ReadysetDC A CREATIVE URBAN ENTERPRISE

Interview: David Garber of “And Now, Anacostia”

David Garber, in front of a house that he is about to buy, restore, and flip in Anacostia.

J. Young: When did you start the blog, and why?

D. Garber: I started And Now, Anacostia just over two years ago because the neighborhood needed a positive voice and was sinking under a half-century of unmet promises, the weight of negative stereotypes, and police-siren stories in the popular media. I had been reading a collection of local blogs for a few years, saw that there was no neighborhood blog presence east of the Anacostia River, and wanted to document the inevitable changes that were coming. In its essence, my blog exists to promote the good, the beautiful, and the true about Anacostia, as well as to help reshape long-held perceptions of this part of town.

I hope that my blog, however humble a media form, serves as inspiration for others to see Anacostia in a new light – for them to consider moving here, building here, and opening businesses here.

Two years later I’m not the only blogger east of the river. There’s a cool movement to show the city our progress, our personality, and our potential. Pretty refreshing, actually.

J. Young: What made you decide to move to Anacostia?

D. Garber: Anacostia is affordable, has decent redevelopment and creative regeneration potential, and is literally one hop, skip, and jump to Capitol Hill. It is easily accessible to almost everywhere else in the city and region via both private and public transportation. It has art galleries, front porches, and a riverfront within walking distance.

A friend from Auckland stayed with me recently and remarked at how lucky I was to live so close to downtown. I had to smile because I usually find myself on the defensive when talking about the neighborhood and here was someone with no clue what Anacostia’s usually hushed-toned five syllables mean for DC and America and immediately recognized one of its best amenities.

The neighborhood is far from perfect, but it’s making strides toward something a lot cooler than the empty and forgotten status quo. I discovered that at about the same time I decided that I could either rent a basement apartment in an established neighborhood or buy a fixer-upper in a “just starting to reinvest and reinvent” neighborhood like Anacostia for about the same price. I’m the first to admit that there are times I’d rather be someplace else, but right now I’m not looking back.

J. Young: Is there anything that makes Anacostia unique to DC?

D. Garber: Anacostia is a village in the city. People wave, paint their houses funny colors, get steamed at the local government meetings, and know each other’s business – characteristics that are, admittedly, also found elsewhere. With personal familiarity comes personal responsibility, and I’ve been glad to experience the kinds of neighborly actions you don’t always hear about anymore: people picking up your mail when you’re on vacation, shoveling snow off front walks without being asked, and witnessing block after block a true sense of history and community – however in your face or coupled with loud music it may be.

On the negative end of things, Anacostia is unique for having a serious lack of retail. I toured a Tufts University food policy professor around the neighborhood last year because he wanted to see this “food desert” in person. Sure, we have our share of candy and Lay’s variety-pack corner stores and even have an okay local grocery, but we don’t yet have any sit-down restaurants or the kind of main street atmosphere a lot of us are looking forward to.

J. Young: What progress have you seen so far?

D. Garber: Since I’ve been in the neighborhood a new office building has sprouted at the MLK and Good Hope gateway, which is now home to the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development and a couple hundred hungry people come lunchtime (rumor has it they flock to Barracks Row). I’ve seen a number of commercial buildings on MLK go from rust and peeling paint to shop-ready jewels, and about fifty homes take advantage of the now-cut Historic Homeowner Grant program. I witnessed Savoy Elementary go from the perfect example of the kind of school building nobody would want to send their children to, to a fantastically modern part of the neighborhood whole. I’ve seen a resurgence of art and creativity here at gallery openings and underground installations, and fielded emails from a ton of people who are curious about the area and are considering moving in.

Clark Realty’s vision for Poplar Point, which is now off the table.

J. Young: Have you been let down by anything so far?

D. Garber: When I first moved here I had the attitude of “okay, I’m here, so now every development rendering and Office of Planning streetscape improvement is finally going to become a reality.” Turns out I wasn’t the magic move-in to make it all happen. I was probably most let down by the breakdown of the Poplar Point redevelopment and the dropped promise of a decked-over interstate. But in this economy it would have been impossible for a developer to shoulder all the infrastructure costs involved.

I’m also an optimist, so when local leaders don’t have the public’s best interest in mind or seem to be in government for the power trip I get pretty disappointed. I’m considering putting my own name in the hat for the 2010 election cycle because I want the city’s governing few to be in place for the right reasons and I know that it’s going to take a body of more progressive voices to truly bring us up to speed. We won’t be given the authorities and powers we want from the federal government until we’ve proven that we can handle them, and people will keep moving to Arlington if we don’t step up public safety, education, and good-looking walkability.

J. Young: What planned projects have you most excited?

D. Garber: The Curtis Bros. / Four Points redevelopment of downtown Anacostia has me most excited. Right now the main drag along MLK Avenue is one-sided: two-to-four story commercial buildings to the east, windswept parking lots to the west. It’s not going to happen overnight, but this is Anacostia’s own O Street Market times two. New retail, new residences, and new offices.

I’m also pretty excited about the redevelopment of the west campus of St. Elizabeth’s into the new home for Homeland Security and the Coast Guard – controversial, yes, but when an area gets an influx of 14,000 new employees, there is bound to be some domino interest in the surrounding neighborhoods.

J. Young: Where do you see Anacostia in 5 years? 10 years?

D. Garber: 5 years from now I see Anacostia as a neighborhood under construction – cranes and orange construction fencing downtown, streetcars finally winding their way up MLK, and the housing stock a little less affordable for the home-buying hopefuls because of the growing collection of neighborhood gathering places and the general sense that things are finally happening.

In 10 years it will be normal to hear about people moving to Anacostia, taking a date here for dinner, or being home to your nine to five. The wildly popular Yes! Organic Market or Anacostia Trader Joe’s (murals of the Big Chair, St. E’s, Frederick Douglass, and activity on the river) will have opened a few years before.

J. Young: Is there a neighborhood in DC now that captures what you’d like to see Anacostia become?

I love the bourgeoning local restaurant scene in Glover Park, the “ten years ago there were tumbleweeds here” old plus new redevelopment example of 14th Street NW, and the human-scaled historic fabric of neighborhoods like Capitol Hill and Ledroit Park. We have a similar density to places like Brookland and Alexandria’s Del Ray, with the Downtown DC proximity of Rosslyn. The neighborhood is bound to become an eclectic mix of forms and functions. Sure, it’s going to take people giving Anacostia a new chance and taking risks to make it happen, but I’m confident that our day in the sun is coming soon.