EVENT: Affordable Housing in DC During (and after) the Pandemic

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Housing affordability has long been an issue of concern for residents of Washington, one of the major U.S. cities most affected by gentrification . Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s an issue that continues to shape regional patterns of development. 

It has national implications in the ongoing negotiations over the reconciliation spending package , with $370 billion for housing programs among the $3.5 trillion the measure would allocate for human care needs and climate change. And it has international implications, most recently among the Afghan special immigrant visa holders seeking housing in a market where monthly rents easily exceed the settlement funding they receive .

These and other topics were the focus of a September 22 online panel discussion on housing in DC during and after the pandemic. The panel was co-hosted by the Kalmanovitz Initiative’s Race and Economic Empowerment Project and the Georgetown Global Cities Initiative. 

The panel is part of KI’s New Social Compact (NSC) project inviting a public conversation on contemporary issues. The project encourages people to see the potential in the current moment for long-term, lasting change that centers the working class. It also encourages the building and development of coalitions among labor, academia, activists, faith leaders, environmentalists, and others to work for change in this moment. 

The panel featured Dyana Forester, president of the Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO; Andrew Trueblood, director of the DC Office of Planning; Miles Holloman, a longtime community organizer; and Brian McCabe, Georgetown University professor of sociology. A link to the video is here .