The bigger question here is one of regulation, and review. Its very dangerous to allow these group homes to simply set-up shop whereever they want. The greater needs of the clients must be preserved…and that will only happen if these programs are held accountable.

In the meantime, the other programs wind up all getting tarred with the same brush, so that group homes for the mentally retarded or otherwise disabled persons also wind up unwelcome. In all cases, the house is owned and maintained by the agencies. They’re well-kept (landscaping, etc.) because they have a maintenance staff, and there are staff members there on a 24-hour basis. You will never have to call the cops because of a wild party over there. For the most part, you’d never know that a given house is a group home.

The worst thing about most of these houses for the residents in the immediate area is that sometimes they eat up a few extra parking spaces, depending on staff requirements. The worst thing about them for the City Council is that most of them are run by non-profit (or not-for-profit) agencies and so the property comes off the tax rolls.

But in my experience, group homes tend to make pretty good neighbors.

b—give Lori a train ticket to DC so she can see how misguided her desire to see Baltimore’s Arena plopped down in another part of town truly is.

Give her a ticket to a Caps game! The Verizon center has revitalized DC’s downtown. Restaurants shops and excitement prevail. Our Arena must stay where it is (build parking into the plan and route lite rail to the building) in order to generate a living downtown.

The Meadowlands in NJ and the philly project she points out all do very little to create a community minded building…their just theaters for the nhl and nba and the random big name concert. It failed here before—remember the Cap Centre?

We can take our time and do it right…after all, we don’t have hockey team or an NBA franchise knocking down the door demanding it.