gentrification

Hot Housing Market. Perhaps the most significant driver of gentrification pressures inShaw and Columbia Heights is the extremely hot housing market. Prices in these communities haverisen rapidly over the last several years. The cost of housing shells for non-profit developers hasmore than doubled in the last two years and they are now selling for $75,000 to $100,000. Many whowant to live in the more popular in-town neighborhoods like Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan canno longer afford to do so. The availability of deteriorated housing stock and the overall quality of thearchitecture, particularly the large Victorian homes in Columbia Heights, make the purchase andrenovation of these properties both more affordable and potentially more profitable than otherhousing options. In addition to upgrades in the existing housing stock, there is substantialcondominium/townhouse development activity under way in the southern portions of ColumbiaHeights.New Downtown and Close-in Social and Entertainment Centers. A new privatelyfinanced sports arena in the city has anchored the development of many new restaurants, artgalleries and other attractive social options in the heart of downtown. Another entertainment andcultural strip has sprung up on the traditionally African-American U Street corridor, anchored by therenovation of the Lincoln Theatre and supplemented with a range of stores, bars and restaurantscatering to a mixed ethnic clientele. A new high-end grocery chain has opened its first center-citystore just south and west of this area. These amenities appear to be a major magnet for the manynewcomers who seem to be attracted to these neighborhoods.Strategic Public Investments. Large public infrastructure investments – many of whichwere approved years earlier with the specific intent of stimulating economic resurgence – appear tobe a key force in stimulating new development activity. 92 New entertainment and retail opportunitiesappear to be sprouting up around new Metro stations in Shaw and Columbia Heights.Public Policy Interventions. A number of public policy interventions have played a role instimulating development in neighborhoods that might have otherwise been overlooked. One is the$5,000 homeownership tax credit. This credit provides individuals with incomes of up to $90,000and couples with incomes of up to $130,000 a tax credit when they purchase their first home in theDistrict. An early survey of the utilization of the credit indicates that 70 percent of home purchasersin 1998 claimed this credit. Moreover, a substantial number of respondents indicated that the creditinfluenced their decision to purchase in the District. 9392 In 1968, the City put together final plans for the lines of the new Metro subway system, which was initiallydesigned exclusively to bring suburban commuters into the downtown employment area in straight commutelines. A planning committee recognized the social, economic, and cultural significance of the African Americancommunity in this neighborhood – in part because of Howard University’s historical presence - and its plansreflected the desire to guarantee the vibrancy of the area by redirecting the subway line from downtown up 7 thStreet, across 13 th Street, and up 14 th Street. As a result, the Green line in Columbia Heights/Shaw waspurposely designed to create a major commercial sub-sector --the only such provision for any communityanywhere in the region outside of Downtown itself. It was the last line in the District to be opened and finalstations were added in 2000.93 Dearborn and Richardson.56