Comments on New names aid corporate branding but erode sense of place - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by Alan

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:55:18 EDT

There is always tension between stasis and change. Not everyone will ever be happy with either, but I guess we have to learn that sometimes the things that are nostalgic to us will only continue to live on in our memories. It's the price of progress.

Comment by LuvDusty

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:56:28 EDT

Clearly this matters to you if you were willing to take the time to write a long comment about it.

Thanks Dan. Let me make myself more clear--I just think it's one of those "1st World Problems" as my friend says...it seems to me, a very very minor issue of very little true importance considering some of the other major issues that GGW covers.

And while I don't begrudge your writing about it--much--I do begrudge the folks that think it somehow is a major concern.

Comment by selxic

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:35:26 EDT

It's still Verizon, Anon202. I normally call it the Phonebooth.

Comment by selxic

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:29:35 EDT

Commenting on a topic isn't the same as agreeing with the topic.

Comment by Anon202

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:12:09 EDT

Apartment buildings are one thing, but I want People's Drugs back!
(And for some reason, I still call the arena MCI Center because I honestly can't remember the curent name... I know it was also Verizon at one point - is it still that now?)

Comment by dan reed!

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:54:33 EDT

Clearly this matters to you if you were willing to take the time to write a long comment about it.

Comment by LuvDusty

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:52:48 EDT

I'm not sure why this is newsworthy or even worthy of this specifically DC-area-themed blog.

I think people overly obsess over the naming situation. Names are just names and the only reason they become identifiable and/or have nostalgia for folks, is because they've been around for a while.

But life changes, things change, and well, so do the names of buildings and places. I think as mature adults we need to just, well, get over it.

This idea that it somehow erodes the "feeling of place" to me, is really quite silly.

The DMV area receives thousands of new residents that move here every day from around the World. To them, these names that mean so much to us, have absolutely 0 meaning for the most part, and well, they will probably be part of the movement to change them.

Whether it's real estate developers, or donors who give tons of money, or city government that change the names around, what does it matter?

I think we all need to get over it and just accept that changes happen and well, adapt accordingly...

These are really not major concerns, in my book.

Comment by Rich

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:34:20 EDT

It's sad when this stuff hist home. OTOH, downtown Silver Spring probably vies with Rosslyn for most ugly, poorly thought out urban renewal relics from the last 50 years. All the renaming in the world won't compensate for that. The dull architecture, the long blocks with nothing much at street level and the lack of integration among different areas need to be overcome for the area to be really competitive with other urban suburbs.

Comment by selxic

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 07:25:30 EDT

Potomac Avenue isn't the same as AT&T Boulevard.

Comment by Trulee Pist

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 01:41:19 EDT

@selxic The august and tastefully named Sen. Octavius Bacon objected that the avenue named for his home state of Georgia, "the Empire of the South," was a muddy mess that did not do, and began to lobby for it to be renamed Potomac Avenue, freeing the good name of Georgia Avenue for a more fitting right-of-way. In 1908, Bacon succeeded. Bacon did not mention it that I know of, but perhaps he also harbored deep down a resentment that under the old naming system, Georgia Avenue ended at Reservation 13, even then a dumping ground and home to the poor house and jail, which could be a sensitive topic for some sons and daughters of Georgia.

http://www.thehillishome.com/2010/01/lost-capitol-hill-georgia-ave-se/

Comment by Kev29

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:09:50 EDT

"In San Francisco, Candlestick Park gave way to 3COM Stadium. Since the Giants move to the new ballpark, it's been called Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park and now AT&T Park."

Yeah, that's been kind of silly, but let's not forget about Dan's good qualifying point at the end of the article...

"After years of instability, the tenants of The Point at Silver Spring are getting new management and a better, safer place to live. That's more important than any nostalgia I or anyone else feels for our old home."

AT&T Park is one of the best in baseball - with a team inside to match its excellence. So not many San Franciscans care about the name. And one reason the name has been so corporate is down to the fact that it was almost 100% privately financed. I think most taxpayers would take that over a nicely named windswept eyesore of a park.

Comment by Jim Titus

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 21:06:21 EDT

The Denver Post refused to call the Broncos stadium "invesco " for several years and many people still call it "Mile High Stadium". Feel free to tell tha cabbie to take you to National Airport. Do landoangers really have all the rights or do they share those rights with speakers who decide whether to use the new name?

Comment by selxic

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:55:07 EDT

I can't think of any examples of roads that were renamed, NYCArchibuff.

I'm not sure what the Westfield Group accomplished with the rebranding of their malls internationally. I'm not sure how many people walk into a mall and think, "it would be great if someone bought my mall. This would be a great group to go with" because they walk into a Westfield in Australia.

Comment by tour guide

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:17:52 EDT

I live in Wardman Courts. You never heard of it. But once I describe it as the old Clifton Terraces, you wonder if I should have my head examined. At least you do if you have been around DC for a couple of decades. The redeveloper thought it would be clever to honor Harry Wardman, the first developer. At the same time the troubled Clifton Terraces name would RIP. Frankly, I'm rather proud to have lived here for almost a decade now .... but I wish it was still Clifton Terraces.

Comment by MLD

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:04:42 EDT

I think there are differences in how you hear and perceive the name if it's just a person's name. Technically Wrigley Field (and the various Busch Stadiums) were named after people, not the companies.

Comment by Mike

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:54:11 EDT

@Jay Roberts: I agree with you that corporate names for baseball stadiums, and other sports venues for that matter, are annoying. Not to mention confusing when they keep changing sponsors. But Kolohe makes a good point - Wrigley Field shows that if a corporate name sticks around long enough, it can become iconic.
For that matter, the example you give from New York is interesting - I wonder how many younger people would assume that The Polo Grounds was sponsored by Ralph Lauren? :-)

Comment by Kolohe

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:16:40 EDT

"I think baseball stadium naming deals sap the soul of fans. "

Like Wrigley Field?

Comment by MattF

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:11:08 EDT

...and, if you ever find a native New Yorker who calls 6th Avenue "Avenue of the Americas", you've got a candidate for Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not.

Comment by Jay Roberts

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:04:26 EDT

I think baseball stadium naming deals sap the soul of fans.

In San Francisco, Candlestick Park gave way to 3COM Stadium. Since the Giants move to the new ballpark, it's been called Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park and now AT&T Park.

From 1883 to 1957, where the Giants played was called the Polo Grounds, and that was three different sets of turf.

By the way, it's nice to see curmudgeon attitudes among the young. I always thought it was an older folk thing! (Me...)

Comment by Gull

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:50:21 EDT

Corporate branding is even worse when you have "The Solaire @ Silver Spring" as the name of that new tower near the metro station, and "The Solaire @ Wheaton" breaking ground as a 5 story building 1 block south of the Wheaton Metro. That's a joke to me!

Comment by David J

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:12:12 EDT

Reminds me of the address change.

http://www.silverspringsingular.com/2012/08/homicide-house-has-its-history-erased.html

Comment by silver springer

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:08:22 EDT

Most of these apartment complexes that change names frequently also have terrible reputations. I think part of the motivation in changing a place's name is the hope that potential renters won't find anything about it on www.apartmentratings.com, or at least they might associate a new name with new management and give the place a shot.

Anyway, all I know is that when I was apartment hunting two years ago, a quick visit to apartmentratings.com told me all I needed to know about The Georgian/Georgian Towers and I never even considered living there.

Comment by Jasper

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:54:49 EDT

I get tired of all the duplicate naming.

X Point, Olde X, X Heights, Shoppes at X

And worse, those are often spilling over in neighboring neighborhoods, which blurs the edges between well-defined areas.

Comment by NYCArchibuff

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:23:28 EDT

Some of the most blatant examples of corporate blanding (har-har) are in Tysons, where many of the street names are either websites or companies. Good for branding, but they look ridiculous.