In Sept 2002 residents of the Arthur Capper’s / Carrollsburg neighbourhood, only a stone’s throw from world famous landmark Capitol Hill, were moved en masse from their homes as part of a US Government plan: 400 low-income families are now living in temporary accommodation across the city. Several years later and these families are still waiting to return to their communities.
The residents of Arthur Capper’s are not alone in Washington DC. Gentrification is affecting people across the entire city with many sad stories of forced removals, mass evictions and shocking homelessness. In 2005 there were thousands of evictions across DC ­ many carried out by homeless people, paid as little as $5 per eviction*.
Many of those who are leaving the city centre are moving to the neighbouring states of Virginia in the south and Maryland in the north.

* Source: Street Sense homeless magazine (Washington DC)