In Mount Rainier, it's basically the suburban version of what is more stereotypically an urban pattern, i.e. Tracy Loh says it’s no surprise that Town led to other development, citing the example of other “gayborhoods.”Ī lot has been written before about the role of gay “pioneers” in jumpstarting growth in property values by incrementally investing in real estate and communities. I don't see the evidence for the city getting blander or more corporatized even if Chipotle is opening new stores in places you wouldn't have expected.” Obviously it sucks to lose a well-loved place but at the same time…I don't think the actual activity (whether its gay bar or DIY music shows) is disappearing necessarily though the landscape is certainly changing. “I've seen similar reactions to replacement of popular spots for DIY music shows. All that said, I hope that the owners of Town follow the lead of DC Eagle and Secrets, which found new homes so they could continue to welcome both people at a gay bar for their first time and people who experience it every week.Ĭanaan Merchant noticed a similarity between gay venues and DIY music venues: As an urbanist I celebrate many of the changes in our city because they signal a new energy and the type of incremental change that makes cities worth visiting and calling home. Still, I'm sad to see Town close not because of a lack of attendance, but because of market forces. Town was the first gay bar I ever visited, but I met my boyfriend of the last three years at a (straight) bar. Jared Alves notes that Town didn’t close for lack of visitors: What does Town closing mean for the city’s gay community? Contributors agree that the “gayborhood” isn’t going anywhere, but it won’t look the same in the future. But it did lead the gay community’s shift further east towards Shaw, ushering in a new generation of bars, like Dirty Goose, Takoda, and Uproar. When Town opened in 2007, the sleek, warehouse-style club seemed out of place at 8th and Florida, far from DC’s traditional “gayborhood” on 17th Street. Yet many of the places I frequented are gone: Phase 1 in Barracks Row, Apex in Dupont Circle, Icons in Fairfax (which wasn’t a gay bar, but hosted a lot of drag shows), not to mention all of the LGBT clubs in Navy Yard that closed to make way for Nationals Park over a decade ago. I came out twelve years ago, and like many queer kids in DC, I sought out gay bars as a refuge. The owner sold it to a developer who plans to build an apartment building in its place. Town, the massive gay dance club in Shaw, announced last week that it will close next summer after rumors to the contrary.