Spring Break
D.C.'s gentrification taking air out of old businesses
Courtney Edwards/Contributing Writer
Issue date: 1/11/09 Section: Cover
For 17 years, Market Deli has been in business and they have served many of the businesses and residents that were along First Street. With many of those businesses and residents gone, the shop struggles to stay afloat.
Many of the new luxury apartments and condos that are coming up around Lee's shop are either in the leasing phase, or just nearing completion, so it could be a while before his shop sees any stable flow of customers from those developments.
And, despite having the Department of Transportation and other Federal offices located just a couple of blocks away, there seems to have not been a substantial trickle down of Federal employees to the area where his shop is located, according to Lee.
"It's going to be very rough winter for us," sighed Lee. But, not all businesses in the area are struggling.
"I have no complaints," said Mostafa Mohammad, manager of Subway at 1100 New Jersey Avenue, SE . "Since the Department of Transportation has opened, business here is getting better."
Mohammad expects to see an increase in business in the future since three or four more luxury apartments and condos in the area are scheduled for completion by the second quarter of 2010.
The loss of businesses that is being experienced in the Southwest region is not a much different scenario than what has played out in other predominately Black communities in America.
Nearly a half-century ago hundreds of Black-owned businesses thrived in San Francisco's Fillmore District. Then, by use of eminent domain, the government's redevelopment displaced almost 900 businesses and nearly 4,700 homes in San Francisco's Western Addition, where the Fillmore District is located. Many of the businesses did not return after the development.
During the 1950s, the District government embarked on an effort to redevelop Southwest Washington in what was then called "urban renewal." From 1954 to 1960, roughly, 20,000 residents were forced from their homes and hundreds of small businesses were lost.
"We see business closures all over the area and not just in the Southwest region," said Anita Hairston, chief of staff at the D.C. Office of Planning. "Some of it reflects trends in the market."
She said that there was no concerted effort on the part of the District government to transition the struggling businesses out of the area.
Many of the new luxury apartments and condos that are coming up around Lee's shop are either in the leasing phase, or just nearing completion, so it could be a while before his shop sees any stable flow of customers from those developments.
And, despite having the Department of Transportation and other Federal offices located just a couple of blocks away, there seems to have not been a substantial trickle down of Federal employees to the area where his shop is located, according to Lee.
"It's going to be very rough winter for us," sighed Lee. But, not all businesses in the area are struggling.
"I have no complaints," said Mostafa Mohammad, manager of Subway at 1100 New Jersey Avenue, SE . "Since the Department of Transportation has opened, business here is getting better."
Mohammad expects to see an increase in business in the future since three or four more luxury apartments and condos in the area are scheduled for completion by the second quarter of 2010.
The loss of businesses that is being experienced in the Southwest region is not a much different scenario than what has played out in other predominately Black communities in America.
Nearly a half-century ago hundreds of Black-owned businesses thrived in San Francisco's Fillmore District. Then, by use of eminent domain, the government's redevelopment displaced almost 900 businesses and nearly 4,700 homes in San Francisco's Western Addition, where the Fillmore District is located. Many of the businesses did not return after the development.
During the 1950s, the District government embarked on an effort to redevelop Southwest Washington in what was then called "urban renewal." From 1954 to 1960, roughly, 20,000 residents were forced from their homes and hundreds of small businesses were lost.
"We see business closures all over the area and not just in the Southwest region," said Anita Hairston, chief of staff at the D.C. Office of Planning. "Some of it reflects trends in the market."
She said that there was no concerted effort on the part of the District government to transition the struggling businesses out of the area.
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