As Washington D.C. Historic Black Neighborhoods Fade, CPDC Preserves Affordability, Diversity, Culture
February 3, 2016
Shaw, U Street Corridor, and the Howard and Lincoln Theatres all have something in common.
They are thriving, historic strongholds of African American culture—integral to the development of Washington’s identity.
And today, all are at risk of being completely reconfigured as younger, single, higher wage earners move into the city, forcing out hardworking long-time residents and families.
It has long been CPDC’s mission to preserve affordability across DC, Maryland, and Virginia by providing multi-family housing and a range of services to residents with low- to moderate-income levels.
The Edgewood-Brookland community is a prime example of a D.C. neighborhood rapidly gentrifying as investors import new retail, market-rate apartments, and entire arts districts. CPDC’s income-affordable community in Brookland, Edgewood Commons, is home to thousands of African Americans and important members of the Edgewood-Brookland community.
To preserve this longstanding community, CPDC is investing $50 million over the next 5 years to revitalize the entire Edgewood Commons campus of nearly 800 apartments. The goal: to transform it into an open, vibrant, engaged, mixed-income community.
In 2015, CPDC celebrated the $50 million revitalization of Edgewood Commons with a ground-breaking and ribbon-cutting. The campus is being transformed into an open, vibrant, and engaged mixed-income community.
By renovating Edgewood to be on par with new development in the area and by maintaining affordability, CPDC demonstrates that gentrification can be successful without displacing and disrupting long-rooted communities.
We’re approaching gentrification differently.
And now, more than ever, it’s a story that deserves to be told.
For more on CPDC’s Black History Month 2016 series, follow us on Twitter @CPDCorg and join the conversation: #blackhousestory #blacksinhousing