| Washington Highlands | |
|---|---|
| Washington Highlands, highlighted in red | |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Total | 8,829 |
Washington Highlands is a large residential neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C., bounded on three sides by Oxon Run Park and on the fourth (southeast) side by Southern Avenue. It is the largest residential neighborhood in Ward 8, the poorest and least developed section of Washington.
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As of 2007, Washington Highlands had a population of 8,829, including 3,242 households and a median household income of $28,885. 81.3% of residents in Washington Highlands are renters, and 18.7% are home owners. 71.6% of households are families.[1]
Most of the neighborhood it is low-income and public housing apartment complexes, including the 204-unit Highland Dwelling public housing complex. The DC Housing Authority received 2009 stimulus funding, and has allocated $11 million towards rehabilitation of Highland Dwellings.[2][3]
Wheeler Creek is a 314-unit community, developed with 1997 HOPE VI grant, replacing Valley Green and Skytower. Wheeler Creek includes 48 low-income rental units, 100 senior apartments, 32 market-rate rental units, 30 lease/purchase unites, and the rest are for purchase.[4]
Highland Additions was a 118-unit complex that was torn down in 2001. The DC government is seeking HOPE funding to redevelop the site as a townhouse community.[5]
In recent years a gated community, Walter Washington Estates, has drawn middle-class residents.
A new tennis and learning center, combining sports and education, is located in Washington Highlands. The DC Public Library is slated to re-open the renovated Washington Highlands branch in summer 2011, and has an interim branch open in the neighborhood.[6]
The most prominent landmark in Washington Highlands is Greater Southeast Community Hospital, the facility that serves the majority of public health-care needs in the District of Columbia, and whose funding and finances are stretched.
Washington Highlands is among the most violent neighborhoods in the District of Columbia; approximately one third of the city's 181 homicides in 2007 occurred there.[7] The neighborhood became the focus of media attention in January 2008, when city officials discovered that Washington Highlands resident Banita Jacks had been living for months in her rowhouse with the bodies of her four murdered children in advanced states of decomposition upstairs.[8]
Former neighborhood residents include the late Calvin and Wilhelmina Rolark, (founder of the United Black Fund and Councilwoman), who lived on Foxhall Place, and country singer/entertainer Roy Clark who grew up on First Street.
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