Affordable housing advocates in DC take back the land

On July 10th, over 200 members of ONE DC and supporters of affordable housing occupied a vacant city-owned lot at 7th & R St NW just north of downtown Washington, DC. The lot is known as Parcel 42, and has been the target of tenant leaders in the Shaw neighborhood for almost ten years, who have waged a long campaign to get the city to finance new, permanently-affordable apartments at the site. Almost three years after the current mayor promised a quick groundbreaking, and fed up with broken promises, neighborhood leaders decided to take action. A week later Tent City DC continues to blossom into an intentional community bigger and more vibrant than the organizers had hoped, hosting artists, musicians, film screenings, and even kids playing vacant-lot-racquetball.

To keep up with the campaign or find out how you can get involved visit: http://tentcitydc.wordpress.com and http://www.onedconline.org.