Can Live Music Revitalize College Park?

Last Friday, WAMU’s Metro Connection included a segment about the revitalization of the H Street Corridor in D.C., and how many attribute its turn around to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel, a live music venue that occupies the site of a former funeral home.

 If you didn’t catch it, here’s a quick run-down of the story:

Once upon a time, H Street NE, was a “ghost town” (legend has it there were even tumbleweeds). It stayed like this for some time, and then the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel opened its doors in 2006, and people starting coming to H Street to enjoy live music. After that, people with the entrepreneurial spirit saw people going to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel and decided to open other businesses—bars, restaurants and so on—and now the area is thriving. (If you want to hear the story for yourself, click the link above and scroll down to “Rock'n'Roll'n'Revitalization).

According to Ron Simms, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, communities around the country have rallied around live music venues.

“If you have a strong musical scene, you can bring back any community, because people will migrate there," Simms said in the broadcast. "But what happens is that all of sudden, you get new kinds of investments—then the restaurants show up, then the small theaters show up—it becomes more of a total arts district.”

Proving Simms’s point, the Metro Connection segment quotes Jason Martin, the owner of a sushi restaurant called Sticky Rice, who looked to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel as a “gauge” of the neighborhood’s improvement.

“Because of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel and the Argonaut, Sticky Rice and a slew of other businesses opened up. Just the overflow of foot traffic from people going to every business is benefiting everyone, and it has a lot to do with the music venue.”

It’s not hard to see why. According to the segment, an estimated 2000 and 2,500 people come to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel on a “good” weekend.

So, could a live music venue do the same for College Park?

I believe it could. The Greater D.C.-area has a strong music scene and there are plenty of bands and musicians right here in our own backyard (I’m a member of a band myself). Moreover, musicians are always looking for new venues and with the demise of the Sante Fe Café and the Berwyn Café, College Park doesn’t offer local bands many options.

Of course, the bigger question is would College Park welcome such a live music venue? I’m tempted to say “no,” given the all too frequent public opposition to what seems like any new venture in the city (e.g., Hollywood Park, the Bamboo Eater, the Comfort Zone, the student housing developments along Route 1, and so on).

Before I go any further, let me say that I'm aware the Birchmere is supposed to come here as part of the East Campus development. But do we really have to wait that long? After all, if the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel opened in 2006, that means it took only four to five years at the most for H Street to come around. East Campus won’t even be open for business in four years.

So, if the city and concerned residents are serious about improving the local business climate in College Park, then a live music venue should be a consideration in the short term.

But don’t take my word for it. If I might pass along something else the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Simms said in the Metro Connection Segment:

“You cannot underestimate the power of musical venues. If you decide you don’t want them you’re basically signing the death warrant to your community. But when you embrace them, you’re willing to say our community has a future—it’s going to be vibrant, it’s going to be attractive, it’s going to be creative. It is a statement of we are.”

I’d like to say those things about my community, wouldn’t you?

Smith is a resident of north College Park. He blogs (occasionally) at www.ncpinformant.com. You also can follow him on Twitter: @smithflap.