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August 26, 2013; Washington, DC
Contact: Washington Foreign Press Center Media Relations Officer Michael Chadwick
Telephone: 202-504-6370; email: chadwickmj2@state.gov
The Washington DC Foreign Press Center arranged a tour to provide insight into how public officials and private entrepreneurs are working to revitalize the city, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.
Twenty reporters traveled to the H Street NE corridor to see how recent public and private efforts can revitalize long-neglected areas. H Street, a historically black neighborhood which once served as a main shopping corridor, was severely damaged in the riots after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and for over 40 years remained a severely depressed area of uninhabited buildings and rampant crime, before re-emerging as a popular nightlife district over the past five years. Representatives of the DC Streetcar program discussed the D.C. government’s plans to re-launch streetcar services on H Street later this year and other areas in the coming years, explaining how the increased mobility and access for visitors, new jobs, and stimulation of local businesses will benefit the city. Restaurant owners, entrepreneurs and managers of other facilities along H Street showed the reporters around the neighborhood, described how it has changed, and spoke about their challenges and successes in transforming a depressed and dangerous area into a desirable place to live and to visit.
