U Street Corridor Essay

The U Street Corridor located in Washington D.C., is a unique place full of vibrancy and resilience. Once known for its ability to nurture prominent African Americans, it now houses shops of all kinds, along with trendy restaurants. No longer largely a black community, people from varying races and age groups call it home which can be seen simply by walking the streets. Delores Hayden’s work, The Power of Place helps individuals to understand places like U Street on a deeper level and gain a better understanding of the power a place has to cultivate memories for both the residents and new people moving into the area. Overall, U Street contributes to the understanding of a neighborhood and a city through cultural belonging, place memory, and ?. In addition, an individual’s view of Washington can be starkly changed by Hayden’s perspective and give a community new meaning. According to Rina Benmayor and John Kuo Wei, cultural citizenship is defined as “An identity that is formed not out of legal membership but out of a sense of cultural belonging.” While many aspects of U Street life that were once so popular have faded, there is still a sense of this belonging found within the community. At Ben’s Chili Bowl, a popular restaurant in the U Street Corridor that has survived through the worst of

These signs are not merely there to inform the public of the area’s history. They serve the bigger purpose of place memory. While reading a sign, it is easy to fall into time and imagine what life was like 50 or even 100 years ago. Many people who are interested in these placards did not grow up in the area but can connect with it because all around them is the memory of the past. It can be heard from shop owners and members of the community who are proud of their “city within a