The H Street Commercial Corridor located along H Street NE between 2nd Street and 15th Street is a hot commercial corridor that is being redeveloped. There is a critical mass of commercial establishments that are geared towards the yuppie crowd. Large office and condo buildings will soon be built here. In the surrounding neighborhoods, lovely rowhouses are being rehabbed and renovated. The area is getting wealthier as the yuppies move in. The newly reopened H Street Playhouse is shown in the picture. (credit: Old City Neighborhood Capitol Hill Association). Some boosters are claiming it will be the next 14th Street, U Street or even M Street (in Georgetown).
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Hot Commercial Corridor in DC
The H Street Commercial Corridor located along H Street NE between 2nd Street and 15th Street is a hot commercial corridor that is being redeveloped. There is a critical mass of commercial establishments that are geared towards the yuppie crowd. Large office and condo buildings will soon be built here. In the surrounding neighborhoods, lovely rowhouses are being rehabbed and renovated. The area is getting wealthier as the yuppies move in. The newly reopened H Street Playhouse is shown in the picture. (credit: Old City Neighborhood Capitol Hill Association). Some boosters are claiming it will be the next 14th Street, U Street or even M Street (in Georgetown).
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That are has changed greatly in the past 5 years. Major question is whether the change is sustainable.
ReplyDeleteI love how every part of the DC area is being redone "for the yuppie crowd."
ReplyDeleteDC is filled with out of town transplants who make a solid (but not spectacular) salary and who think the world owes them something.
As a result, they demand great restaurants and household services, but it must be at low prices. So there is a huge low wage labor pool as well.
So where is the low wage labor pool going to live? If the whole DC area becomes a gigantic yuppie paradise, who is going to cook and clean for these self-important schmucks, and where are these people going to live?
This rhetorical question is the reason why the DC bubble is all built on hot air. It can't ALL work, even if a few areas do get better. Personally, while I live in the inner suburbs, I think some (though by no means all) parts of the city will actually get richer, but the inner suburbs will get poorer as a result.
PG County and points south and east look like the natural area to experience a growth in poorer populations. One reason why I would hesitate to buy a house in one of the better areas further out.
ReplyDeleteI have high hopes for H St NE, but how the heck do you get there? No Metro. At least M St in G'town had something going for it before it rejected a metro stop.
ReplyDeleteIf 14th St. is the new M street, then H St. NE is the new 14th st.
ReplyDeleteH st may be a ten minute walk from Union Station, but its a dreary walk over the eyesore that is the H street overpass. the proposed streetcar will solve this problem, hopefully.
http://dcbubble.blogspot.com/2006/01/you-gotta-comment-gold-down-those.html
Go to NY Ave Metro and walk south.
ReplyDelete"PG County and points south and east look like the natural area to experience a growth in poorer populations."
ReplyDeleteYes, but PG County is also filled with lots of new developments and promises that this area is the next big thing. The point is that this is going on everywhere. And by definition, it just can not happen everywhere, unless the whole demographic of the DC area in a 100 mile radius changed. It not only can't happen everywhere, it probably can't happen in even half the area (and half would be optimistic).
People can talk all day about how a couple with two yuppie salaries can afford this or that or the other thing. But that is all just talk. We have data, and the average household incomes show that most people in DC and PG County are not like that, and there are many people in even Montgomery and Nova not like that. So where are all these people going to live? Or are DC yuppies going to start doing their own work?
Well, people change the way they live. Not that I like it or want anything to do with that way of life.
ReplyDeleteIn my old neighborhood, many central and south american immigrants are sharing houses with 10 or 20 people. They paved over the entire front yards of a row of 1950s/60s ramblers and they're filled with cars. One house nearby has 10 parked on the property at times.
So people have to adjust I guess. I'd rather not personally. North Carolina is calling my name... where I can have a nice house and a decent income without all the BS.
Jim Abdo is all over this redevelopment of H St. and that guy doesn't seem to place too many bad bets. This one seems to be his largest yet with around $1 billion committed to that area.
ReplyDeleteTo anon 8:07, Stanley, anon 8:51- You all seem to ignore the fact that this city includes busses as well as the metro. The x2, D3, D6 etc all service the area and fairly reliably. What is it with the 'solid salary' crowd's allergic reaction to DC buses?
ReplyDelete