The transformation of a once-tawdry Washington street

In the 1980s, Fourteenth Street NW had an unsavory reputation. Riots in 1968 after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped usher in the severe deterioration of the corridor, not far from downtown Washington.

In the past several years, however, Fourteenth Street has become a place where more and more people want to be. New Urban News reported in January 2004 on the beginnings of that turnaround. 

The New York Times now says that in the next 24 months, nearly every block in a one-mile stretch of Fourteenth is expected to gain a new or renovated building containing ground-floor retail and upper-floor residential units. 

Financing for new projects stopped in 2008 because of the national economic crisis, but now money for development is flowing again. A principal in JBG Companies, which is building a project containing 268 apartments, 25,000 square feet of retail, and a tiered roof deck, points out two of the reasons for developing there: It's near the central business district and it's in a transit corridor served by Metro rail.

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• See the March 2012 issue of Better! Cities & Towns. Topics: Traffic congestion, Zoning, DOT mainstreams livability, HUD's Sustainable Communities, Transit-oriented development, TOD tips, Form-based codes, Parking minimums, New classical town, Urban retail, James H. Kunstler, Placemaking and job growth, Maryland's smart growth.

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• See the January-February 2012 issue of Better! Cities & Towns. Topics: Value capture and transit, Social networks aid downtown, Live smaller, Rentals are market key, Streetcar inspiration, Box building, Civilizing suburbs, Alley houses, Sprawl repair, Healthy communities, Funding for infrastructure, Chicago River reversal.

• See the December 2011 issue of New Urban News. Wall Street and urbanism, streets to plazas, Sustainable Communities grants, Choice Neighborhoods, TIGER grants, buyers prefer smart growth, protecting historic buildings, public health and planning, redevelopment in Georgia, Ecovillages, parklets.