An interesting look back in time: Transformation in revitalization

Gallery Place neighborhood in Downtown DC
Originally uploaded by otavio_dc.

I am doing some work in the cultural resources realm lately, and while preparing a bunch of documents I came across an old article from the Washington Post that for some reason is still online. "D.C. Hopes Arena Is Just a Warm-Up" was written by Stephen C. Fehr, and published on Monday, October 13, 1997. From the article:

With much of the District's government and economy in turmoil, the scheduled opening of the MCI Center in less than eight weeks offers the city a rare chance to try something positive: transform downtown Washington into a regional entertainment center where people live, work, shop and have fun.

This article was written about 15 months before Anthony Williams became mayor, and before the city government started changing. This article is quite interesting 9 years later--you know the saying, that newspapers are the first draft of history. Most people don't live through this kind of transformation.

I know that many sectors across the city believe that Mayor Williams has only focused on downtown, but that is a completely unfair:

- the DC Main Streets program was created, and there are 10 Main Street commercial district programs operating across the city
- tremendous transformation of a number of city agencies including the Office of Planning and the DC Housing Authority (which went from being a troubled agency to one of the better managed housing agencies in the U.S.)
- embracing of the HOPEVI program to transform previously troubled housing projects in Ward 7 and Ward 8, which is leading to major improvements in those neighborhoods and is engendering significant private investment
- creation and use of the Housing Production Trust Fund to further extend the development of affordable housing and neighborhood transformation after the cessation of the HOPEVI program at the federal level.

These are just a handful of the many positive forward movements of the Williams Administration. Do I think every action, every idea, every implementation was great? No. But the kind of forward movement we've experienced since the time Stephen Fehr wrote in 1997 is remarkable. And yes, some people are being left behind, which needs to be addressed.

More from the article:

However, success isn't guaranteed. There is no single plan for recasting downtown, an essential first step in the turnarounds taking place in many U.S. cities. Three organizations have put together plans addressing downtown's future, but they don't speak with one voice. Despite a couple of efforts, no city official has successfully brought them together yet.

Washington is one of the latest big cities to try a downtown makeover centered on entertainment. The American League Championship Series is showcasing two cities, Baltimore and Cleveland, that have downtowns combining professional sports facilities with museums, convention centers, shops and restaurants that bring millions of visitors and tax dollars. Pollin was influenced heavily by Cleveland, which bills itself as "the new American city."

In addition to the MCI Center, which opens Dec. 2, at least three other buildings could give downtown D.C. what Stephen Fuller, a regional economist, called "a constellation of activities that just might work." They are the planned convention center at Mount Vernon Place, the existing convention center near Chinatown and the Ronald Reagan federal building and International Trade Center at Federal Triangle.

Together with Union Station, the downtown theaters, the Smithsonian Institution museums, Chinatown and the Pavilion at the Old Post Office, the nucleus of a downtown entertainment district is set, business leaders said. The relocation of the Washington Opera to the old Woodward & Lothrop department store would be a significant boost if the $200 million it would cost can be raised.

The idea is to attract big crowds -- tourists and local residents -- through movie theaters, a live entertainment stage, an arts district, professional sports, theme restaurants such as Planet Hollywood, specialty shops such as the Discovery Channel store at MCI, thrill rides and simulators. When the capital's museums and other attractions close, there are few places for tourists to go. More than 20 million people a year visit the Washington area, a tourist base most cities would love to have.

"That's why retailers like Washington: lots of people with nothing to do," said Michael Swinney, head of Sony Development. "They have money, too. And you don't spend a lot of money going to a museum."

Yet the financial incentives needed to lure entertainment retailers to Washington aren't in place. Many suburban residents and tourists are jittery about going downtown, and they have other options, especially now that the suburbs have entertainment-based centers of their own such as Dave & Busters at White Flint Mall and theme restaurants such as the Rainforest Cafe at Tysons Corner.

"I don't go downtown if I can help it," said Ron Dean, 27, of Woodbridge, expressing a popular perception about downtown crime not supported by statistics. "The main reason for me is the crime. I don't want to be another statistic." Dean was at Fair Oaks Mall in western Fairfax County, one of about 20 centers where suburban residents hang out.
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Now, I don't think we've done too good a job balancing the big projects with a focus on authenticity and redeveloping thriving independent retail businesses (a sector which withered over the decades as population and retail development shifted to the suburbs).

But that doesn't negate the importance of what's happened. And hey, if we're merely at a midpoint in the process of municipal and urban transformation then we have a lot of room for continued improvement. And given the likely results of the November election, this process will continue to move forward.

Index Keywords: urban-revitalization