Highlights

Washington, DC, continues to grow. After decades of decline from the late 1940s to 2000, DC‘s population recently surpassed 700,000. The Office of Planning forecasts that DC’s population will surpass 800,000 by 2030 and reach nearly 1 million residents by 2045.

The Urban Institute has strong roots in Washington, DC, our home base for the past 50 years. With the launch of the Urban–Greater DC initiative earlier this year we renewed our commitment to the broader region.

Opportunities for DC residents to be safe and healthy, to own a home and earn a living wage, and to improve their lives and prosper aren’t equitable across the District. Decades of discriminatory policies and practices have created inequities by ward and neighborhood and by race and ethnicity.

Asian American Youth Leadership Empowerment and Development (AALEAD) provides after-school, summer, and mentoring programs for underserved, low-income Asian American youth in the greater DC area. Neel Saxena, executive director of the program, aims to help youth grow into their identities as Asian Americans, shake off the stereotype of the model minority, and feel empowered to lead their communities.

The District of Columbia Housing Authority waiting list for Housing Choice Vouchers contains more than 40,000 families, even though the list closed in 2013. Like cities across America, DC has an immense need for stable, safe, and affordable housing, with thousands of households struggling to pay their rent each month.

Concerns over gentrification and high housing costs have plagued the Washington, DC, area for years. DC is one of the most expensive places in the US to live, and, much like everywhere else in the country, the supply of affordable housing isn’t keeping up with demand.

On June 19, 56 percent of Washington, DC, voters supported Initiative 77, a referendum that raises DC’s tipped minimum wage to the city’s standard minimum wage by 2026.

The Washington, DC, region is one of the nation’s most economically vibrant areas, but it contains striking levels of inequality. Community development financing in support of affordable housing, small businesses, and community facilities is designed to lift up places that have insufficient access to capital. But how equitably are community development resources distributed across the DC region?

Because of a coding error in the “Characteristics of Opportunity Zone Designations” table, the shares of DC/MD/VA/WV residents age 25+ with a bachelor’s degree or higher were incorrect in an earlier version of this blog post (corrected 7/12/18).