In Alexandria, Va. the city council has approved a controversial proposal to demolish hundreds of low-end garden apartments in favor of high-density development.
The decision is likely to have reverberations at the polls next month, public radio station WAMU reported.
During a recent debate on the Beauregard small-area plan, city council candidates debated the proposal,
which critics say would displace thou- sands of poor and Latino residents along the western edge of Shirley Memorial Highway, also known as Interstate 395.
One of the candidates, Democrat Boyd Walker, compared the decision to the urban renewal movement.
“Working in the African-American community, I have learned that they still call it ‘black removal,’” said Walker. “So what should we call what’s happening today? I have a suggestion: Latino removal.”
Vice Mayor Kerry Donley challenged the statement.
“For you to stand up here and say that this is Latino removal is absolutely ridiculous. You know, I will tell you, you are asking us to turn down a plan, well that is a guarantee that all that market- rate affordable housing will be gone.”
The city council called for 800 units of dedicated affordable housing as part of the plan. Yet critics are concerned that many residents will be still be displaced in the process.
During a recent city council forum, eight candidates spoke in opposition to the plan, while only six supported it.
The primary is June 12.
— Bryant L Berganza, Street Sights
