The capital future begins now
Hill East development
I had put this in the back of my mind until today when the Washington Post ran an article on it, reporting on the latest attempts by the city to select a developer. A neighborhood group has been formed around it and they have favored one of the proposals. I posted the following to the group's board and also as a comment on the WP article:
"Whatever is done, the riverine park needs protection and rehabilitation as a wildlife corridor and storm water filter to reduce further pollution of the Anacostia. The site also holds two underground fuel storage tanks which could be considered for repurposing as biodigesters to produce methane for fuel and/or electricity generation to make the project energy-sufficient. The current proposals would be viable if it were business as usual, but i suspect it's not. Small comfort can be derived from the suspicion that in the present economic collapse, nothing will happen anytime soon."
"A radical approach is needed to develop this site sustainably to include repurposing of existing structures, maximum density with minimum footprint, maximum greenspace including farms, inclusion of local and small business, and integration of health and correctional facilities with neighboring communities."
My aspirations for this site may sound like pie-in-the-sky, but in the present economic climate and the paradigmatic shift taking place, nothing is impossible. I'm constantly inspired by Majora Carter's achievements in cleaning up and developing South Bronx. I recognize many parallels here, not least the social justice aspects with regards to the inmate population, the residents of the area and their access to health care and right to a non-toxic environment. The proposed development would exclude them and increasing property values would force them out.
But time and circumstance are on our side. The property has been a white elephant from the time of Mayor Anthony Williams. The presence of the hospital and jail and what to do with them, the polluted river and sewage overflows are not appealing to the average buyer. Where is the financing to come from in this economic meltdown? Furthermore, despite whatever LEED standards the proposers may have considered, the development model likely depends on energy from cheap oil which is slowly becoming obsolete.
Tags: Anacostia_River, Capital_Hill, DC_General_Hospital, DC_Jail, Hill_East, Reservation_13
Views: 6
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Larry Chang on -
I have not read the proposals but not much attention it seems has been given to the existing jail or hospital. The map does not indicate they even exist.
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Permalink Reply by ishi on -
Its interesting that there is talk of a 'campus'; a few years ago there was talk of relocating DCU to southeast (possibly because some people in ward 3 would prefer it not to be there). My view was just open another one---why not two? (Some say a community college is needed to prepare people for DCU or elsewhere). It would be interesting to think of a campus which would be more or less self-contained---it would have a university, even farming (DCU actually has an agricultural program) as well as community things like housing, community centers, and useful commerce (including trades needed to keep buildings functional). One could even think in terms of Van Jones's model (of the SF Ella Baker center who has a book out) and have a 'green jobs' program including some training and 're-entry' prgorams for people getting out of incarceration.
It can be mentioned that St E's hospital site in SE is another big site, which people are fighting over---homeland security is supposedly going to get it. The soccer team wants Poplar's Point (i think its called) along the riverfront also in SE. The Franklin homeless shelter is also under dispute.
While closing DC General was wrong and a mistake, as was the Franklin shelter, from a sustainability view alot of hospitals and health care are actually unnecesary since many of those costs can be prevented, by finding ways to 'stop the violence', and poor lifestyles (junk food, lack of excercize, etc.) Homeless shelters also often are somewhat co-dependent problems, because shelter providers have little incentive to get to the root causes. It would be nice if some of the DC proerty could not go to the Feds or sports teams, or used only to put back programs which don't deal with solutions as well as problems. -
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Permalink Reply by Larry Chang on
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I assume you're referring to UDC. Indeed there is no reason we could not have two campuses. However, my use of the term campus was not however in the strict sense of university, but more in terms of a living laboratory, a school for life.
Indeed, a holistic approach would include the homeless, the aged, at-risk kids, health care and the incarcerated. These would participate fully and be integrated into the programs of the IC. As you rightly observe, pathological behavior and lifestyle diseases can be minimized. For example, the generational circle would be completed by having the able elderly provide day-care. Health care would be decentralized, delivered by mobile practitioners, apart from surgery and critical care. The emphasis would be on preventive and holistic therapies, nutrition, physical activities and developing meaningful relationships. The homeless would be housed like everyone else and given whatever training and tools they needed to be self-sustaining, unless they chose to remain nomadic (your Swiss/Tibetan example), in which case we would outfit them properly for that. We might even develop a series of hostels across the country for this purpose. The hobo is a noble American tradition.
We would be creating not just green jobs in terms of recycling, environmental remediation and renewable energy systems, but also vastly increasing agrarian occupations as well as health care and human resource development. The emphasis will be on people, food and environment, not on consumer goods.
The present economic crash actually works in our favor as traditional developers will not be able to operate any time soon. There is no credit to had and there won't be. America has lived on other people's credit for far too long, putting the next several generations into hock. You could say the entire economic model has been discredited. The proposed bailout is, i'm afraid, throwing 'good' money after bad and will ultimately make things worse. DC General, St Elizabeth's, Franklin Shelter and the like will remain in limbo unless initiatives like ours move in to salvage and repurpose. Already the Poplar Point developer has pulled out. On top of all this, we have a declining petrochemical base and climate change. Hold on tight, we're in for a bumpy ride but, taken in the right spirit, it should be an adventure. -
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