I think we may have chatted on Nextdoor around the time of the shooting! This sounds familiar.

I also know some of the people with kids who have been around for a long time, and they told us that they've never seen the building in such a state. Like, this is the worst it has been. Even since I moved here in 2019, the building has been getting worse year by year. And 2023 is off to the worst start yet.

The situation here after the shooting is - believe it or not - worse than it was before. Like, I thought the shooting would be the pinnacle of craziness and the building would cool off and chill for a while (especially with new temporary security at night). But we've still had drama almost every single day - sometimes multiple times a day.

The silver lining with the shooting is that it prompted folks to come together to organize. Our ANC rep, Sauleh, has been a rockstar and has helped connect a tenants association and set up monthly meetings with residents, MPD and other organizations. Maybe things will finally turn around given these new developments, but I am not optimistic.

The shooting was ridiculous. It was the last straw for a lot of folks. Many neighbors I know are moving out or are planning to move ASAP.

I'm finally moving out from a building in Cleveland Park under DARO/Borger management, who are well known for their relationship with the voucher program. They are the ones who recently got in a huge amount of trouble for more voucher misconduct. Props to WaPo for continuing to cover this so well. This new article does a good job of explaining the mechanism behind how landlords actually milk the program.

I could rant for hours about my experience living at the Parkway, but I don't want to dump a laundry list here of complaints and crazy stuff that we've seen or had to deal with. This building is nuts. We have incidents almost daily. However, people will use these problems as ammo to build prejudices against voucher recipients and disdain for the system as a whole, and I don't think that's fair. It's misdirected anger. After living in this building for years and learning so many of their stories, the voucher system has done a lot of good for a lot of people. It's a very flawed system; a good idea mired with flawed execution. And the solution to many of its problems is to further strengthen the system, not strip it of its utility.

After living here for 4 years, I've seen 2 main issues with the voucher program:

1. The city does not provide enough follow through and support for voucher residents. Flat out. Some of these people are coming in with severe mental health issues and drug/alcohol addictions. Some people are even coming in with very little personal belongings - no furniture, no place to sit, etc. These people need more help. They are not set up for success.

2. The landlords that so egregiously take advantage of the system (as outlined in the article) also need to follow through on handling the day-to-day incidents that arise from taking on so many individuals that may have severe problems. Not only that, they need to do a better job of dealing with the select few individuals who are a nexus from where an overwhelming majority of the problems stem from.

I think if landlords are going to try and cash in on the voucher system, then they need to step up and actually create a more safe & hospitable place for all residents, vouchers and non-vouchers alike. That in itself is where the greed lies. If landlords load up on voucher recipients to make extra money but then also have to pay a bunch for security, extra maintenance, etc., then their profit motive is diminished. They can make more money by caring less about the safety and living conditions, leading to the chaos that is notorious in some of these buildings.