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Tenant Advocates Host “Before and After Tour” of Affordable Housing Struggles in NW Neighborhoods
Reality Tour to Show Results of Gentrification and Community Organizing in Columbia Heights and Petworth
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, July 11th, residents of Columbia Heights and Petworth will open their homes to share stories of their struggles to preserve affordable housing in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. Washington, D.C. is the only city in the country with a unique law (the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, TOPA) that gives tenants the right to determine what happens to their apartment building when it is for sale. The Before and After Neighborhood Tour will visit four multi-family buildings (two where residents utilized TOPA to buy their buildings and convert them into affordable cooperatives, and two apartment buildings where tenants are trying to purchase) to meet with residents and hear their unique stories. DC’s tenant purchase program is one of the major focuses of this year’s Fourth Annual Citywide Tenant Town Hall, on Saturday, July 16th at 2:30 pm at First Trinity Lutheran Church (309 E St NW, near Judiciary Square).
WHAT: Before and After Neighborhood Tour of Columbia Heights and Petworth
Before: Hear from tenants in run-down apartment buildings that are for sale, who are organizing to prevent their displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods.
After: See newly renovated, affordable housing co-ops where long term neighborhood residents are now owners!
WHERE: 1st stop: 710 Jefferson St NW
2nd stop: Brightwood Gardens Cooperative – 941 Longfellow St NW
3rd stop: 1333 Euclid St NW
4th stop: Quest Cooperative – 1460 Euclid St NW
WHEN: Monday, July 11th, 5 to 7 PM
Meet at 710 Jefferson St NW at 5 pm; we’ll walk to 941 Longfellow St NW (2 blocks), then drive to 1333 Euclid St NW (or meet there at 6 PM), then walk to 1460 Euclid St NW (1 block).
WHO: Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), Save Our Safety Net, 710 Jefferson St NW Tenants’ Association, Brightwood Gardens Cooperative Association, 1333 Euclid St NW Tenants’ Association, Quest Cooperative Association.
