Georgetown’s part-timers endanger retail

There are many benefits to living in a dense city. The most obvious is that with so many people living in close proximity, their joint buying power and habits can support shops and restaurants within walking distance.

It’s why a corner shop like Sara’s Market, at 30th and Q, can survive in a totally residential neighborhood in a way that it couldn’t in a suburban subdivision (where it would probably be illegal in the first place).

But Sara’s recently instituted summer hours on Sunday. They don’t open until 1:00, and close at 7:00. It’s a reasonable easing of their normal hours, but it reflects one of the fundamental characteristics to Georgetown that will continue to seriously limit the amount Georgetowners will be able to support locally oriented businesses: not enough Georgetowners actually live here full time.

This was one factor that the owners of Griffin Market cited in their closing, namely that too many Georgetowners only live here part of the year. This was based on their own anecdotal evidence, but the Census records contain statistical evidence to support the observation.

Georgetown has 4,732 households. Of those, 568 are vacant. That’s a rate of 14.2%. That’s much higher than the rates of other similarly well-off neighborhoods. For example, Cleveland Park’s vacancy was only 3.36%, the Palisades was 8.38%, and AU Park was only 0.47%.

While some of that vacancy rate represents truly empty houses or homes on the market, it could also reflect the fact that a lot of Georgetowners spend a lot of time elsewhere. Of course, either way an empty house is an empty house, and it means fewer residents around.

Moreover, the Census asks whether the home is for “seasonal or recreational use”, and Georgetown’s numbers are also much higher than the other neighborhoods. Georgetown reported 131 such residences (2.8%). The next closest of the other neighborhoods is the Palisades with 51 such residences (1.0%). Cleveland Park and AU Park reported zero such residences.

These aren’t definitive statistics, but they are consistent with the anecdotal evidence that Georgetown has housing density but less human density. And it’s probably not a coincidence that when small local shops close up they often will quietly grumble about the lack of business from the residents who profess to love all our small local shops. The love’s there; maybe it’s the people who are lacking.

Cross-posted to the Georgetown Metropolitan.