Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Construction cranes in the distance hover over Florida Market, presaging change

Location, location, location. The Florida Market is 24 acres of land at the intersection of Florida and New York Avenues, and close to the New York Avenue/Florida Avenue Metro Station. So developers salivate over rebuilding it.

But if you talk to the business owners who are there, it's all about location too, and their ability to serve customers relatively inexpensively. I talked to one business owner--wholesale only--after the tour on Saturday and he said "Most of my customers are in DC, not Virginia and Maryland. And because they are so close, I'll deliver one case of tomatoes to them when they are in a pinch. I am not going to do that for a customer in Manassas."

The fact is that DC businesses--restaurants, hotels, caterers, and institutional food service clients--will need to get their products from somewhere, whether or not favored-connected developers redevelop their land out from under their suppliers.

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