Where D.C.'s 'New Communities' Public Housing Program Went Wrong

"In short," writes Aaron Wiener, "the New Communities program has failed to produce new communities."

The logic of the 2004 program spearheaded by then-Mayor Anthony Williams made sense, according to Wiener: "The city would both address the chronic problems that accompany concentrations of poverty and minimize the displacement of low-income residents by allowing them to return to the sites of their former homes after redevelopment."

However, "the execution, amid poor planning and a recession that slowed development countrywide, has left many residents frustrated."

Enter the report commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and released to the D.C. Council, which traces the struggles of the New Communities initiative "to unrealistic expectations that led to structural flaws in the program's design."

As for what's next, the report proposes solutions that "involve a strategic reshuffling of priorities to ensure that housing gets built, even at the possible expense of some of the program's ideals." Moreover, the D.C. Housing Authority, which oversees the city's public housing, has promised to "begin working with our city partners as the details in the recommendations are ironed out and as our commitment to our families is fulfilled."