The DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID)’s Public Space Management department this spring began facilitating a series of neighborhood walk-throughs with city agencies to bring immediate attention to local concerns.
The purpose of these walk-throughs is to enable city agencies and other Downtown partners an opportunity to see first-hand issues that require action from Downtown partners to solve including damaged sidewalk pavers and bricks, streetlights, traffic boxes, alleyways, trash and other issues.
The walk-throughs in some areas are also designed to offer an opportunity to experience potential safety and public health issues in areas with high homeless populations.
This season’s first walk-through in the BID was organized by Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office in coordination with the BID to examine conditions in Chinatown (Ward 2) on March 19. Participants included representatives from D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Department of Public Works (DPW), Department of Health (DOH), along with the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs and Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, the Chinatown Community Cultural Center, Pathways to Housing DC (the homeless services provider contracted by the BID), the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), law enforcement, representatives from the Executive Office of the Mayor (EOM) and BID Safety/Hospitality SAM Mike Marshall.
The group spent 90 minutes examining a 6-block radius in Chinatown and cataloged 45 issues of concern.
“The purpose of these walk-throughs is to offer partners a firsthand look at conditions to bring attention to these issues and facilitate a speedy resolution,” said BID Director of Public Space Management David K. Kamperin. The BID has organized two additional walk-throughs this month: May 5 at the McPherson Square Metrorail station (Vermont Avenue & I Street NW); and on May 12 in the 400 block of New Jersey Avenue NW near the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV) homeless shelter.
Both walk-throughs will focus on homelessness, public safety, public health and trash. Participants will include MPD, DPW, DOH, WMATA, Pathways to Housing DC, the General Services Administration, Park Police and the Federal Protective Service in addition to representatives from EOM including Keylin Rivera and Eva Lewis. Bowser’s administration plans to host monthly walk-throughs in different areas of the city.
The DowntownDC BID welcomes future coordination with the mayor’s office for Downtown visits and looks forward to hosting and facilitating separate walk-throughs to help maintain Downtown’s public spaces.