Changing Shaw

As a current resident in the NW DC neighborhood of Shaw, home to the infamous U Street Corridor, I have seen the neighborhood transforming before my eyes. Large new buildings are going up, new restaurants are opening, renovations are being done...the neighborhood is evolving. Much of it is good: the Howard Theater is scheduled to open next weekend and it looks fantastic (as does the street and sidewalk around it!). The Giant has been demolished but is coming soon, new and improved, with more retail, a hotel, and more parking. More and more restaurants, bars, and cafes are coming to life on 9th St and Florida Avenue, and a massive construction project looms over my corner, promising apartments and condos, office space, and retail. While all of this progress is good and it is amazing when so many are suffering from the economy to see so much growth and renewal and excitement, I can't help but feel a little nervous for what is to come.
What if the promised new retail across from my apartment is a Subway and a Starbucks? What if rent prices and property values increase, driving out some of the long-time, yet marginalized, residents? What if new, young gentrifiers flock to the neighborhood in mass? What if Shaw starts looking like any other neighborhood in DC with over-priced bars and young professionals with self-importance and a Starbucks on every corner?
I love my neighborhood for its' quirky and diverse blend of people. I love it for the library and the close proximity to everything in the city and the lack of pretentious air. I love it because it's not a youthful mecca, but a place where families, new residents and old all live together. I love it for it's classic, colorful rowhouses.
While I think progress is good, I'm content with my neighborhood, and I know that with increased market appeal it will lose some of it's character. I'm concerned for residents, myself included, who might be forced from our homes if rent starts rising.
You see, neighborhoods become uncool as soon as they become saturated with cool and trendy and fashionable things. I don't want to live in a neighborhood where everyone is interested in the same things I am and is the same age I am; that's not natural. I appreciate Shaw for it's age, race, and economic diversity, and that for the most part everyone there resides in harmony despite these differences. I like it for being unknowingly cool, for not trying to hard.
Gentrification and revitalization come and go in cycles and waves, bringing both good and bad to the neighborhoods and residents they mark. As Shaw's appeal rises, yesterday's trendy neighborhood will slowly see a decline. It is all part of the natural evolution of a city. We'll have to wait and see if Shaw loses it's traditions and heritage in the new wave of gentrification.

--Megan