In Northeast Washington, dreams are coming true. Today, there are new jobs, new businesses, renovated homes. In 1998, Ward 5, which includes the National Arboretum and the historic Langston Golf Course, was embroiled in a battle to clean up or close down trash transfer stations located just yards from homes and businesses. These roads weren't built to accommodate that kind of traffic. It was literally cracking the foundations of the houses.
Residents say that what once was a middle-class neighborhood quickly went downhill.
Businesses fled, and many residents followed, leaving abandoned houses to be overtaken by drug dealers and gangs. After almost twelve months of meetings and hearings, private waste haulers were forced to clean up the existing transfer station, and the City Council passed stricter regulations governing the siting and operation of all private waste facilities in the District. ILSR, the Carver Terrace CDC, and the D.C. Sustainable Community Initiatives created a program to help residents reclaim their neighborhood. Today, the results are changing the climate in Ward 5. The Ivy City-Trinidad Dream Team Deconstruction Cooperative is one of the Ward's newest businesses.