Columbia Heights and Mt. Pleasant Public Life and Vending Study
Columbia Heights and Mt. Pleasant Public Life and Vending Study
Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant Public Life and Vending Study
Welcome to the Neighborhoods of Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant!
¡Bienvenido/a a los vecindarios de Columbia Heights y Mount Pleasant!
Nestled in the heart of the District in Ward 1, Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant are two of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in the city, boasting rich histories and a vibrant urban character. These neighborhoods are located in the most densely populated area in the region, hosting bustling commercial corridors with small shops and larger retailers, a mix of rowhouses and large apartment buildings and churches. These communities are activated by popular farmers markets, colorful signage, and the occasional street festival. Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant support thriving Latino entrepreneurial communities with the highest concentration of Latino-owned businesses in the city.
But despite sharing these qualities and being located adjacent to one another, each is visually distinct with a flavor all its own. The bustling activity of Columbia Heights is centered around the busy metro station and the civic plaza and fountains on 14th Street, NW, surrounded by high-rise apartment buildings and some large-scale retail and grocers. It tapers off to smaller scale retail corridor to the north with an array of ground floor restaurants and service retail with a tree-lined residential character on side streets.
In comparison, the smaller scale, walkable neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant hosts an array of more intimately scaled restaurants lined with outdoor seating in the form of streateries and colorful murals. The central plaza hosts a weekly farmers market and other celebrations just north of a Latino grocery store. Many of the side streets are narrow but with ample tree canopy, creating an aptly named ‘pleasant’ scene to live and work.
Map:
Vision:
The Columbia Heights-Mount Pleasant Study will provide the vision for a revitalized public realm that focuses on the quality of people’s experience on the streets, sidewalks, and plazas while respecting the character and culture of both neighborhoods. This effort is intended to build on the public realm framework for Columbia Heights has driven the neighborhood’s revitalization for nearly 20 years. With the enactment of the Street Vendor Advancement Amendment Act in 2023, a reevaluation of public life in both neighborhoods is needed, to bolster the livelihoods of entrepreneurs and street vendors while accommodating public life for residents and visitors. In response to requests from residents and the Ward 1 councilmember, the Office of Planning (OP) will be conducting a three-part study in Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant this summer and fall.
Project Goals:
- Public Life Study: Examine ordinary interactions of people with one another and with public spaces in Columbia Heights and Mt. Pleasant. Use the observations and analysis from the public life study to develop an understanding of community members’ needs and desires in using public space.
- Vending Study: Conduct interviews with street vendors and advocacy groups to gain to assess their needs in public space and how best to support retail entrepreneurship. Explore improvements to the streetscape to better accommodate vending within the vending zone while maintaining high-quality pedestrian space.
- Design Guidelines: Based on information from both the Public Life Study and the Vending Study, develop conceptual recommends to public spaces and streetscapes in both neighborhoods. Create guiding principles for physical or programmatic adjustments to better suit the needs and desires of community members.
How you can help:
- Sign up for newsletter (once a month for project updates)
- Community Survey (stay tuned!)
- Call for Volunteers to assist with the Public Life Study (coming soon)
- Attend a community meeting (see sidebar for list of events)
- Share this website with your friends and neighbors!
*Ways You Can Participate!*
Not just one, but two opportunities to connect with us and members of the community:
1. Sign up for the Public Life Study:
We need volunteers who can assist us for 2-3 hour shifts (or more!) on July 7 and July 9. Help make observations of how people are using the sidewalks, plazas, and parks in the area or conduct surveys of people using public spaces so we can better understand how to recommend improvements. A short online training session is provided. Volunteers will receive $25 VISA gift cards for their participation.
*Click here to sign up and select a time slot:*
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B44ADA72DA7FACE9-50075055-columbia#/
2. Join Us On a Community Walking Tour:
Calling all interested community members! We will conduct two walking tours on the evenings of July 8th and 10th. As we tour, we will break out into discussion groups to hear what you love about these neighborhoods, and what concerns or improvements you recommend. Come get out and about in the neighborhood and share your thoughts with us in-person!
Please RSVP here so that we have a good estimate of attendees:
What is Public Life?
Public life is when people connect with one another in public spaces – whether meeting up with a friend at a cafe, sitting on a bench in the shade while children play in the splashpark, or running into a neighbor at the farmers market. It is about the everyday activities that people take part in when they spend time with each other outside their homes, workplaces, and cars. More deeply, it is a critical part of the human environment and has a very real impact on our physical health and mental well-being, and how we connect with and relate with our surroundings. It is where culture is incubated and shared – whether through music, art, food, or discussion. And so, to better enable public life to bloom, we conduct a Public Life Study to directly observe and analyze human behavior in our shared community spaces as a way to recommend policy and design improvements to a space.
To learn more about OP’s efforts to better understand public life across the District, please visit us at: planning.dc.gov/page/public-life-initiatives
Our commitment to Racial Equity and Cultural Sensitivity
OP is committed to meaningfully engaging the community in government decision-making processes and strengthening community partnerships. We are committed to creating a thriving, inclusive, and equitable public realm that serves the needs of all community members to ensure our efforts are culturally sensitive and reflective of the diverse population. Our goal for this initiative is to foster a vibrant community that ensures the livelihood of vendors and recognizes their contributions to an activated public space.