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Hey #HousingTwitter, no need to dunk on John for his take on this new housing. Yes, it went through myriad reviews, includes affordable housing, etc.
The question should be: Why do people like John see a building like this and say "THIS is the problem with housing?" (thread/10)
The question should be: Why do people like John see a building like this and say "THIS is the problem with housing?" (thread/10)
Why do people see this housing and think "this is worse than what was here before?" This building is next to DC Metro's Orange/Silver/Blue Line's Potomac Ave Station and was once a pizza shop and parking lot. Why do people think the pizza parlor was better than housing? (2/10)
Why do people associate this new housing with gentrification and not the *existing* housing nearby that has doubled in price in the past 10 years (and 7% in just the past year)? There are way more existing homes nearby than the new ones provided in this building. (3/10)
Why do people associate multi-story housing with gentrification and not the single-family housing that, on a property this size, would typically accommodate only two homes? (4/10)
Why do people see this new housing as the problem, when it is in a census tract where household income is half that of the tract literally across the street? Why is new housing the symbol of gentrification and not the systems that create and sustain these disparities? (5/10)
I ask these questions because the Johns of the world aren't the issue. The issue is that Americans have been trained by a systemically racist housing milieu to see 7-story buildings as the problem and not the single-family homes with white picket fences. (6/10)
We've been trained to ignore the fast-food restaurants and big box stores sitting on land that could house hundreds of people and instead focus our ire on those few buildings where new housing gets built. (7/10) https://twitter.com/lukehklipp/status/1295407574129377281
We've been trained to ignore the single-family housing that predominates in our cities, setting aside the majority of our cities' land for the wealthy, disproportionately white residents whose homes appreciate in value faster than most of us can earn a living. (8/10)
We've been taught that there aren't enough layers of scrutiny and/or fees applied to new housing; meanwhile existing homeowners have mortgage subsidies, political power, and home appreciation that make them the beneficiaries of a massive wealth transfer. (9/10)
So, #HousingTwitter -- don't dunk on others' hot takes on the value/meaning of new housing like this.
Instead, ask why these takes are so easily come by and what it says about our country and our approach to housing... and how to change our long-held preconceptions. (10/end)
Instead, ask why these takes are so easily come by and what it says about our country and our approach to housing... and how to change our long-held preconceptions. (10/end)
