February 15th ANC Map

On Tuesday February 15th, I presented a map to the Redistricting Task Force on which I serve which consisted of seven Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) areas within Ward 3. That map adds an ANC in the Wisconsin Ave area south of Tenleytown and north of Glover Park. It reduces the size of the current ANC 3D area, pulling it away from Mass Ave east of Ward Circle. It expands ANC 3B up the New Mexico Ave corridor. And it expands ANC 3G below Nebraska Ave in the areas near Rock Creek Park.

It will invariably change, but it is a starting point from which the Task Force can begin drawing Single Member Districts (SMDs) which are the units of political geography that have several requirements: must range in population between 1900-2100 people; must not split census blocks except in extra ordinary circumstances; and must not dilute minority populations.

Ward 3 ANC map proposed at February 15th Task Force Meeting

Driving the creation of this map, which was the collaborative effort of most of the Task Force members, was the idea that ANCs should be centered around our corridors which is where most of us live and conduct the business of our daily lives like commuting, shopping, and socializing. These would be our centers of gravity and the borders, necessarily, would be between these corridors.

The new ANC in the area called “Middle Wisconsin” is needed to focus attention on area that is both growing and which has received low prioritization from the several ANC’s that currently represent it. This area includes McLean Gardens, Cathedral Commons, the many apartments along Wisconsin near the Cathedral and the new developments of City Ridge and Upton Place. Institutions like Sidwell Friends, Hearst school, pool and park, and the Cathedral and its schools are in this area, as is the western portion of Cleveland Park.

What do you think?

There are three ways to provide input to the Task Force:

1)      You can send an email to ward3ancredistricting@gmail.com

2)      You can post a comment for the public record using this form

3)      You can show up at our Tuesday meetings and make comments live (just show up and raise your hand).  Information on our meetings can be found here.