Best of 2009 H The Street Once D.C.’s busiest commercial district, the H Street Corridor spiraled into a run-down strip of urban decay in the 1970s. Today, though, a hip new generation of bars, clubs and ethnic restaurants is breathing new life into this eclectic neighborhood Renaissance ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★
B Y EILEEN FRANCIS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVEN VOTE
In D. C.’s H Street Corri-
dor, dusk unfolds like the
second act of a play. As
rush hour eases and the
Federal row homes cast
long shadows on the street below, the
neighborhood transforms. Corru-gated
gates that conceal storefronts along the
1.5-mile stretch seem to roll back all at
once. In their place stand husky door-
men welcoming happy hour patrons into
dimly lit bistros and clubs.
The pedestrians of late afternoon—
mostly locals lumbering home in uniforms and suits—are replaced by hordes
of hipsters. They sport tattoos and
stilettos, and their numbers grow as the
evening wears on. They smoke and mingle outside of a bar that will later host
a burlesque show. Across the street, in
front of a historic theater, parents hold
the hands of small children who twist
in excitement as they await a theatrical production of the classic children’s
book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
Everywhere on this street in northeast D.C. is a sense of renewal, even
amid blocks still dotted with boarded-up warehouses. But the evolution of
this strip into an arts and entertainment
