On the waterfront

CNU will collaborate with local and federal agencies on the redevelopment of Washington, D.C.’s, underused southern shore. Between the Southeast Freeway and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., five short blocks from the U.S. Capitol, is a neglected corner of the city with tremendous natural wealth: the Southeast Waterfront neighborhood. With development pressure on the area primed to burst, these potentially valuable and beautiful blocks are about to be the subject of a unique planning process. Its goal is to tie together the area’s disparate activities into a cohesive revitalization that is sensitive to its context. Unprecedented workshop On May 18 through 22, an invited group of CNU members, waterfront developers, and other inner-city revitalization experts will cooperate with the Washington, D.C., Office of Planning (DCOP) and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to run a four-day workshop to clarify the future development of the neighborhood. The workshop will bring together a wide range of stakeholders, including current residents and business owners, as well as many federal and local agencies with interests in the area. This is the first time CNU has provided expertise on a specific planning project. CNU was called in because of a complicated political situation. The area includes public housing projects, the nation’s oldest Navy base, a large federal office facility, a commercial strip, historic single-family houses, and a heavy industrial area. Because so many politically connected players are involved, the GSA and DCOP decided to ask CNU to provide impartial facilitation. CNU aims to distinguish this workshop through an interdisciplinary team of experts and an unusually intense involvement from local low-income residents. Community leaders are being paid a stipend to participate, to ensure that they can take time off from work to provide input. There are already hints as to the future direction of the neighborhood. CNU executive director Shelley Poticha says there is a consensus that the neighborhood should become more of an urban village. A Metro stop is in the middle of the project area, a quarter-mile walk from the river and the surrounding neighborhood. An elevated freeway separates the area from the Ellen Wilson Homes, a hallmark new urbanist Hope VI project located in lower Capitol Hill. The National Park Service wants to open the riverfront to the public – it is now entirely fenced off by secure federal facilities. The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Navy are both considering major office construction in the area. A boat rental company is looking to turn the waterfront into a major center for canoe and kayak recreation. The neighborhood is already attracting development proposals from private companies looking to cash in on the city’s increasing popularity. The task of the workshop will be to forge a unified vision from these many goals and potentials. The job of fleshing out the vision will fall to future new urbanist architects and planners.