1807.1 This section summarizes the opportunities and challenges residents and stakeholders prioritized during the 2006 Comprehensive Plan revision. During large community workshops, residents shared their feedback on District-wide and neighborhood specific issues. Since the 2006 community workshops, however, some of the challenges and opportunities facing the community have evolved. The following summary does not reflect new community priorities or feedback from either amendment cycle but summarizes the most important issues during the 2006 Comprehensive Plan revision.

1807.2 Three Comprehensive Plan workshops took place in Far Southeast/Southwest during 2005 and 2006. Many residents, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners (ANCs), and civic association leaders provided input at these meetings, where they discussed local planning issues and priorities. There have also been many meetings in the community not directly connected to the Comprehensive Plan, but focusing on other long-range planning issues. Topics such as the rebuilding of the 11th Street and South Capitol Street Bridges, development of Poplar Point, the redevelopment of Camp Simms and St. Elizabeths, and streetscape improvements for Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE were addressed at public meetings.

1807.3 Several important messages came across in these meetings, including:

1. An improved educational system, job and vocational training system, and social service safety net are essential to the area's future. A 40 percent high school dropout rate is unacceptable—and the double-digit unemployment that results in part from inadequate education also is unacceptable. Improved job training and adult education are essential to alleviate unemployment, under-employment, and poverty, and additional facilities to house these services are needed. As noted elsewhere in the Comprehensive Plan, establishing a community college or branch campus of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) east of the Anacostia River could go a long way toward preparing youth and adults for good, quality jobs in the District's economy. Ample access to transit is essential to connecting residents with jobs in the District and elsewhere in the region.
2. Concerns about drug use and violence were voiced, including the impacts caused that were felt by the community. While the root causes of this issue are complex, greater investment in schools, libraries, child care centers, recreation centers, parks, and health clinics would provide an important start toward improved public safety. Many residents advocated for improved public facilities and services; the development that is planned for this area over the next 20 years should be leveraged to make this a

reality. The Anacostia and Washington Highlands Libraries should be reconstructed. Anacostia High, Ketcham, Birney, Savoy, Ballou, and other schools should be modernized. Public facility improvements should be the cornerstone of any revitalization or neighborhood economic development program in this area.

1. Far Southeast/Southwest needs more high-quality housing options that are suitable for families and younger homeowners. Poorly maintained rental apartments and public housing units do not provide enough opportunities for home ownership. The established single-family, row house, and duplex neighborhoods should be preserved and enhanced. Additional low- to moderate-density housing should be encouraged as sites such as St. Elizabeths (East Campus) and Sheridan Terrace as they are redeveloped. In some areas, rezoning may be needed to promote the desired housing types—currently, much of the area is zoned R-5-A, which perpetuates the garden apartment pattern.
2. The community recognized that there are opportunities for increased density within the Planning Area, especially around the Metro stations at Anacostia and Congress Heights, at St. Elizabeths, and in neighborhood centers along Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE and South Capitol Street SE. Transit-oriented development in these areas could provide opportunities for older adults, households without cars, younger renters, and others. Residents would like an array of housing choices, but believe that higher-density housing should be limited to the areas listed above. Beyond these areas, many residents expressed the opinion that deteriorating apartment complexes should be replaced with less dense housing over time. This is what has happened at Frederick Douglass, Stanton Dwellings, and Valley Green, with public housing replaced by mixed-income townhomes and detached units. Many residents asked that the remaining vacant sites in the community be planned and zoned for single-family homes rather than more garden apartments.
3. Housing maintenance is an issue in the Planning Area and affects the lives of residents in many ways. Residents are concerned about rising costs—especially rising rents and property taxes. The demolition of much of the area’s public housing has displaced some long-time residents and created concerns about future redevelopment. There is an interest in preserving the affordability of some of the area’s rental housing through rehabilitation and renovation. There are also concerns about lax code enforcement, unpermitted construction, and a continued need to clean up vacant and abandoned properties.
4. More retail services are needed in the community, especially supermarkets

and sit-down restaurants. The community also needs basic services like full-service gas stations and hardware stores, so residents do not have to travel to Prince George's County to shop. The Camp Simms Shopping Center is an important step in the right direction; additional investment should be made in the existing retail centers along Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE, Good Hope Road SE, Alabama Road SE, and South Capitol Street SE. Façade improvements, streetscape improvements, and upgraded public transit along these streets can help existing businesses and promote new businesses— with the added benefit of creating new jobs for area residents.

1. Traffic congestion is an issue, with much of the traffic generated by non-residents passing through the area or using local streets as shortcuts when I-295 is congested. Traffic calming measures are needed to reduce cut-through traffic, and to slow down speeding traffic and reduce unsafe driving. Public transit improvements also are needed. Approximately half of the area's households do not own a car and rely on the Metrobus or Metrorail to get around. Residents are concerned that projects like the Anacostia streetcar will reduce bus service, especially across the Anacostia River.
2. Despite its proximity to the waterfront, much of Far Southeast/ Southwest is cut off from the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers. Access to the Potomac River is limited due to the uses along the shoreline (Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling and the Blue Plains treatment plant). Anacostia River access is difficult due to the I-295 freeway, railroad tracks, and other barriers. Crossing the river on the South Capitol Street or 11th/12th Street bridges is difficult, if not impossible, for pedestrians and bicyclists. Better access to Poplar Point and Anacostia Park on the north, and to Oxon Cove on the south, should be achieved in the future. Historic Anacostia was born as a waterfront community and its identity as a waterfront community should be restored in the future.
3. Far Southeast/Southwest contains hilly topography. A prominent ridgeline crosses the area, affording picturesque views of Washington, DC and abundant natural scenery. In some cases, development has been insensitive to topography, not only missing an opportunity for better design, but also causing soil erosion and unnecessary grading and tree removal. The disregard for the natural environment also manifests itself in illegal dumping, which is an issue along Oxon Run, in other streambeds, and on vacant land throughout the area. A cleaner environment, and preservation of the area's natural beauty, are both high priorities.

SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR

1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).