A myopic look back at 2006

page 3 of the Post Weekend section, Friday 12/29/2006.

1. H Street! In the papers and mentioned on the web practically every week. Who would have thought it? Of course, it's been a hard slog, and many have contributed to this effort, from the Robeys (H Street Playhouse) to individual property owners like David Bernhardt. Jane Lang is an incredible woman! (Rehabilitation of the Atlas Theater which has been re-created into the Atlas Performing Arts Center.)

But the increased media coverage comes because of the work of Joe Englert, in catalyzing the development of an "evening economy" (as our British friends would call it), through bars and interesting beyond tavern establishments ranging from the Show Bar to the Red and the Black and the Rock and Roll Hotel. People are talking about H Street because of Englert's efforts. He has a lot of great ideas, and a way of bringing together people and capital to make things happen.

2. Shockingly, at the H Street Main Street holiday party and award ceremony, Mr. Englert didn't win any awards. Although the people who called people like me racists--Bernard Gibson of Cluck U and Clifton Humphries of H Street Martini Lounge--did win awards, as well as the H Street CDC for making $18 million selling their two office buildings on the 600 block. (note: I have no problem with a CDC selling property for profit, that's the intent. But I wish they would "do good things" with the money. There's no guarantee.)

At the H Street Holiday Party, held at H Street Martini Lounge, they charged me $10 for a coke and a class of wine. From the article:

The ANC, which became majority white in 2002, wants to push "the African-Americans from the corridor," said Clifton Humphries, owner of the H Street Martini Lounge, who is black. "They're trying to steer what comes down here. They want an upscale environment, where they are comfortable around their own."

This from a guy selling market rate--$10-$15--martinis.

See "Whose H Street Is It, Anyway?" from the Post and my response, "Commerz in the 'hood... (aka "Commerce as the engine of urbanism") ."

As I said in that entry, "The issue is type, quality, variety, and impact of the offer. Nothing more, nothing less." Plus in another related entry, I wrote, why is it that when you say for whatever the reason, the quality of your offer doesn't meet my expectations or needs, that people hear "We don't want your African-Americann owned business?"

3. I am proud of two preservation victories I had a hand in, the landmarking of Brookland's Newton Theater in April, and the Uline Arena and Ice Manufacturing Plant in November. The latter received a great deal of media coverage.

4. But I also suffered a major preservation defeat. A section of the passed Historic Preservation Technical Amendments bill was removed before the bill was enacted. This section, which I advocated strenuously for for 4 years (testimony, arguments, advocacy, laying out a way to implement provisions) provided a level of protection from demolition for undesignated but eligible properties.

The Building Owners Association proudly took credit for the defeat of this provision. Others argue that this section was always a stalking horse, put in to allow horsetrading, to ensure other provisions would sail through because by comparison they were much less worrisome to the development lobby.

Still, the loss hurts.

5. The Florida Market bill that passed a couple weeks ago is another defeat, but in the long run, I am not sure that we'll lose, because it will be hard for the development group sweetheart picked by the bill because of the efforts of now ex-Councilmember Vincent Orange, and the ex-Councilmember now lobbyist-lawyer John Ray, to gain at least 50% support of the extant property owners.

What's far worse is that the City Council can engage in contracting procedures that would be illegal if performed by DC Government Agencies and instrumentalities. This needs to be changed. DC City Council has no business forming contracts, especially those that might require condemnation authority, without a publicly tendered proposal process based on a transparent and fair selection process.

Speaking of the Florida Market, Elise Bernard (Frozen Tropics) has started a blog focused on the Capital Market. I've joined in with her, but thus far, she's done all the work.
K-Young's makes awesome Korean food. (At least in the opinion of this non-Korean. But I see many Koreans eating there which is a sign of excellence...)

6. Another defeat was DCRA's granting of an building permit to the Pilgrim Baptist Church to building an off-site parking lot despite the fact that the request did not meet Zoning regulations. No variance or exception was requested. The ANC6A Zoning Committee recommended to the full ANC that this be challenged. (An ANC has 30 days to file a challenge to an improperly awarded building permit.)

But the ANC deadlocked. Commissioner Marshall argued that "no one complained." Well, I had been, for 3 years. According to an article in the Hill Rag, Commissioner Borbely argued that "“I think that rules and regulations don’t always need to be followed.” While he disputes that quote, the fact remains that he voted against the ANC proceeding with a challenge, thus allowing an illegal parking lot to go forward.

In the city, the demolition of residences for parking in residential zones can rarely be justified given the tenets of urban design.

No one who favors neighborhood stabilization and improvement could ever vote favorably for such an action. And of course, the Zoning Adminstrator screwed up big time. (Sorry Bill, but you did.)
Neighborhood destabilization through church land banking, neglect, and suburbanization of church membership is something that I write about often.

Let's just say that the next ANC election is less than 2 years away...

7. OTOH, ANC6A, because of people like Commissioner and chair Joe Fengler, Nick Alberti, Cody Rice (now in Canada), and committee chairs (who often aren't Commissioners, but are community members) and webmaster Elizabeth Nelson (non-elected volunteer), have been doing great work. I'm sure there are other good ANCs in the city--but I don't know nearly as much about ANCs in Wards other than 5 and 6.... ANC6A, I salute you (generally).

8. Blogging has been an interesting experience. As a result of blogging, my profile has increased, I am more quotable, other people are influenced, and I've met some some nice people. Thank you to everyone who writes. If I don't always respond, send me another email (I get many so I easily fall behind...)

9. I had a ninth point, but I don't remember it...

Index Keywords: urban-revitalization