The Tent City Next Door

Just a week ago, scores of tents lined the grassy juncture near a freeway and an urban national park that’s right across the street from CityLab’s offices in Washington, D.C. Dozens of people experiencing homelessness, possibly as many as 50, lived at the campsite, some of them for more than a year.

Officials decided last week that the tent city at K and 26th streets NW—dubbed “Camp Watergate” by homeless advocates for its proximity to the Watergate complex—was a nuisance. Brenda Donald, deputy mayor for the D.C. Department of Health and Human Services, explained to reporters on Friday that the city had deemed the campsite unsafe and unsanitary (and illegal). Further, D.C. Water was preparing to launch a 90-day infrastructure improvement project that would require construction on the site.