squats are super indie

November 14, 2006 8:36 AM

Are there any ambiguously zoned mixed-use oakland-style squatty type living spaces in the DC area? Looking for a new home...

... where i can build shit and leave it half built in the middle of the floor and then go sit in an office area i've sectioned off out of salvaged shipping pallates and celophane and then go get into bed under lots of wool blankets in the part of the space which isn't as well-insulated as i would like it to be from the carpets i've put down over the holes in the old wood floor. you know the drill.

I know that there was never an industrial boom in this town to leave the appropriate urban wasteland, but i'm always amazed at the human ability to neglect big amazing spaces and make them available to creative types for ridiculously low prices.

but i haven't seen it in this area yet.

any thoughts?

posted by milkman to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Have you looked at the HUD website? They have some good-mixed use structures that you'd have to rehab. The DC US Attorney's office keeps a list of seized buildings that are for sale also, these would also need rehabbing. There are also a variety of groups that do warehouse rehabbing but I can't give you names off the top of my head, but the US attorney's office would know. They have a dedicated office for housing services related to the sale of seized buildings.
posted by parmanparman at 9:10 AM on November 14, 2006

In the mid 1980s I knew of a place which would vaguely fit your description, a building on N St just west of North Capitol. But I think it was owned by the richer members of that artists cohort.

I'm more curious now about exactly where in Oakland one can squat in places like you're talking about.
posted by Rash at 9:13 AM on November 14, 2006

This is a bit of a derail, but to what end? Have you done this before? Are you concerned about being mugged and such?
posted by craven_morhead at 9:49 AM on November 14, 2006

Likewise, from having lived there in the 80s and 90s, I visualize this sort of thing near the railroad yards in DC or Alexandria. These sorts of places are probably all yuppiefied now, like the Torpedo Factory. I used to drive along New York Avenue daily commuting from Adams-Morgan to a job in Lanham, and I'd see these sorts of things. Are they still there?
posted by Robert Angelo at 11:52 AM on November 14, 2006

...to what end?

...where i can build shit and leave it half built in the middle of the floor

I've been involved in stuff like this before. Whatever 'this' turns out to be.

I would prefer not to be mugged, and I am not convinced that the sorts of areas I'm describing are any more likely to get me mugged than the more conventionally residential areas I'm likely to be able to afford.

The Torpedo Factory is, indeed, yuppified, though I've heard great things about its glory days.

I'm also interested in established spaces, if people are looking for roomates/tenants who get the vibe.
posted by milkman at 12:51 PM on November 14, 2006

and i just have a personal aesthetic prediliction for the desolate.
posted by milkman at 12:54 PM on November 14, 2006

In the mid 1980s I knew of a place which would vaguely fit your description, a building on N St just west of North Capitol. But I think it was owned by the richer members of that artists cohort.

I believe you are talking about what is the new location of the Brass Knob's Back Door store.

These sorts of places are probably all yuppiefied now

Yep. Sorry. Either that or they are being leveled for the Stadium. There are stuill some warehouses around the area of the far east of NY Avenue, along Kenilworth Ave and the BW Parkway. Act fast though, it won't be long for them either.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:07 PM on November 14, 2006