It's hard to open retail businesses in the District of Columbia

The cake is finally coming to Petworth. How about your neighborhood?

The Claremont Institute, a libertarian policy institute, makes an excellent point in the article by Conor Friedersdorf, "Lattes at the Regulatory Cafe" that "Chain stores have an advantage over the independent restaurant [and independent retailers] because they are in a better position to absorb the regulatory costs imposed by state and local bureaucracies. Starbucks is in a better competitive position than a locally-owned store because they can take advantage of bureaucratic rules in a way their rivals cannot."

And chains develop the expertise necessary (and have the money to overcome) to address the regulatory requirements (which tend to be much greater in center cities than in surrounding jurisdictions) because they can spread the costs over many stores, unlike the independent with one location.

In "Lighting a Fire Under D.C. Is No Piece of Cake" Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher writes about the travails of Ken Rubotsky, who is trying to open the Torta Bakery in the Petworth neighborhood. But the DC Office of Tax and Revenue declares that the building is abandoned, forcing the owner to pay higher property taxes, which diverts precious capital dollars away from opening his bakery cafe.

Restaurants are key to revitalization in emerging neighborhoods because people need places to go, to be able to congregate, (and even to go to the restroom, which encourages lingering in neighborhood commercial districts rather than just in and out errands).

See my blog entry on "Richard's Rules for Restaurant-Driven Revitalization", as well as the PPS profile of Ray Oldenburg, author of The Great Good Place, about "third places" and "the importance of informal public gathering places... [and] why these gathering places are essential to community and public life. He argues that bars, coffee shops, general stores, and other 'third places' (in contrast to the first and second places of home and work), are central to local democracy and community vitality."
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Note that blog stories on Ken's problems, on Petworth News and Sam Smith's City Desk, helped lead to the story in the Post. From the Fisher column:

The tax people said his utility bills were too low, so his property must be vacant. Ken explained that his utilities were low because the city wouldn't list the property as commercial, so he couldn't open. Ken gave up and paid the higher tax bill. Still, no progress. Finally, last month, he vented on the neighborhood Web site, http://petworthnews.blogs.com .

Within two hours, his neighbors leapt into action. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Joseph Martin led the charge: "I'm tired of empty streets, closed storefronts, people telling me they're afraid to walk outside at night. If we're not willing to go to bat for ourselves, then enjoy the status quo."

Now Ken stands one bathroom fan away from his occupancy permit. And the tax office says it will try to get his higher tax payment refunded: "We like money, so we want Mr. Rubotzky up and running and generating sales tax," says Maryann Young, spokesman for the chief financial officer. "It's been one little baker against this army of civil servants," Ken says.

People stood up for the baker because they know small businesses can help take a neighborhood back from drug dealers and bureaucrats. "Petworth News has become a great vehicle for rallying support," Martin says. "It shouldn't take so much effort to break through the agencies' appalling indifference, but if this is what we have to do, we'll do it."
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Also, one adept Main Street manager says with DC rules and regulations, it can take a business upwards of 18 months to open, which is a major disincentive to opening independent retail businesses in the District of Columbia.

This needs to be addressed in a systematic manner, rather than as an ad-hoc campaign mounted in favor of individual businesses...
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Also Ken Rubotsky is involved in community computing initiatives, including last month's class on Google Mapping, which I hope will be offered again soon.