purposeofthereport.doc

Introduction Purpose of the Report Retail development plays a central role in the economic development and quality of life for a city and its region. Thriving stores and local businesses help define the character of urban neighborhoods and provide numerous jobs to local residents. Today, the District of Columbia is enjoying a resurgence of economic vitality that is creating new opportunities for residents. The number of home purchases is rising, home values are appreciating, and new retail establishments are opening downtown and in other affluent areas. However, the future viability of the nation’s capital is by no means assured. Population continues to fluctuate, and the city is becoming increasingly bifurcated; High-income neighborhoods coexist with severely distressed communities afflicted with abandoned housing and unsafe streets. Although a building boom is transforming downtown, many other areas of the city are stagnating as residents move out and neighborhood businesses close. This situation is not unique to Washington, DC. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 1999 State of the Cities report indicates that, despite the gains made by cities during the economic expansion of the 1990s, the current economic boom has largely failed to improve conditions in many of the nation’s inner city neighborhoods. According to HUD’s 1999 New Markets: The Untapped Retail Buying Power in America’s Inner Cities, many central city neighborhoods remain underserved. Even the “healthiest” of cities containing deep pockets of poverty that are under-retailed and have high unemployment. The failure of many inner city neighborhoods to benefit from the population influx and economic gains made by metropolitan areas in the 1990s, along with the growing need for new retail markets as suburban markets become saturated, has led to a new interest in inner city retail potential. Researchers are re-examining advantages to retail offered by inner cities to sugges