{"id":1492,"date":"2025-05-10T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/?p=1492"},"modified":"2026-02-10T01:27:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T01:27:59","slug":"a-vision-for-municipally-owned-housing-in-dc-campaign-for-housing-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/2025\/05\/10\/a-vision-for-municipally-owned-housing-in-dc-campaign-for-housing-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"A Vision for Municipally-Owned Housing in DC \u2013 Campaign for Housing Justice!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Save DC Public Update<\/a>: We went on a social housing tour & more you can do this week! We are hoping to re-engage with you around this year’s budget hearings and stadium discussions.\u00a0 Plus, Thursday’s Housing Town Hall, You Are Invited!<\/b><\/span>Dear 1617 U Street Advocates and Friends of Social Housing:<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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As we await the DC Zoning Commission final order for 1617 U Street (recall all of your neighbors speaking up<\/a>) … and after reading the independent DC Auditor’s report on how broken DC’s primary affordable housing production program (Inclusionary Zoning<\/a>) … we have sought to find alternatives <\/b>to the status quo trickle-down economic development that is failing our city and our neighborhoods.<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
Our Save DC Public Land: The 1617 Project<\/a> campaign kicked off May with an inspiring tour of Montgomery County\u2019s flagship municipally-owned social housing project, The Laureate<\/a>.<\/b> Over twenty attendees joined us \u2014 including current and former ANC Commissioners, DC Council staff, and dedicated housing advocates \u2014 for a firsthand look at what\u2019s possible when public land is used in the public interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Missed it? You can read the press alert here<\/a> and see photos here<\/a>. And yes \u2014 we may do another tour soon!<\/span><\/p>\n


\nWhy did this tour matter?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

More than just a field trip and new connections made among those seeking solutions to DC’s affordability crisis, it was a clear demonstration of what municipalities can<\/em> do with modest public investment, strategic land use, and thoughtful planning. The result: mixed-income housing for a variety of family sizes and<\/em> a way the city can capture the project’s income and equity created to sustain, maintain, and even expand the public asset \u2014 permanently.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Debby Hanrahan<\/strong>, co-convener of Save DC Public Land<\/em>, put it:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMontgomery County has proven that giving away public land for more privately-owned, unaffordable luxury housing is simply not rational or reasonable. The municipally-owned housing model shows that DC can also get the permanent, truly affordable housing across a range of incomes that we deserve \u2014 while also replenishing city coffers to build more. We can start with the land at RFK and 1617 U Street.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We\u2019re now gearing up to push for seed funding for a Social Housing Pilot in DC<\/strong> \u2014 during upcoming budget hearings and the debate over the RFK stadium site.<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to be part of it? Click here to get involved<\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Start and\/or continue to engage on DC’s housing issues this week PLEASE BE HERE THURSDAY!<\/u><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
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\ud83c\udfdb\ufe0f <\/span>Housing Town Hall<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\ud83d\udcc5 <\/span>Thursday, May 15<\/strong> | \ud83d\udd60 5:30 PM\u20138:30 PM | \ud83d\udccd Sycamore & Oak (SE)<\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span> This is not a drill\u2014it\u2019s a <\/span>budget<\/span> battle<\/strong> and we\u2019re coming with the receipts! The<\/span> Fair<\/span> Budget<\/span> Coalition<\/span><\/a><\/strong> and allies are bringing the heat with an evening of <\/span>truth-telling and table-shaking demands<\/strong>. Council members will hear firsthand why the <\/span>RENTAL Act must go<\/strong>, and why we need a <\/span>people-first budget<\/span> now<\/strong>. With music, food, and the <\/span>voices of the movement<\/strong>, this town hall will be pure people power. <\/span>Pull up, get loud, and RSVP today!<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Save DC Public Update: We went on a social housing tour & more you can do this week! We are hoping to re-engage with you around this year’s budget hearings and stadium discussions.\u00a0 Plus, Thursday’s Housing Town Hall, You Are Invited!Dear 1617 U Street Advocates and Friends of Social Housing: As we await the DC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1617u","category-affordability","category-publicland","category-socialhousing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/crystalball.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1492"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5722,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492\/revisions\/5722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}