Making Markets Diverse Places

David McIntire, writing about his experience with the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace, says:

The marketplace at Irving and 14th, open every Saturday during warm weather, came out of an initiative begun on this egroup. At one point the racial overtones in the messages clouded this newsgroup like industrial pollution. So a group decided that creating a farmers market might help bring people together. A group consisting of new residents and some of us relative old timers came together.

Almost immediately a rift developed as to whether to have a flea market along with the farmers produce. I argued that because the lot was so big that a flea market would help give the farmers market presence and that it was a way for local residents to participate and make a few bucks.

The new residents and property owner volunteers were mostly dead set against it - too tacky - antique bric a brac, tasteful artistic things, and the like, fine - used clothes, appliances, etc. - forget it. A battle royal ensued, much aimed at myself. DINKs can be as vicious as junkyard dogs if roused. At any rate, the flea market advocates prevailed and the DINK, marble kitchen countertop types, dropped out quickly. So we have run the market with the help of volunteers of the social activist, healthy local food, religious, recent college graduate stripe.

It has worked passingly well. Where it has failed is that farmers processed foods - jams, cheese, fresh bread and the like -have not sold well. Many farmers dropped out for that reason. The main reason such goods have not sold well is that our newer upscale minded residents will not patronize the market. Unless the market has the ambience of a Dupont or Georgetown market, they ain't coming, I'm guessing. They walk right on by.

That is the problem in a nutshell as far as I am concerned. Can you persuade newer upscale minded residents, with collectively greater income, to participate and support the neighborhood as they find it when they move in, under any circumstances. By and large, I doubt it. They want the old neighborhood pretty much gone. Whether there is some "s***t from the eagle", as we used to say in the army, to help older businesses that appeal to working class folks, or not, won't make much difference.
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From RL:

This is a tough issue everywhere. I think Eastern Market is unique and great because it has a diverse vendor base and a diverse customer base as a result. Quite frankly, how many places in the city do wereally have a true mixing of the races?

But it would take more time than I have to explain how difficult that was to create and how even more difficult it is to maintain, because of similar issues. The whole Market 5 Gallery debacle is about whitey not being comfortable with an African-American focused and managed arts and cultural development program. (I think that borders on criminal, and the people who have fought the Gallery over the years would never ever say that is what it was about).

Guess what though, Project for Public Spaces is having their International Conference on Public Markets in DC this fall. I am on the steering committee for it, andI specifically raised this broad issue (that you wrote about) at the first organizing meeting. We need to have a session (or two or 100) on it.

More importantly we need to figure out the problem.

The thing is that what you did (adding flea) helps provide more of a complete experience (think destination management). That's what you need in order to succeed and you did the right thing, even though it has cost you in the intermediate run. The H Street Farmers market hasn't been that successful (i.e., 90% white customer base, expensive items, no increase in patronage over time) and I would argue it was because it was completely ascetic--food only--and the broader commercial corridor doesn'tprovide other aspects to construct the complete experience (coffee, restrooms, etc.).

The aggravating thing is that a few people including me (you're not surprised) raised all these issues beforehand. We were kneecapped by the desire of OP for a "quick win."As someone I talked to yesterday said "Main Streets [and you can insert the phrase "community revitalization"] can't afford failures."

The failures support the people who are the first to criticize and/or to say that nothing can ever change. Plus we don't have so much social and economic capital that we can afford to waste it. Getting it right the first time is essential. So in emerging and transitioning neighborhoods, I think Community Harvest is the perfect partner. FreshFARMMarkets is great for already succeeding commercial districts like Dupont Circle. Etc.

I have a hard time buying packaged foods like jam too. I still gulp thinking about paying more than $5 for a bottle of hot sauce from Uncle Brutha at Eastern Market--and the sauce is astounding--but what he doesis massive sampling.... and being there every week, he builds the base. But so many people go through EM every week, and the crowd is somewhat different too. The neighborhood markets pretty much just get neighborhood patrons.

Get the USDA Cooperative Extension program to do a demonstration on making jam. People won't make it (in the city?) but they'll appreciate better how it's made and your vendor can provide samples ... Etc.