RSS Feed7th Street Back To Normal?
It’s been almost two months since we wrote about hoards of teens congesting 7th Street, about eight weeks since the Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) hosted its regular monthly meeting that included Mayor Fenty and senior city leaders and about six weeks since Mayor Fenty and the DC Government shut down Platinum/Bounce/Abdul Productions. Have the 7th Street teens “left the building”? We think so but we also think neighborhood eyes need to stay wide open.
PQ Living and our readers have been out and about on 7th Street weekday and weekend nights since then and the good news coming back is that the evening ambiance has gone from the closing act at an outdoor concert (no, we’re not talking about the Wolf Trap crowd here) to an evening out like that found in other familiar, normal night spots in DC. One PQ Living reader described his experience shortly after Club Bounce/Platinum closed to us by writing:
…we didn’t see the large masses of kids hanging out at 7th & H… There were actually no groups (mobs) of kids or groups of police that stuck out to me that night [November 1], and normally they are in a large enough group that I have noticed them in the past.
Was Club Bounce (915 F St NW) the only contributor to teens roosting in the area? Unlikely. The movie theater and the Verizon Center McD’s were attractions because they’re open into the evening and have an all ages appeal but the club certainly was a catalyst attracting massive numbers of teens and their peers to the vicinity feeding the crowding, lingering and blocking of normal pedestrian traffic and a sometimes intimidating atmosphere.
We think the highest accolade goes to the Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) which acted as the convening influence and sprung into action first bringing together neighborhood stakeholders in early October including residents, condo HOAs, businesses, police and city government (at the ANC and Mayoral level) to address the issue. Kudos also go out to the Mayor’s office for not taking any nonsense, the MPD for adjusting their patrols and running efficient clear out operations and the support of Councilmembers Wells and Evans. Residents played their role by sounding the warning bell early and often and communicated what was happening regularly and with conviction in the meetings we attended.
Is 7th Street back to being a normal pedestrian nighttime experience? We think so and thank goodness but we don’t think it will ever return to that brand new feeling that pervaded during the summer of 2005 when residents were migrating downtown in force, the National Portrait Gallery was a wistful notion and Lucky Strike still meant a pack of smokes. The work isn’t finished. A vigilant residential eye along with police working a regular beat weekends in an “out-of-car” mode on foot or bike remains necessary.
But all put together, we like what we see some three plus years after moving downtown. Our area passed a major test behaving as a responsive community and it has become a little more seasoned, a little more experienced and a little more mature in doing so. We see legitimacy reached and the title of bonafide DC neighborhood firming up, solidifying and now cast. It’s also nice to be able to enjoy 7th Street again.
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Comments
Great post. We are lucky to have Miles Groves and the DNA. Thanks for looking out for our quality of life.
What is great is that we still have teens downtown but the ratios of teens to adults are in the proper balance now.
Also — when I went to the movies last week, they had a sign posted that they would not sell tickets to anyone under 17 for shows that ended at or past midnight due to the curfew laws. That has got to help as well. Thanks to Regal Cinemas for this vigilance.
Wow I haven’t been down there in a while because of all the kids – I was avoiding the area. But will make a point now to check it out on Fri or Sat nights. Where did they all go to? Are there -any- kids there now? Nice response by the city and different organizations.
Both here and in Silver Spring, teenagers are widely reviled. Most are bothering no one. They are hanging around with their friends, having fun, and making a little noise.
The hatred of teenagers is misplaced. If there is a problem with people being rowdy, they need to be dealt with, regardless of their age. If the problem is that the place is crowded, get over it. That is life in the city. Move to Columbia or Manassas. Targeting teenagers, most of whom are harmless and bothering no one, is utterly foul.
@Omari – Your post is interesting. Did you experience the Chinatown/7th Street area on a weekend night? If so, what did you think about it? Was it okay?
I’m happy to hear the area has become more civil. Legal Sea Foods here we come!
There’s a major fire on 7th Street, right now in the building that houses Rosa Mexicano. Fire trucks blocking traffic at 7th and F
It’s about hatred of uncivil behavior. The suggestion that it is about anything else is incorrect and unwelcome.
Omari – you might be right, but it’s the classic case of “some ruining it for the bunch.” Read my experience:
I actually stopped walking by the Verizon Center side of 7th
ever since I was “attacked” by one of these groups of kids. I was extremely starved one late night months ago, so I walked to Chinatown to take some food home. On my way back, a group of kids had been standing by the McDonald’s all night trying to scare people: The kids would pretend to just be hanging out with each other and as someone walked by, the members of the group took turns sneaking up behind that person and BARKING into their ear to try to to get them to jump with a startle.
They tried this exact prank on me, but it had no affect other than to rattle the eardrum of my sensitive (and already damaged) right ear. I took a few more steps to distance myself from the group who were confused as to how I couldn’t be startled, and then glanced back with an angry and annoyed look. They obviously enjoyed that very much as they started to laugh and congratulate each other. And so now I walk on the other side of the street so that I don’t go to jail for battery and assault on a minor.
Thank you to Miles Grove and the DNA. Omari obviously does not live across the street from where Platinum/Bounce used to be. We knew there were clubs in the neighborhood we were moving into, knew there would be crowds, knew there would be noise (and there still is with Ultrabar). But we didn’t bargain for what was happening when the clubs let out at 11:00. Several hundred teens all coming out of the club at the same time. It was chaotic, it was dangerous not only for the residents but for the teens themselves.
Omari – are there really no teenagers in Manassas & Columbia? Do we have to move that far to get away from obnoxious punks / thugs in training? I notice you mention a teenager problem in Silver Spring. Are you moving to Columbia, too? Need a roommate? I too hate teenagers, so we could sit around & talk about how we hate them.
Or can we just stay here, since, as you say, the “problem” has apparently been “dealt with”, at least for the nonce. If the “problem” resurfaces with the return of good weather, well, we’re counting on you, Omari.
Ironically, even though I do not partake in the late nights of Chinatown I do however work at a retail store in the area which is subject to the torment of teenagers alot. I have noticed in the last few months a decrease in the numbers of them roaming around at night after I get off a late night shift.
Kudos to those people, parents and community members for getting a handle on the issue. Truthfully, a lot of these kids are out to have harmless fun but it is the bad apples that make it bad for the whole bunch. Instead of teen clubs to curb their quest for fun there needs to be some type of creative recreation for them after the school and neighborhood programs have closed down.
Hanging out late night looking for trouble can take a bad turn which at many rates it does and hopefully this issue continues to to be dealt with in positive ways. At any rate lets just remember that we have to keep the teenager’s best interest at heart and remember that once upon a time we were that age.
Great post and great story. Hopefully the atmosphere on 7th will remain the same even when the weather warms. Better yet, hopefully the teens are staying in and studying, working or doing something else productive and will continue to do so.
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agree completely, the difference is remarkable, kudoes to all!!