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Re the comment about U Street/14th and P, they do have advantages. They have new draws and they draw upon a greater retail trade area and additional customer segments than the predominately neighborhood serving 17th st.

Plus, the intensity of 17th Street as the epicenter of gay-related commerce and evening life has been overtaken by a deconcentration of the community. (This is something that Morgan Zehner, former director of Dupont Circle Main Street used to say.)

Plus, the Whole Foods is a destination anchor in a manner that the Safeway is not. Even if the Safeway were to reorient itself and be street oriented, something I've written about for years (i.e., http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2006/02/urban-grocery-shopping.html) it wouldn't make that store a destination.

The major question for 17th Street is should it be a neighborhood serving commercial district (where likely accommodating parking is less of an issue) or a destination district (comparable to how the various nightlife establishments on H Street NE are marketed, drawing more patrons from outside of the neighborhood than from the neighborhood)?

My sense is that the residents don't want it to be a destination in the way that it was when places like JR's and Annie's and Boss Shepherd's really mattered to the gay community (i.e., the high heeled shoes race, etc.).

What can be done with the district's retail offer is dependent on what people are willing to do. Even so, it's pretty much constrained--it's only 2.5 blocks long and cannot grow.

by Richard Layman on Feb 3, 2009 3:47 pm • link • report