Low demand means low rents and marginal (retail) uses

The storefront church epidemic in marginal urban retail districts seems to have landed in the suburbs, according to this front page article, "As Retail Park Falters, Religion Steps In: Faithful Fill Spiritual and Physical Vacancies in Prince William Strip Mall," from the Washington Post.

You can't say yet that this indicates that the suburbs are toast, necessarily. It's more likely that retail property is overbuilt. Hence the churches...

514 H Street NE. In all the years I lived a block away from this church, I probably saw it in use two or three times.

The flip side of demand is seeing how marginal uses--storefront churches--get displaced from reemerging retail districts like H Street NE.