For DC 2050, to create a comprehensive plan for the whole city, we need to connect with and consider the needs of the whole city. The District of Columbia is incredibly diverse, with residents of all ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences. We acknowledge that urban planning has been part of systems that, through racially discriminatory and exclusionary policies, have harmed Black residents, other people of color, and their communities. This includes exclusionary zoning, redlining, and urban renewal programs, which displaced Black, Jewish, and other marginalized communities from their homes and divided entire neighborhoods like Southwest DC. The legacy of these policies lives on in our built environment today – particularly as it relates to housing. Through this comprehensive plan rewrite, our team commits to listening to and working with communities most harmed by planning practices. Learn more about the history of planning in Washington, DC.

Equitable Engagement Practices

Engagement is the means by which we listen to and work with residents to incorporate their perspectives into our plans. From the beginning of this project, we have been focused on outreach to Black residents, especially those earning below 50% of the Median Family Income, because these households face the greatest barriers to stable housing and public participation. We have reduced barriers to participation by locating many of our public meetings in Wards 7 and 8. We have also prioritized our tabling efforts at events already scheduled in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, where members of the community are gathered.

Using demographic data about who we were reaching through engagement, we began pinpointing groups that were underrepresented to develop a customized outreach strategy – a process that has continued regularly throughout the project. We identify organizations that serve the underrepresented group and then partner with them to join a preexisting event or host a focus group. Communities we’ve engaged through this effort include young people, seniors, people with disabilities, returning citizens, and unhoused residents. This effort provides qualitative data that is incredibly valuable to our process; it’s a set of inputs we consider right alongside voluminous quantitative data we get from large events and online engagement tools.

More than 20% of DC residents speak a language other than English in their household. To engage these residents, OP publishes vital information and conducts outreach in the most commonly spoken languages in the District.

We have also issued grants to three community-based organizations to engage residents in Wards 5, 7, and 8 (the wards least represented in our engagement data), as well as residents who speak Spanish, Amharic, and Mandarin.  I’m looking forward to seeing Congress Heights Training and Development Center, The Coalition (formerly CNHED), and Many Languages One Voice in Black communities and other communities of color, conducting outreach and connecting them to the planning process for DC 2050. Read more about these organizations and their work for DC 2050.

Did you miss the in-person workshops earlier this month, or do you have feedback on the draft future land use map? We want to hear from you! Learn about the proposed changes in the draft future land use map and tell us what you think by April 30.