Monday, February 12, 2007
Historic District on the Move?
Plans to possibly extend the Capitol Hill historic district northward have made the news again. This time Roll Call (subscription required) is on the beat. The article contains a little discussion of how a historic district might protect H Street from certain types of incongruous development. Various people have advocated extend the historic district to different points (it currently ends at F Street). Right now there is certainly some buzz about pushing its northern boundary to include H Street. Others want to push a block or two further, and Richard Layman has suggested extending it to Florida Avenue.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Based on this map seems like Florida might be a good choice. Depends on how old "historic" is.
Florida makes sense to me. It seems kind of pointless just just inch it up a few streets from F to H. If you really want to cushion H street, it would have to be at least a few streets past H. Otherwise, you could still get some unsightly growth that would directly impact H street.
As important as this is, other responsibilities mean that I can no longer carry this effort forward. Plus the south of H Folks are more concerned about their geography than pushing forward to Florida, which is the most logical based on the development history of the neighborhood.
When I worked on this in 2001-2002, opposition was actively organized by development interests, using various ANC Commissioners and others as stooges. DCOP never acknowledged that reality.
Drew Ronneberg and others are interested in bringing this issue back to the fore.
I wanted to organize an H Street history conference this spring to help kick off new efforts, but I don't really have the time anymore.
My work responsibilities are in Ward 5 for the most part, plus side consulting gigs in places like Pittsburgh.
So H Street is off my plate except for its continued resonance as a great laboratory for understanding revitalization.
If we get it extended to Florida, we need to absolutely include the market. That is truly an important part of this area's history (and our present too).
it'll never happen.
nobody cares enough to make it happen.
what a waste of time.
Anonymous, I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it's a waste of time. Though I agree that it will not happen any time soon, if ever.
However, for those who say "include the Florida Market," consider the relative age and development pattern of the Cap Hill rowhouses, then do the same for the Florida Market, and ask yourselves if it really belongs in the Cap Hill historic district.
Florida Ave is marked Boundary Street for a reason.
http://planning.dc.gov/planning/frames.asp?doc=/planning/lib/planning/preservation/brochures/capitolhillbroch.hi.pdf
The Florida Market is certainly an area I would like to see preserved, but I don't think it belongs in a Capitol Hill historic district (I don't think they'd take it). That said, it is certainly a part of the history of greater Capitol Hill and the surrounding area (read some of the information from the Overbeck Project on the Market).
Why would it be so great for the area to be included in the historic district?
It would make renovations much more difficult, and this area still has a HUGE need for renovations.
They would never have been able to mow down the entire blocks of bombed out blighted houses on 3rd street (right north of the old capitol childrens museum) if it was in the historic zone.
They will build something there sooner or later and it will be better than what was there.
Historic zones aren't always the best idea. If I lived in a historic zone I would have had to get all sorts of permits that I didnt have to get when I fixed my house.
Also the market is in ward 5. It really does not belong in the same proposed historic district.
I really dont have enough people in my life telling me what to do. I relly need someone to tell me exactly what kind of extra expensive windows and doors to put on to my house... oh heck no, I can't afford it, I'll just let it rot.
The city should fix up their own houses before telling citizens, how to do theirs.
I think it be a gigantic pain in the rear.
This will provide us with a another layer of bureaucracy for those idiots at the DCRA to run inefficiently. How long does it take you a permit to do anything in DC? Do you want an extra layer of hoops to jump through.
Maybe after we fix up the neighborhood a bit and after the city finally does something about the rank incompetence permeating the DCRA.
1. There are "rules" for boundaries of historic districts. (National Register Bulletin 22 or 24 I think).
2. The reality is that a house tends to be the most significant financial asset for a family, household, or individual. The more that the house's architectural integrity is preserved the more it's worth.
3. Relatedly, how people take care oftheir property impacts others and the value of their own property.
Land use (zoning) and community character and building regulations are based on this fact.
Whether or not the people "against" preservation are in fact great caretakers of their property, the value of property in the neighborhood is enhanced by the higher level of review that occurs as a result of designation.
Furthermore, under DC laws, designation provides residents with the right of review and weighing in on property changes, when in non-designated areas residents do not have this power except in limited situations (PUD, variances, exceptions).
One only has to look around the greater H Street neighborhood to see the value, for the most part, and the quality of the environment, in the designated part vs. the undesignated part, to see the utility of designation.
While I agree that the potential is there to increase property value in creating a historic district I still don't think its a good idea.
My house over doubled since i bought it and I am sure I am not alone.
This area is still blighted.
There are still scores of abandoned buildings.
Investment in these buildings will be slower if there are stiff regulations in place governing how the buildings will be preserved.
Sometimes its good to level buildings. Several blocks of H street are currently vacant lots (300 and 400 block). These properties need to be developed. Development will be easier and quicker if it is not in a historic district.
In short: People should worry about crime and not what type of door or windows someone chooses to put into their home.
Post a Comment