To develop or not develop—to gentrify or not gentrify–is that the only question? I was listening to an .mp3 by some activists who caught up with the Mayor at an opening of a new Safeway supermarket near K Street–where they confronted him about the closing of homeless shelters and the new developments of luxury in the district.

Now I like development, there I said it. I like having a Gallery Place and a Penn Quarter (and an Arlington, VA for that matter) where I can go relax, eat, shop (I don’t shop a lot) and catch a movie. Back in my hometown of Westchester County, NY I’ve also liked the development which occurred in White Plains, NY. However, with both of these cases and even with Harlem, NY one thing is always tossed aside. The one thing that is tossed aside are the people who become gentrified.

It’s one thing to kick criminals (and sex workers) out of an area when new developments are going up. It’s another to just force poor people out by the increase in rent payments, closing shelters and not building affordable housing. Everyone ends up moving and I’ve heard that Prince George’s County, MD has been the recipient of this migration. Does development mean the upheaval and removal of the less fortunate in our society?

Is there no confidence in mixed-income neighborhoods? Are with that beholden to developers who want it their way? I would really like to hear the Mayor give a speech on development in DC. I want to hear his views. Is there not room in his city for luxury and affordable housing? If that shelter is closed what does he plan to do? Where are those people going to go? Do you just let them live on the streets or do they end up in PG County or somewhere else? In the end the development is good for the city and I really think Fenty is doing some good things (also his efforts with public education may pan out we’ll have to see), but that can’t be it.