12 May 2016

History:

Local Zoning-Related Tumblr Featured on CityLab

301 7th Street NE. Photo from DC Former Retail

301 7th Street NE. Photo from DC Former Retail

You probably have noticed the odd rowhouse that doesn’t follow the pattern of those around it: The one with the weird-shaped front yard or no front yard. The one with really large windows –sometimes decorated beautifully, but sometimes just covered with drapes. Most of us just kind of ignore these urban oddities or, if we happen to live in them, we turn them into a space that pays homage to the home’s past –such as in the case of 900 South Carolina Avenue, also known as the Corner Store. (Go look at its beautiful windows, filled with art and information about upcoming shows.)

Well, someone has been collecting photos of the houses/storefronts into a Tumblr: Jared Alves, who serves on ANC 6C’s ABL, together with friend Maxime Devilliers, decided to chronicle these former storefronts. The results are collected here: DC Former Retail. Looking through the façades, it makes you wonder what our neighborhood would be like with that many more options for buying food or other goods. In a CityLab post today, Laura Bliss highlighted the Tumblr, along with some of the zoning laws that made this shift possible. A particularly interesting bit:

Many retail locations automatically converted into residences when their leases lapsed, ever since that default was written into D.C.’s zoning code, approved in 1958. At the time, gas cost 25 cents per gallon, and single-use zoning was king.

It is interesting to see how even in our tight and not-super-car-friendly streets, the automobile changed life so dramatically. We all love our cars, but maybe we’d all love to have a convenience store closer by (OR A SHOE STORE PLEASE).

You can find the CityLab article here: http://www.citylab.com/politics/2016/05/dc-former-retail-tumblr-zoning/481689/

You can spend a long time scrolling down the Tumblr here: http://dcformerretail.tumblr.com

Tags: , , , ,


What's trending

Comments are closed.

Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com
Add to Flipboard Magazine.