Revitalizing Neighborhoods: DC's Near Northeast
Washington, DC is nationally known for the rapid gentrification of its urban core during the last decade. Now, a modern streetcar system scheduled to open in late 2013 is fueling the revitalization of another. Believe it or not, there's something Jacksonville can learn from this community's revitalization experience: Near Northeast
Near Northeast is a neighborhood in Washington, DC, just east of Union Station. It is bounded by North Capitol Street to the west, Florida Avenue to the north, F Street to the south, and 15th Street to the east. During the early 20th century, Near Northeast was a major epicenter of DC's working class black population, as well as a community for immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Eastern Europe. During this era, one of the city's most important commercial corridors developed around a streetcar line along H Street, the neighborhood's major thorougfare.
Like many urban neighborhoods, Near Northeast fell into a free fall of economic decline in the later half of the 20th century. In 1962, the streetcar network that led to its initial rapid growth was dismantled. Significant devastation came in 1968 in the form of race riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 2003, a proposal to revitalize H Street within ten years via the construction of a streetcar line was created. After six years of planning, construction of the DC Streetcar system began in 2009.
A streetcar purchased by the DC Department of Transportation for use on the H Street line. Photo courtesy of Tim1965 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DC_Streetcar_-_rollout_-_2010-05-05_a.jpg
While Near Northeast may possess a population density that many Jacksonville neighborhoods can only dream about, its urban development patterns are similar to that of Jacksonville's older black neighborhoods.
Like Near Northeast, Durkeeville, the Eastside, LaVilla and Brooklyn are all early 20th century streetcar communities whose heyday and economic struggles follow similar timelines. For example, the Eastside's Florida Avenue (now A. Philip Randolph Boulevard) still has not recovered from the Race Riot of 1969. Also, Jacksonville's neighborhoods lost its streetcar system in 1936. Furthermore, like Near Northeast, all neighborhoods have been redlined and impacted by race based public policy that has had a negative effect on their property values and long term wealth creation for working class residents, compared with other areas of each respective city.
Today, Near Northeast is in the midst of a rebirth and fixed transit is playing a key role in that effort. H Street is the first phase of what will become a 37 mile citywide system. According to a 2010 study by Reconnecting America, the streetcar could increase the value of businesses along H Street by $1.1 billion over 20 years. That was followed in 2010 by a DC Office of Planning report suggesting the streetcar has the potential to create 7,700 new jobs and add as much as $8 billion in new development over a 10-year period.
Regardless of what one may think about mass transit and its impact on surrounding land uses, since the streetcar announcement, redevelopment has found its way to Near Northeast and H Street. So much development has already occurred that a major challenge for this Washington, DC neighborhood will be to find the right balance that allows for economic revitalization without largely replacing existing businesses and working class residents. Luckily, there are ways to minimize the negatives of gentrification. These methods include having conscious affordable housing strategies, implementing Inclusionary zoning regulations, and building denser to flood an area with enough diversified housing stock to keep overall prices at a certain level. How Near Northeast deals with this issue could serve as an example for Jacksonville's Springfield, which currently has its own gentrification challenges.
Nevertheless, we need to seriously ask ourselves what role can mass transit play in the revitalization of our own community. Not just downtown, Riverside, San Marco and Springfield but also the neighborhoods that most tend to ignore or overlook, such as Robinson's Addition, New Town, Phoenix, Moncrief, and New Springfield.
New Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) CEO Nat Ford wants to rebuild community confidence in JTA by improving the speed, reliability and convenience of the existing bus system. JTA is also attempting to extend the Skyway into Brooklyn.
With transit being JTA's top priority now, it appears our opportunity to truly coordinate mass transit investment with economic revitalization of our core neighborhoods has officially arrived.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com