A Rapid Renaissance in Columbia Heights

The neighborhood's mix is what drew Carmela Clendening, 27, an aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). She paid $364,000 for a one-bedroom apartment in Kenyon Square, a new building across from Target in which units have sold for more than $700,000.

Her mother, worried about crime, offered to help Clendening buy a pricier place in Rosslyn. But after growing up in a mostly white suburb, Clendening, who is Filipino American, chose the city because she wanted diversity. "I like how everyone's close together," she said. "I didn't want to live in Georgetown. I didn't want to live in a bubble."

The benefits of the Columbia Heights development will be felt across the city, District officials say, whether through jobs or new shopping. In the meantime, the neighborhood is adjusting to a new role as a regional destination. Residents fret about traffic and crowds, and how it will all affect the neighborhood's rhythms.

Just off 14th Street on Park Road, where two dozen or so small businesses are clustered, Ramon Compres's deli is the place for a Dominican-style lunch and a game of dominos. Julia Grabito's dusty Botanica offers incense, candles and a view of her wax-encrusted shrine to Saint Miguel.

After enduring disruptions caused by construction, they and their neighbors hope to attract the new shoppers visiting the neighborhood. But they say they need help from the city, particularly the $2 million officials had talked of dispensing to help restore timeworn facades.

Although District officials say the money is coming, the proprietors feel shunted aside as the city celebrates the newcomers. "We've been completely ignored," Grabito said. "They fixed the neighborhood around us, but they didn't help us."

A few blocks south, in a concrete-paved park at 14th and Girard streets, talk of the neighborhood's changes can be heard at tables where men play whist and checkers. The park is across from a new condominium building and down the street from where two homicides occurred last year.

Graham has secured city funds to renovate the park, a plan that includes installing a fence that would block access at night. Although Graham said a broad spectrum of residents support the design, including park regulars, some say they feel insulted by the District's attempt to impose control over a spot they consider a second living room, and they see a connection between the fence and all the new development.

"Why separate us? Why fence off where we live?" said Sam Wilson, 51, a cook, lounging in the park one afternoon.

Gracie Rollins, a social services provider in Columbia Heights for 40 years, said the emerging neighborhood must respect longtime residents.

In the meantime, she embraces the new view from 14th Street and Park Road: condos, stores and restaurants instead of emptiness, all of it so unimaginable even five years ago. "It's like coming up to a new city, a brand-new city, that just came up out of the ground," she said. "It's a dream."