On the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, I thought it would be appropriate to take a look at the impact his untimely death had on our neighborhood.  Frank has lived near 14th St. for 10 years and we have both been fascinated by the failure of the area to redevelop after the riots of 1968.  Frank wrote his thesis about it and I wrote a paper about it for grad school too.  The question remains interesting for us — how could one of the most important commercial corridors in the city lay fallow for more than 30 years?
NBC4 aired an interesting report today which is worth watching (along with the extended interviews with some folks who remember the events of 1968).  Even more interesting is a special report they did 20 years ago — showing our neighborhood before Frank moved here.  It’s quite a shock to see those images and remember that the area looked almost exactly the same even just 10 years ago — and then to compare those images with the massive, rapid development that has happened in the past 5 years or so.

1988 Special report with lots of images from the riots.

1988 Continued coverage with interviews with 1988 residents.

2008 Coverage.

Since the new Target opened in Columbia Heights, preceded by lots of new restaurants in the immediate vicinity, I have heard lots of people on the bus commenting about how this is the first time they’ve seen development here since the riots.  At first I had my misgivings about moving to an area that had all the shopping characteristics of the suburbs, but I actually think the impact on this area is quite positive.  The stores that are coming in appeal to people at all income levels, as do the new restaurants.  And there is now a sense of hope and positive energy that I have to imagine was absent when 14th St. was full of vacant lots and the gap-toothed appearance left after some row houses burned to the ground and others remained standing.  It’s just still hard to believe it took almost 40 years.