Eckington and surrounding neighborhoods are all atwitter over “The Dog Ate My Domestic Violence Shelter,” a collection of the neighborhood’s common arguments against domestic violence shelters (photo unrelated). Ready for even more arguments against domestic violence shelters? The Sexist comments of the week are after the jump:

EckingtonRes, who probably isn’t aware that I live in Eckington, says:

Amanda – I don’t think that you have much perspective of the situation in Eckington. For the last few years there has been an significant decrease in ultra-violent crime on a daily basis, only to be reduced to the occasional murder, shooting or ADW. Residents are finally allowing themselves to breathe – those of us that bought houses recently are no longer questioning the purchase, crime is down and things are looking up. However adding homeless shelters, liquor stores, the DASH project etc have become too much for one neighborhood. We are already host to the Emry men’s shelter, and the St. Martin’s transitional home. From what I understand there are even more subsidized, high risk, transitional housing projects packed into Eckington. What your readers also should know is that Eckington is not large. Bordered by Florida Ave on the south, Rhode Island on the north, N. Capitol on the west and 4th St NE, the area is at most 20 sq blocks and home to its more than fair share of (insert negative urban keyword). We are simply trying to protect and save what is left, not allow deterioration of hard fought gains against blight and destructive forces in our neighborhood.

TruxtonCircleRes, who proposes a new acronym, says:

I think what people dont realize is the number of these social programs already in our neighborhood. It is not a case of NIMBY, but already IMBY. How about yours?? It’s not that we are against them, but we feel they should be distributed through ALL the wards. On my block alone I have an apartment building for homeless women and SOME and most of my block is empty due to the old unused school.

The park that we would like converted to a dog park and not a parking lot has a lot to do with safety concerns. I dont even have a pet, but I know that a dog park would get people out in the neighborhood. I also think its silly that they would need a huge parking lost when there are a ton of bus lines on that block.

jules, who isn’t getting in on the fun, says:

This makes me really sad 🙁 I’m a social worker and I know how much some women depend on DASH to get on their feet after leaving an abuser. Most of the women I know who are living there have jobs, and are hard working, responsible people. They are sweet, lovely, and brave. They are good neighbors.

What these NIMBYs don’t understand is that DASH is incredibly selective with the women they allow to move into their housing: they must have goal plans, be looking for work or working, be drug free, etc etc… DASH creates really beautiful spaces for these women, and has places all over the city.

Honestly, there are probably people living next door to DASH housing who aren’t even aware that it is a D.V. shelter.

Anyway, off my soapbox now…

Ward 5 residents ready to assume jules’ soapbox can make their positions known here.