| Barry Farm/Park Chester/Wade Road
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The District, in collaboration with the residents of the Barry Farm, Park Chester and Wade Road community, initiated a process to revitalize the area’s low income properties and the surrounding neighborhood in Ward 8’s historic Anacostia area. The neighborhood is generally defined by Suitland Parkway to the north, Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue to the east, Firth Sterling Avenue to the west, and Saint Elizabeth’s West Campus to the south.
In late December 2006, the DC Council approved the . Consistent with the New Communities Initiative, the goal of this effort is to transform the public and low income housing developments and its neighborhood into a mixed-income, mixed-use community. In this new community, residents will have access to high quality housing options affordable at all income levels and to the human services necessary to help prepare them to take advantage of the new economic opportunities and changes that are coming their way.
The plan is comprised of three components:
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Human Capital Plan to meet the current needs of residents and to prepare them to benefit from the changes coming to their community
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Physical Plan for the redevelopment of sites throughout the neighborhood
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Development and Finance Strategy for implementing these plans
The plan seeks to improve the community’s public facilities, access to commercial and retail opportunities, urban design, parks and open space and transportation system by creating a mixed income community. The project will include various housing types including 654 replacement units together with new affordable and market rate units for a total of 1,110 units.
The plan also calls for creating a vibrant mixed-use main street at Firth Sterling Avenue; rebuilding and enlarging Birney Elementary school as a new K to 5 facility; rebuilding the community’s recreation center; expanding a linear park for residents to enjoy the great views of the District’s skyline. The new neighborhood will honor the community’s rich African American history through the preservation of street and school names and with the development of a memorial and walking tour program; providing a pedestrian bridge across Suitland Parkway to the Anacostia Metro Station; and increasing the community’s connectivity to greater Anacostia by extending the street grid through the neighborhood.
Currently, there are about 432 families who live in Barry Farm and 22 in the Park Chester Cooperative and Apartments. More than 90 percent of households in this community are headed by women and 58 percent of the residents have a GED or a high school diploma. More than half of the communities' heads of household are unemployed and the annual income is $14,000. For more information about the Barry Farm/Park Chester/Wade Road project please contact Senthil Sankaran at (202) 727-6365 or senthil.sankaran@dc.gov. | 
