Abandominiums: Vacant Buildings and a Neighborhood’s Resentment

Abandominiums: Vacant Buildings and a Neighborhood’s Resentment
John Muller | Greater Greater Washington | Mar 22nd, 2012



[font size="1"]Probably time to remove that sign: Abandoned apartments in D.C.‘s Anacostia neighborhood. Credit: John Muller[/font]

This piece originally appeared on Greater Greater Washington.

In the heart of Anacostia, a neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C., lies a large concentration of forgotten or unfinished housing enterprises. Instead of generating needed jobs and taxes, these “abandominiums” play home to squatters and a community’s frustration.

Sitting on the steps of an abandoned apartment complex in Historic Anacostia, underneath graffiti reading “Beneath the INFLuence =)”, William Alston-El says indignantly, “All these buildings ever do is sit. Everyone wants to talk about the commercial strip. What about the inner-part of Anacostia?”

Last year, the Washington Post called this cluster of three vacant buildings on High Street SE, “one of the oldest unfinished projects in the country.” It’s part of Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Home Investment Partnership Program, which was the subject of a scathing expose about millions of dollars going to projects that remain incomplete and vacant.

But vacant doesn’t necessarily mean deserted. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://americancity.org/buzz/entry/3477/