for The Aston

To quote the opening lines of Petula Clark’s 1964 anthem for urban living, “When you’re alone and life is making you lonely / You can always go downtown.” If only that were still the case. The pandemic put an end to business as usual in downtown D.C., emptying out office space, quieting once-busy streets and slashing the city’s revenue.

Ethan Benn Opinions Editor

Now, Mayor Muriel Bowser is planning downtown D.C.’s “comeback,” attracting new residents, partnering with local universities and, perhaps most of all, getting government employees back to the office. But for downtown D.C. to thrive, it’ll need to become a place where people want to go — not just somewhere they’re forced to be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Ask Bowser, and she’d tell you that in-person work is essential to revitalizing downtown in two ways.

First, downtown office workers help support local businesses. Whether they’re student interns living in Foggy Bottom or commuters from beyond the Capital Beltway, office workers have to buy that $16 salad for lunch somewhere, after all.

Second, vacant office space translates to millions of dollars worth of lost revenue for the city. The federal government owns or leases one-third of D.C.’s office space and accounts for 27 percent of the jobs in the city — for D.C.’s struggling downtown, the end of the work-from-home era can’t come soon enough.

So, Bowser called for “decisive action by the White

House to get most federal workers back to the office most of the time” during her inaugural address in January. President Biden heard her loud and clear.

“It’s time for America to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again with people,” he said at his State of the Union address in March.

Even with Biden on board, there’s no guarantee that standalone “return to office” mandates for government employees will revitalize downtown. It’s a simple but pretty heavyhanded approach that ignores one basic fact: Some people just won’t spend money in the city.

Let’s say you’re like my coworker, who has a fourhour round-trip commute from the foothills of West Virginia to D.C.’s Union Station. Once you’re in the office, do you spring for the overpriced, underseasoned grub across the street once lunchtime rolls around? Or do you stick with last night’s leftovers and the coffee pot in the breakroom?

Anecdotes don’t replace data, yet I hope this little comparison exposes a flaw in the city’s plans. Transforming vacant office space into a hub of bureaucratic activity would undoubtedly help D.C.’s finances without tangibly improving downtown for the people who live, work and operate businesses there. Rent translates to revenue, but force workers to come to the office, and they may just keep themselves — and their wallets — at their desks.

Despite all the discussion around these return-to-office policies, they’re only meant to be one part of the city’s plans to “fill the space, change the space and bring the people” downtown. These last two points hold some real potential for the neighborhood, and they’re a much more solid foundation for the area’s future than memos and mandates ending remote work.

D.C. is improving transit connections on K Street, converting offices to homes and carving public space out of roads no longer trafficked by commuters. And if you can get past some of the consultant-y jargon, there are exciting plans — albeit just plans as of yet — to transform downtown into a place to come to instead of a place to pass through.

When you focus less on reestablishing the prepandemic status quo, the potential for downtown’s revival seems enormous. If you’ve gone down to the National Mall at all this summer, you know that there are plenty of people ready to shop for souvenirs, grab a bite to eat or otherwise enjoy some air conditioning only a short walk or Metro ride away. And students are always in search of affordable housing and places to work, as are aspiring Washingtonians.

All of that’s to say that if the mayor and president want people to spend their time and money in the city, then downtown needs to be a place where people want to be, not just another few blocks with offices, lobbying firms and advocacy groups.

Downtown D.C. may not need the pretty neon signs, bright lights and movie shows of 1964 to be great, nor even a return to the office en masse, to recover from the pandemic. If these plans come to fruition, “Things will be great when you’re downtown.”.

—Ethan Benn, a senior majoring in journalism and mass communication, is the opinions editor.

AMay 2023 report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments found 8,499 people reported experiencing homelessness in the D.C. area in 2023 — that’s enough people to fill more than eight Thurston Halls.

While city officials are attempting to convert The Aston, a former GW residence hall, into a shelter for medically vulnerable unhoused people, neighbors in the District are valuing property more than people. Now, the West End D.C. Community Association — an unincorporated group of unnamed local property owners — is even suing D.C. in a bid to stop the sale.

Providing secure shelter with rehabilitation resources creates more stability for everyone. If the University can house thousands of students just blocks away from The Aston, then it shouldn’t be so hard to provide shelter for unhoused people in the District.

The lawsuit filed by WEDCCA alleges that city officials did not provide enough information about ensuring access for emergency and medical vehicles or delivery trucks, as well as about the construction of dining and kitchen spaces that were proposed for The Aston. While these minute details are important in theory, spending money and time on stopping the entire initiative indicates their larger agenda: to keep unhoused people away.

Can WEDCCA even claim to be part of the community? You just have to take them at their word. This anonymous citizen’s association simply has the money and resources — the group has retained the prestigious law firm ArentFox Schiff — to take legal action against an extremely vulnerable group.

And exclusion is not new to unhoused people in D.C. The National Park Service shut down an encampment of more than 50 unhoused people in McPherson Square in February.

Nayan Patel, the president and CEO of District Hospitality, which controls the West End Hotel adjacent to The Aston, said in a meeting June 21 that he is concerned about residents with mental illnesses deterring customers from the hotels and restaurants in the area.

Opposing a shelter based on optics and the location’s reputation treats unhoused people as undeserving of space within their own community, and drawing a correlation between unhoused individuals and a lack of safety only perpetuates the struggle of finding permanent housing.

The best way to address homelessness is not by excommunicating the unhoused but by creating space for them and providing resources for future success — and that’s exactly what repurposing The Aston would do.

The Aston is taking necessary steps to go beyond just providing a roof over people’s heads. As planned, a number of mental health staff will support residents in The Aston, and the shelter will prohibit the use of alcohol and illicit drugs. Instead of working toward this future or seeking input from those it would benefit, West End is too busy fighting itself. D.C. officials and D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto reached an agreement July 26 which would require the creation of a community advisory team who would counsel The Aston’s staff. But the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission adjourned the meeting after disruptions from the audience and arguments between commissioners.

Rather than arguing over who to put on the community advisory team, affluent neighbors and city officials should listen to unhoused individuals, the people most directly affected by these decisions.

Having secure shelter for those who struggle with mental illness is intended to help with stability — not the opposite. And all people deserve housing, regardless of mental state. Instead of asking unhoused people to experience their struggles out of sight and out of mind, we must ask our unhoused neighbors how we can support them and exist as a community together.

Converting The Aston is the right action to address the need for more accessible shelters in D.C. Anyone made uncomfortable by such help is simply failing to recognize their privilege. Rather than fearing what the loss of that privilege looks like, affluent residents should seek out how to use their advantages to help others.

—Riley Goodfellow, a junior majoring in political science, is the contributing opinions editor.