Columbia Heights--Ground Zero for discussions about displacement, neighborhood change, and equity #1

There is a discussion going on the columbia_heights@yahoogroups.com email list right now. It started with some comments about looking forward to getting rid of businesses felt to be "in the ashcan of history" as Ronald Reagan might have said, restaurants and bodegas and such that aren't providing upscale experiences that some residents of Columbia Heights seem to be looking for.

One person wrote:

The Waffle Shop is not responsible for the empty lots and desolation around it. They don't own the space and cannot perform improvements on a building that has a date with the wrecking ball. As I see it, it's a miracle that any business has survived in that space (and on Park Rd. in general) given the neglect of the city-owned "parcels." And, yes, it is a historic space (first Hot Shoppes, I believe) and my understanding is that at the very least the sign will be preserved.

I attended a meeting with business owners on this street last year and they are decent people who deal with a tremendous amount of stress, crime and get next to no support from the city (though there was a representative from the city at the meeting). They are not kept well-informed about what will happen to their properties and/or businesses when DC-USA hits the scene. Last year many were afraid that the government was going to exercise "eminent domain" over their property and force them out.
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Here's what I said:

I went to a seminar at GWU early in the week. The paper looked at city revitalization from the standpoint of data like overall increase in employment, median income, decrease in poverty rates, etc. and it ranked cities by the data. Then they surveyed experts in the field (urban affairs journal editorial boards) for their rankings and found big deviations.

(For those fascinated by this, here's the article Evaluating the Success of Urban Success Stories: Is Reputation a Guide to Best Practice? By Harold Wolman, Edward W. Hill, and Kimberly Furdell. There are other interesting articles in the issue, like this one, on the success or failure of CDBG investments.)

What I found interesting wasn't the focus on the difference of opinion between data and perception, but the disconnect between revitalization and indicators that would show a "broad improvement in quality of life."

My surmise is that this has to do with the fact that a lot of the things that cities do for "economic development" don't have a lot of real impact on these measures in terms of helping the people who need help. I.e., a baseball stadium, a convention center (which is pretty big and pretty empty), the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which is all by itself on the lake, far far far away from downtown and everything else, etc. (The article about CDBG monies makes the point that success comes when investments are targeted and of an amount necessary to cross the threshold and achieve critical mass and measurable impact.)

Anyway, people are into the ribbon cuttings, and don't usually focus on preserving the businesses that make our community(ies) unique and worth living in. I suppose there is something to be said for Tysons Corner, and living in an environment that is like that, but that wasn't why I chose to live in the city.

Speaking of disconnects, helping businesses make transitions is difficult for a few reasons.:

1. Many of the owners are intransigent and/or unwilling to change.
2. Many "programs" don't provide the kind of transitional assistance (i.e., the point made about interim street improvement on Park Road etc.) that would help stabilize the environment during the change process.
3. Business retention and improvement is really a different process from business recruitment. Each needs a different emphasis, set of approaches, and maybe even different people to do it.

Like the ribbon cuttings, it is business recruitment that gets all the attention and it seems like a victory. But losing businesses should be considered a great loss. Losing unique businesses like Waffle Shop or the bodegas or Sisterspace (note see point one above) should be considered a great loss.

Catalog marketers and direct marketing generally spend a lot of money to acquire customers, and then they expend tremendous efforts to keep customers--they actually don't call them customers until they conduct a second transaction--and to get them to buy more. It's because they recognize that the cost of acquiring customers is so high, that they have to maximize the return on investment from each. The same should go for the development and quality maintenance of our commercial districts.

Anyway, this is an issue across the city. I have a long long entry (it's the combination of three emails) on my blog about these issues with regard to H Street NE (it's in the March archive and entitled "About H Street Main Street -- My opinion", although the emails are from last August).

As far as a vision, this is what I said: "I think that the vision should be:

a viable urban commercial district, that functions as a distinct destination, that appeals to a wide variety of market segments and demographics (race, class, type of household), that is based on the development of leading edge independently-owned businesses that provide excellent customer service, product choices, and uniqueness, in well-designed and attractive stores, with high-quality marketing and image development values, on a street that is attractive and well-maintained."

To sum it up I said: "The vision in a nutshell = diverse community + diverse, quality independent businesses + complemented by chains + an attractive and safe commercial district.

Before booting people out, ought we not lend a hand? Mark M. might be a pain in the a** in his postings, but the fact is, he went into that restaurant (El Rincon Deportivo) with an open mind, with the point of making up his own mind. If he can do that, can't all of us?

The stuff that's been said about Waffle Shop cracks me up when I think about one of the "institutions" in Ann Arbor, the Fleetwood Diner. Waffle Shop is practically upscale in comparison, and why would you want to go to some other place and pay twice as much for a waffle anyway? (It's not twice as much but is more expensive at Tryst, but I do like their waffles,. and maybe a Lemon Poppyseed waffle with blueberry sauce on the side wouldn't be a stretch at Waffle Shop either.)

With a change or two, Waffle Shop could be like my absolute favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor (along with the places that sell Korean food), Angelo's Restaurant (it did get updated inside eventually but I didn't think that was necessary) which is "famous" for its home-baked white and raisin breads, raisin bread french toast, omelettes etc. Just get together and build a website for Waffle Shop and people would start thinking differently about it.