Back to the future main street

The 14th & U main street district in Washington DC was a jazz mecca in its heyday in the first half of the 20th century, when the likes of Duke Ellington, Billy Holiday, and Louis Armstrong were regulars. 40 years after the riots, jazz has not only returned to 14th & U, but its legacy is also spawning a new era of live music, entertainment and a population explosion to the area.

How did this happen? It helps when you can retain institutions like Bohemian Caverns (a jazz club since 1926) with hot new destinations like U-Topia to anchor events that market the entire district, like a Jazz Appreciation Month in April. Which, would be rather difficult to do without a main street management program, such as the 14th & U Main Street Alliance, one of the largest main street districts in the country and a CoolTown Studios client…

With over 200 new businesses in the last couple of years, and a hundred more on the way, 14th & U doesn’t need investment from us. However, the individual businesses do benefit immensely from being recognized as being part of a unique destination district, like the French Quarters in New Orleans. They’d prosper even more so if people knew exactly how to plan a full entertainment itinerary for the day or night that included their establishment along the way, and we’ll present our very well-received solution to that in the coming weeks…

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neilkt