By Southwest DC Action
As members in our community, we have become deeply concerned by the rate of inequitable change in the Southwest-Waterfront neighborhood. Rampant redevelopment in today’s Southwest is reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s, when 90% of Southwest was demolished. The subsequent rebuilding displaced many, including thousands of longtime African American families in the neighborhood.
Founded in the fall of 2019, Southwest DC Action is a group of more than 30 Southwest neighbors who are organizing and advocating for anti-racist development, as well as an equitable and environmentally sustainable neighborhood. We have five discussion workgroups: Community Development, History and Culture, Environment and Climate Resiliency, Housing, and Youth. Our workgroups all meet together once a month to organize, advocate, and take action.
The Community Development workgroup would like to hear and learn what types of businesses or community organizations Southwest residents find to be most important for ensuring a healthy, inclusive, and thriving neighborhood. To do so, the workgroup created a short survey that we invite all of our fellow community members to take. Through the survey, you can identify businesses and organizations you value and/or would like to see in Southwest. We plan to use the results from this survey to inform and drive what we ask and advocate for from Southwest’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC), the DC Council, and DC government more broadly.
This survey is completely anonymous and takes about 5 minutes to complete. We hope to receive more than 100 responses that represent our diverse community and will share survey results in a future article. If you have questions about the survey, please email swdcaction@gmail.com or call 202.643.2130.
To share your ideas, go here to take the survey – bit.ly/swdcjan21.