Long before Columbia Heights became one of the hottest development sites, before its Metro station opened and before D.C. officials announced a $149 million plan to build a neighborhood mall with a Target and other big-box stores, Maria Zuniga lived at 1458 Columbia Road NW.
So did Maria Salgado and Maria Rivas and Maria Guevara and Maria Gavidia and Maria Herrera and Maria Amaya.
They and about 40 other immigrant households were residing in a building that a District housing inspector labeled in January 1999 "a danger to the health and safety of persons in or about the premises." There were roaches and rodents, and cold water flowed from the hot-water tap.
The tenants also faced threats from a landlord and manager trying to empty the building to convert it to condominiums. But the residents -- urban pioneers from villages in El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia and Ecuador -- had another plan. With an army of volunteers, they wrote a new ending to the gentrification story: 1458 Columbia Road did indeed go condo, but these low-income tenants managed to buy their building. In a neighborhood of $450,000 condos, they found a way to provide homes for families earning $24,000 to $40,000 a year.
Full article here from the Washington Post
Liberal Arts Dude sez:
After all the horror stories about the nationwide housing crisis I thought this story of immigrants winning affordable housing for themselves in high-priced Washington DC was a major victory for these working-class folks. Columbia Heights is just a stone's throw away from where I live and I am glad to see that there will be an oasis of affordable housing units as a result of their efforts.
Some of the comments were pretty ignorant and mean-spirited and targeted the ethnicity of the subjects of the article. For the life of me I don't understand the vitriol. What I see is a shining example of working-class people who by organizing and sticking to their guns accomplished something remarkable in advocating for themselves.
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2 comments:
This is a perfect example of people taking the initiative to do things for themselves and control their own destiny rather than waiting for someone to do it for them.
If more communities did the same, we would all be better off. I'm not suggesting that government shouldn't play a role... but I am saying that there are certain things that communities should be willing to do... and too many are not doing their part.
And the xenophobia just won't go away... especially when it comes to the issue of immigration. Politicians have gotten Americans so riled up on this issue that folks seem to be incapable of thinking rationally. If people were already pre-disposed to being racists...the immigration issue seems to just bring it to the surface in these folks.
I smiled reading your post. I loved the people standing up for themselves after they united.
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