WAMU story: possible creation of a single street Historic District

Click on the link to read the entire WAMU story.

Of general interest, since the Bloomingdale Civic Association is studying the idea of a neighborhood Historic District.

On Capitol Hill, Tension Between History And Growth Comes Down To Single Street

By: Martin Austermuhle
September 13, 2016

Georgetown. Anacostia. Dupont Circle. Mount Pleasant. Woodley Park.

If there's one thing that unites all those big, famous neighborhoods, it's that they're historic districts. The city has decided they're special in one way or another. But the designation — which currently applies to more than 50 locations — can be bestowed on something more specific, including a single street.

A group of residents on Emerald Street NE thinks their thoroughfare deserves the honor. But it won't happen without tension: Their preparation to petition the city government comes amid debate over how the city maintains links to its past while meeting the needs of waves of new residents.

The 770-foot-long street on the east end of Capitol Hill would become just the second historic district crafted from a single D.C. street. (The first is Grant Road in Northwest. Though it has fewer houses on it, the road itself is twice as long as Emerald Street.) And the designation would be more than just ceremonial — it confers additional protections to existing buildings and imposes new limitations on what changes can be made to the exterior of the houses within the district.

For proponents of creating an Emerald Street district, it's about protecting what they say is the street's distinct historic charm. They argue that it's different from E Street NE and F Street NE, which run parallel and form the outline of a block bounded also by 13th and 14th streets.

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