DC/USA Target, etc.

Yesterday, the Post had a long story about the "transformation" of Columbia Heights. It's a fair story and long, but not long enough to encompass the entire back story, including the many years the Haft family controlled the Tivoli, and the intra-neighborhood turmoil generated by the choice of a development option that maybe as much as a majority of the neighborhood initially opposed. See "A Rapid Renaissance in Columbia Heights."

Interestingly, the story refers to the Harlem USA project as the model for DC/USA, and it is, but the funny thing is, if you go to 125th Street in Harlem, there is no way that any objective observer would claim that the Harlem USA retail development has revitalized that area.

The Prince of Petworth (blog) has far better connections than I -- he scored a ticket to the private gala opening of the Target. Check out the blog entry, Beer, Burgers, Tube Socks and a Mariachi Band at the Target Opening Party, and the wild, wild photos.

To be fair, the Columbia Heights project is likely to succeed, and the area will revitalize "better" than compared to the Harlem project, because unlike in Harlem, DC/USA is only one of a set of "revitalization project inputs."

According to this graphic in the Washington Post, there are 8 other projects, most of which have come online in advance of DC/USA, and giving independent retail the opportunity to get established before the coming of the chains. These projects include 900 units of mostly higher end housing, many with ground floor retail.

Without that kind of linkage, revitalization doesn't really happen, or it takes decades. That's the case with Harlem USA (there is a massive and controversial rezoning process going on there now) and with 9th Street NW around the Convention Center.