk in them, but there were no racks or shelves. The bottom unit was also odd. Both the bedrooms have doors that lead out to the patio.
The bottom unit of 444 S St was tiny. Teeny. It was like a studio apartment. I think it’s a junior bedroom. You walk in and there is the kitchen, and then the bedroom. Good for people who don’t want to buy a couch. Unless you want to cook on the couch.
Lastly we all wound up at the main attraction, the Tobacco Factory, where there has never been a factory of any sort. The reviews I have heard from others, including the fortress crew has been mixed. Of course one fortress member’s reaction was *slobber*. The Factory is four levels divided into half. The top was available for viewing. Points should be given to the Urban Land Company staff just for presentation. The reviews I have heard were, all the others were less impressive, so by the time you get to the furnished and finished top level of the Factory condo, it is a great improvement.
The best home we saw yesterday was not on the Urban Land Company’s tour. It was across the street. The August In Shaw house [note link changed 5/55/13]of the week owners let the troop in for a tour after running into them at the Factory. Oh my G-d. They did a wonderful job. The house is still in various stages of repair, but the layout is truly amazing and actually understands the limits and needs of a small townhome. One party of the couple fixing the place up is a German designer and the house is a reflection of a European sensibility. The first floor is very open. The top floors are where it begins to look more European, reminding me of some flats I have seen in London. It continues to be open at the landing and doesn’t have that cramped feeling that you can get in DC townhomes. It also brings in a fair amount of light.
Talking with the owner, a problem they encountered was trying to get people to understand the concept of say the box bathroom. This is a bathroom sits on the level like a big ole box, where the top does not go all the way to the high ceilings, so that light from the outside can go over the bathroom, into the bathroom, and into the adjoining room. The other problem were contractors who don’t show up on time, on time meaning 1 hour from the time they said they’d show. All the time spent waiting they decided to do many things themselves.
I want their house. It is sooooooo cooool.

Real Estate Agents on Crack again

There is a house at 1611 New Jersey Avenue for sale for, get this, $798,000. Crack, crack, PCP with an LSD chaser Crack is what the Realtors are smoking. And they must be giving it to their buyers. Yeah, it has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and I’m quite sure they are big and everything, but $800K? I know this place has no parking. For $800 grand you should have parking and your own personal crack ho. For less you can get a 5 bedroom 4 bath at 34 Quincy for less than $500K, or at $500K 69 Florida Ave. With the extra $300K you could buy an extra condo or for a tad more 1647 New Jersey Ave (a 2 bedroom 1 bath) for $310K.
Please stop the maddness, just say no to the real estate crack.
11/29/05
2 anon comments are 2 too many

Gentrification in Shaw- Manna Report

If you haven’t read Manna’s 2003 report you should. It covers rising rents, displacement, the personal impact gentrification is having on long term residents, good stuff. The best part is the photo on the cover (this is a PDF file) of 7th Street right after the riots, with the burned out shells. Okay, not the best part, but the jewels of the report are the personal stories of residents who have experienced the rent increases and non-renewal of leases.
The stories do help illustrate the problem that gentrification has brought. Saying rents have increased, nothing. Saying that one day a renter receives a letter that their 2 bedroom apartment that had been $634 a month was soon going up to $954 in 5 months, says a lot.
Conversions are another thing Manna writes about, that I didn’t think much about before. Not just apartments to condos conversions but from boarding house to single family residence. There are several townhomes that you can see along New Jersey Avenue that are divided into two residences next to homes with the same exterior that are just one residence. The report mentions large townhomes that were formerly boarding homes housing several people at low rents that are now for one family.
A good thing about the report is that is does get into the specifics, naming names and addresses. It mentions location, address of particular apartments and converted and rehabbed homes and also businesses that have felt the impact of gentrification hard.
Of course I disagree with Manna on some points, but that is just my opinion. I don’t disagree that there is gentification going on in Shaw. Hence the title of the blog “In Shaw (now with more gentrification)” which acknowledges the gentrification. I don’t disagree that people are being displaced and the sadness of that.
I have a problem with the concentration of bemoaning the areas west of 9th St. That area has been gentrified. Dead to any hope of making it affordable. Move on. Don’t wring your hands about the unaffordable even to mid middle class folks, lofts and condos. Another problem I have is Manna not coping to it’s role in the gentrification game. Yes, Manna sells homes and condos at rates affordable to the people it is trying to help. I gather to cover operating costs, it also has sold homes AT market rate, reflecting the crazy prices in Shaw. Manna is a non-profit, so is it any better when Manna does it and worse when a for-profit does it too, doing what it was created to do…. profit? I remember when I was first looking to buy they and other non-profit developers had some pretty expensive homes. For the ones you could afford you’d have to get in line or belong to a certain group, or wait for …. whenever.
The solutions that Manna presents, would at best preserve small islands of affordable renting in a sea of gentrification. They desire to preserve Section 8 by helping tenant associations. Good if you are in large enough building where tenants can buy the building. Land development, well maybe public land but with quasi-public organizations like Metro (WMATA), I don’t think so. Maybe they hadn’t heard but Metro doesn’t have enough to pass up maximum money making opportunities. New jobs, well, that might help some. But the kinds of jobs needed to afford the market rate rents and houses around here are a bit unaffordable to folks with “good jobs”. And as with my former neighbors, when the opportunity to pull up stakes so your kid can get a yard, with grass, and enough room to play and run around in, presents itself because you got a good job or can sell the house at $$$, there is nothing saying you’ll stay in Shaw.

Gentrification DC

Yes, I must have a bug in my bonnet. That and work has slowed down here.

Last year, well October 2003 I attended the very crowded American Cities discussion on gentrification at the City Museum. I have notes I don’t remember if I entered them into this blog. If I didn’t (too lazy to search) well here it is.

Jim Abdo, president of Abdo Development began with his side of the story. He talked about historical buildings and that he, unlike some of the other developers, only rehabbed abandoned buildings. No one got kicked out.

His take points out something that I haven’t touch upon in my gentrification rants, historical or historically interesting buildings. The neighborhoods in question, Columbia Heights, Shaw, LeDroit Park and Capitol Hill have some pretty neat buildings. Sadly it is only the middle & upper classes that can keep the buildings with the historical details up. It is good if you score a house that still has the pocket doors, the original stained glass, the long windows, the original crown molding, the wood floors, the carved newel posts, the detailed iron fences and stair railings, oh I could go on. When the middle classes fled the city and these houses with so much detail were rented out or sold to those with less some of those details got lost to the practical. Long tall windows are expensive to replace so they got replaced by cheaper squat ones. Pocket doors removed or walled up. As the neighborhood got rougher it just probably didn’t make sense to invest that much into the property. So gentrification is saving some housing provided the rehabbers have an appreciation for history.

Next on the panel was Maria Maldonado from CASA Maryland. She talked about what gentrification was, the replacement and displacement of one neighborhood with another. She talked about immigrant families that have been there for over 18 years and are being forced out due to market conditions. She also mentioned a horrible incident where 20 lawyers descended on one building scaring the tenants. The odd thing, she mentioned was that people come for the diversity but it is the economic power of the incoming group that forces out the diversity.

The last fellow I have notes for (I left before it all ended) was from Arlington and talking about affordable housing.

Trading Up – Neighbors move

Trading Up
I told my neighbor I wouldn’t tell anyone how much she’s selling her house for, so I won’t. But it is a sh*tload of $$. She deserves every single cent of it. She lived in the house for a little under 9 years. She’s going to trade in a townhouse with leaky basement and no parking for a house with a yard and a garage in BFE Maryland. All the cool stuff in the city that is attracting people means nothing to her. She has a car and kids. Metro and clubs don’t mean squat. Good schools and no shooting and no (as my Daddy would put it) dumbas$ n*ggas hanging out, that is what she wants and needs.
At the price the house is going for apparently only whites can afford it, so the demographics of the block will head in a particular direction. Called ET and told her to score one point for her people. Last month a white couple moved in on one end of the block, changing the trend of houses on the north end changing demographically from black renters to white homeowners and renters, so now the Euro-Americans are coming from both ends.
I am so thankful she did not decide to rent the house out to get Section 8 money. I pray to G-d above that Mr. Mesfin will sell his house too. Last I spoke to him he STILL had not decided if he was going to rent or sell. I hope he sells because I can tell he’s cheap and will be a slumlord.