This post is second in a series on gentrification in the District of Columbia. Part 1 – D.C. Gentrification and Section 8 Subsidized Housing Part 2 – ‘Gentrification’: The Birth of a Word in D.C. Part 3 – Metro Growth and ‘Gentrification’ Use Part 4 – Neighborhood Revitalization and Displacement I dislike the term “gentrification” […]
Pondering the Unspeakable Option
I’ve been thinking about libraries lately. The DC Public Library‘s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, to be specific. There’s been a debate raging over the library’s future: some want the 1972 Mies van der Rohe structure renovated and maintained as the city’s main library. Others, including the mayor, his blue-ribbon library task force, and […]
Project Approved in College Park
The city of College Park has given preliminary approval to a $68-million, 17-story residential project planned for a site just north of campus on Route 1. I thought this was interesting: “The university’s strategic plan calls for a higher quality college town,” said Brian Darmody, the university’s assistant vice president for research and economic development […]
On Building a Neighborhood ‘From Scratch’
The Washington Business Journal recently published this interesting article about the baseball stadium district in Southeast, asking “How do you create character where there is none, without replicating Disney-esque environments found at suburban town centers?” In the article they talk to quite a few planners and developers and it’s clear the district will be resoundingly […]
Street Naming Links
I found myself launching into one of my characteristic diatribes about the origins and nature of street names while relaxing with friends yesterday. Then today I notice this blog post about an LA Times profile of the man who’s job it is to approve new street names in Riverside County, California, the fastest-growing county in […]
Shaw Restaurant Update
Long story short: two new, locally-owned restaurants in my neighborhood (Vegetate and Queen of Sheba) have been unable to get a liquor license due to the activism of a neighborhood church with a mostly suburban congregation. Now at urging of Vegetate owners Dominic and Jennifer Redd, a city council member has introduced a bill which […]
Revitalization By Nightlife on H Street NE
One man’s plans to single-handidly build a new nightlife district for the city are coming to fruition one year since a flurry of media coverage about his plans. Local nighlife mogul Joe Englert has been opening and operating offbeat bars in D.C. for nearly two decades, including current hotspots Capitol Lounge, the Pour House, Temperance […]