Housing Washington

Book excerpt: Since the early nineteenth century, an unusually rich and varied array of housing stock has been created in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Washington has harbored numerous private-sector initiatives to develop model housing projects, and it has also been a proving ground for federal policies crafted to improve living conditions for households of middle and moderate income. In addition, the large, middle-class African American population has left a distinct imprint on the metropolitan area’s domestic landscape, developing its own options for housing in city and suburb alike. Profusely illustrated, with thirteen chapters by fourteen esteemed authors, Housing Washington examines the storied legacy of residential development in our nation’s capital, from the early nineteenth century to the present. By focusing on a wide variety of mainstream patterns and interweaving the threads of convention and change as well as those of race and class, this book offers a fresh perspective on metropolitan dwelling places and breaks new ground in urban studies and architectural and planning history.