GGW: Homeless shelter with no retail will hinder Anacostia

Go HERE to read the full article by Veronica Davis on Greater Greater Washington. Veronica lives in Ward 7 and has a small business in Ward 8 and is the blogger for  Life in the Village. In short she is all around awesome.

Excerpt:

I am a small business owner on the 2000 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE, which is around the corner from the proposed homeless shelter. My personal preference is to have more options for lunch and dinner in the business district.

While there is indeed a need for social services in the neighborhood, many residents east of the river worry that an overabundance of such facilities will stifle revitalization efforts. Chris Jerry, Vice President of the Fairlawn Citizens Association, stated, "Ward 8, and the portion of Ward 7 Fairlawn, soon to be redistricted to Ward 8, the areas closest to the bridges that begin or end east of the Anacostia River, have been overrun with social program facilities."