Reeves Center and Georgetown Park are two sides of the same coin

11th and F Streets NW, Washington, DC, December 1968. Washington Star photo.

This week the Examiner has had stories about two very similar urban design issues, the Reeves Center, in "Future of Reeves Center lobby on the line," and Georgetown Park, "Developers aim to upgrade mall’s image." I was quoted in the first article, saying:

But Richard Layman, an urban planning consultant and D.C. resident, said Reeves might be a lost cause as a neighborhood draw. Lacking a major retail anchor, he said, the building is set back too far from the street, ruining the “competitive advantage of urban retail.”

“If Reeves Center were so great — something that so many claim — then 14th Street from T to V would be great and the same for the 1300 block of U Street,” Layman said. “Instead you have one story buildings, vacant buildings and lots, and used car dealers.”

And I have written quite a bit about Georgetown Park, but before I blogged. (It has been discussed from time to time on the pro-urb e-list.)

Both buildings are failures because their design and business plan is about repudiating the pedestrian experience--which is at the heart of vital urban places. Georgetown Park is a mall in the most active place in Washington, where the activity is all about being on the street. I still remember being in Georgetown in 1974, visiting with my family, and being enchanted by the activity on the street. It made me want to go to Georgetown... (I didn't, but I did send my SAT scores there...).

The stores on the interior of the Georgetown Park mall have always struggled because they try to pull people off the street...

Similarly, Reeves Center is a fortress walled off and disconnected from the street.

Images from an out-of-print publication produced by the Downtown BID.