Capitol Hill is not such a hidden gem anymore. It's been discovered. We have many many dining options,
several of them world renowned. It looks like a neighborhood now that takes pride in itself.
I moved here in 1973 and I've seen a lot of ups and downs throughout those years on Capitol Hill
and I can honestly say there's never been a better time to live here than today.
Before the bid, 86% of the people said that the place was trash. Almost the same percentage said crime was a major issue.
Today, the same surveys are showing that trash almost doesn't come to mind when they're talking about problems in the neighborhood.
3%. It's not there anymore. But we have our men in blue that come through here on a regular basis daily.
Last year, for example, we picked up over 1,500 tons of trash, 138 tons of recyclable material, and we removed over 700 objects of graffiti.
We are the oldest restaurant on the street. Opened 34 years ago. We're doing great.
In the last five years, definitely I've seen a lot of changes on the street.
With all the service that the bid is providing, it's always nice and clean.
Beautiful plants, they put them all in the area, which makes it more attractive.
And the men in blue definitely makes a lot of difference. They do a great job. They make sure the whole street is clean.
People see them on the uniform, definitely feel a lot safer.
People feel like it's a street they want to visit.
The bid is always first in line to help support Barracks Row in their events.
It's the same thing with Market Row. There are lots of tourists that are coming here.
There's a safety ambassador generally around to help them find their directions.
Point them to an eastern market, point them to any of our great restaurants.
We try to monitor crime in our commercial neighborhoods through our safety ambassadors.
And we're an extra pair of eyes on these blocks during the day.
We're always looking for things that help make it more of a community.
My husband acquired Mr. Henry's in 1971.
Chapel Hill at that time was really small town.
We raised our kids here and we've been here ever since.
I wanted to sit on the pad.
I remember that.
Our daughter lives on the hill with her family.
It's so wonderful to have grandkids just a few blocks away.
When we first came here, you did not see very many little children.
All of a sudden we have strollers all over the place.
And the hill has become very much more family oriented.
When it comes to the holidays, we have that gorgeous tree in the Metro Plaza Park.
It's our own Christmas tree and our own menorah.
Very much the spirit of the community.
We always participate in the 4th of July parade that Eric's row sponsors.
People come out for it and they love it.
So it does feel like a small town.
We've continued to support Ready, Willing and Working.
We contract with them to come out and do our street cleaning.
But their mission in life is to take men and women who were previously incarcerated,
get them back on the straight and narrow, give them a job,
a reason for getting up in the morning and some pay.
We contract with several other bids and when we do that,
we bring the Ready, Willing and Working team in to be the clean teams in this group.
So we've created many jobs.
We opened in May of 1993.
The bid has really made a real positive impact in making sure that it's safe and clean.
Initially as a tenant, it really was just another tax.
And it's kind of hard to touch and understand what it did.
But it now understands, being part of the board, how my 200 flows into $2 million.
And the impact of $2 million can make on the greater capital of the community.
They do a lot for the needs of the area.
It sort of magnifies as a voice of merchants, property owners and residents
in communicating that with our elected officials.
The bid really makes a concerted effort so that property owners, residents,
as well as tenants understand where the money is going.
Today we're a lot more business friendly.
We've got a lot more restaurants and a lot more great businesses.
And people are looking to locate here.
The bid is a lifeline to these folks into the city government
and it comes to doing things like getting permits to try to open a business.
But we are a cheerleader, if you will, for Capitol Hill
and we're welcoming new businesses to come here.
I've been on Ath Street about six months now.
It's wonderful.
The bid actually reached out to me even before I opened my doors
to check in on me to find out if there was anything they could do to help me.
And once we've opened, they've been really supportive of promoting the events
and the run clubs and the group fitness activities that we lead from the store.
It's helped bring in new customers and new faces
and I think the organizations such as the bid
make it a really easy place to open a business.
It took me less than two months from when I signed my lease
and took over this building to open my doors.
I'm really in this community for the long haul.
Capitol Hill's got it all.
Five Metro stops.
We've got the bike share program.
You're 15 minutes from National Airport.
The streets are clean. There's lots of dining opportunities.
When the Hine Project comes online here,
there's going to be another whole set of dining and shopping and service venues
that weren't there a few years ago.
The partnership with the Capitol Hill bid has been vital
because it really allows us as a Main Street program
to focus on business recruitment, business retention,
the promotional activities that we work on.
We started using Ready Willing and Working for our clean team contract.
I bid it back out every single year
and we're not able to find anyone who's able to produce the same quality
for anywhere near the same price.
So we've renewed the contract annually ever since.
And now Barracks Row has really become a destination.
We have the full support of our city council and of the mayor
to grow and thrive and for us to be able to be the engine
that drives the local economy and contributes back to the taxis.
We started our 15th year with a bid.
We've been consistent with keeping the streets looking good, streets looking clean.
Consumers happy to come here and happy to stroll our streets
and feel reasonably safe.
We could use a lot more help trying to take this Ready Willing and Working program
to its next level so we could use all the support we can get from everywhere,
particularly the city.
The Renaissance on Capitol Hill in the last 15 years has just been staggering.
We're all contributing to it and it's working.
And there's a lot more to come.
