Carver Terrace

Abstract

During the 2005-2006 academic year, members of a research team at Georgetown University (GRT) volunteered in a community development project at Carver Terrace. Carver Terrace is a low-income housing community located in Northeast Washington D.C. that has suffered neglect and segregation by the D.C. city government and developers in the past decades. In 2002, the Telesis Corporation purchased the Carver Terrace properties, renovated apartment units, and re-landscaped the outdoor areas. Telesis plans to sell some of the units to residents well below the market value over a fifteen year homeownership transition period. Telesis will also sell some properties at market value in order to develop a mixed-income community at Carver Terrace. Telesis subcontracted research at Carver Terrace to the GRT in order to find out residents’ feelings about the Carver Terrace property, the surrounding neighborhood, and the homeownership project. The GRT conducted three focus groups with a total of 30 of residents and 92 door-to-door surveys to gather information from residents. The data collected allowed for more specific analysis on particular aspects of the homeownership project. The following research analyzes the residents’ feelings of trust and distrust regarding the successful transition to being homeowners. Residents were generally distrustful in regards to the Telesis Corporation, the GRT, and the homeownership project in general, presenting a serious obstacle in the successful completion of the transition to homeownership at Carver Terrace.