D.C. Growth Continues

The revitalization of WDC is an ongoing process, reports the Fannie Mae Foundation. While the suburbs still account for most of the region’s sprawling growth, the District’s revitalization
continues to gain strength. City employment reached 672,000 in 2004, up from 650,000 in 2000, and the number of households choosing to live in the District is climbing, noted the Fannie Mae's recent report, Housing in the Nation's Capitol.
But the corresponding real estate boom has not impacted the city uniformly. Some neighborhoods — Mt. Pleasant and Capitol Hill, for example — "are under intense market pressures," said the recent report. Others — including Deanwood and Congress Heights — remain weak. As a result, affordable housing is disappearing and concentrating poverty in lower-cost neighborhoods.
To achieve a more equitable distribution of the benefits that prosperity creates, the WDC "will need to ensure that more affordable housing choices are available throughout
the city."