WBJ covers the MidCityEast Small Area Plan -- 1st recommendation: “develop a community-led neighborhood conservancy to lead historic preservation efforts”

Click on the link to read the * entire * Washington Business Journal blog post on the MidCityEast Small Area Plan.

Jul 7, 2014, 2:49pm EDT UPDATED: Jul 7, 2014, 3:28pm EDT

Here's the plan to preserve, update D.C.'s Mid City East

Michael Neibauer

Staff Reporter- Washington Business Journal

The refresh of D.C.’s Mid City East begins with its preservation.

That appears to be the No. 1 goal of the recently released Mid City East draft small area plan: To preserve neighborhood character and architecture while tackling the community’s larger issues: vacant property, infill opportunities, dilapidated and disconnected main drags, poor connectivity, weak retail.

Now available for public comment, the small area plan is the culmination of a 15-month effort to craft a long term guide for the development, redevelopment and preservation of a 480 acre swath of Northwest and Northeast D.C. The program was led by the Office of Planning, and included numerous public meetings, walking tours, focus groups, meet ups and mobile workshops.

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Historic resources, including 11 national landmarks and one historic district, are “highly valued by the community.” The first recommendation in the small area plan is to “develop a community-led neighborhood conservancy to lead historic preservation efforts.” Suggestions two and three: the potential designation of both Bloomingdale and Eckington as historic districts, or pilot conservation districts.