R.I.P. Pursuit Wine Bar. Another innocent victim and casualty of DC’s out of control crime

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not victim blaming but I'm curious about what kind of glass, commercial door he has. His business must have been really insecure to get robbed 3 times in the span of 6 weeks.

I bet you blame rape victims because of their clothing too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not victim blaming but I'm curious about what kind of glass, commercial door he has. His business must have been really insecure to get robbed 3 times in the span of 6 weeks.

Shows how out of touch you are with how things have been going in the city.

I live in NE and for years considered H street a destination for going out, but have stayed away ever since the Commanders player got shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that DC businesses are closing isn’t so much because of crime but because they need more customers. More density and vibrancy will bring more customers.

People start avoiding places when there's a huge increase in crime. Eventually, people even start moving away. I've been surprised by the number of long-time acquaintances (including people from here) I've talked to recently who have started looking into moving elsewhere.

I agree that it's probably a combination of factors, but crime seems to be one of the biggest issues dragging the city down at this point.

H Street resident here and yes, it's a confluence of factors, but I'm not sure you understand the interplay.

ALL of this links back to Covid. People stayed home during Covid because they had to. Businesses were closed. As things reopened, crowds didn't come back at the same levels. Prices absolutely went up, for various reasons, and that dampened enthusiasm for returning to prior levels. Also some businesses didn't survive the shit down, and fewer places overall made H less of a destination. All of this happened independent of the crime issues.

But the crime issues worsened during this time. When everything closed, we saw big increases in vagrancy and loitering along H. Without more people out and about, this contributed to a sense of unease. Panhandling increased. Crime was going up in the city all over, but the shuttered businesses and more of a sense of lawlessness I think really encouraged crime on a H.

And then of course the crime, panhandling, and vagrancy has an impact on businesses, and it spirals down. It's been very frustrating to watch.

[Anonymous]

Shouldn’t a neighborhood bar do BETTER in a work from home environment?

[Anonymous]

H st was a rough area before all that investment came in at the end near union station. I’m sure those big developers are getting a little nervous now that things are regressing.

[Anonymous]

Can't wait for yet another weed dispensary to take its place. Because you really need 36 choices -- all of them selling absolute crap weed -- over a three-block stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that DC businesses are closing isn’t so much because of crime but because they need more customers. More density and vibrancy will bring more customers.

People start avoiding places when there's a huge increase in crime. Eventually, people even start moving away. I've been surprised by the number of long-time acquaintances (including people from here) I've talked to recently who have started looking into moving elsewhere.

I agree that it's probably a combination of factors, but crime seems to be one of the biggest issues dragging the city down at this point.

H Street resident here and yes, it's a confluence of factors, but I'm not sure you understand the interplay.

ALL of this links back to Covid. People stayed home during Covid because they had to. Businesses were closed. As things reopened, crowds didn't come back at the same levels. Prices absolutely went up, for various reasons, and that dampened enthusiasm for returning to prior levels. Also some businesses didn't survive the shit down, and fewer places overall made H less of a destination. All of this happened independent of the crime issues.

But the crime issues worsened during this time. When everything closed, we saw big increases in vagrancy and loitering along H. Without more people out and about, this contributed to a sense of unease. Panhandling increased. Crime was going up in the city all over, but the shuttered businesses and more of a sense of lawlessness I think really encouraged crime on a H.

And then of course the crime, panhandling, and vagrancy has an impact on businesses, and it spirals down. It's been very frustrating to watch.

That's the part that has people staying away. I lived here in the 90s and the insane levels of crime didn't happen to people on their way home from church. Now anywhere anytime and you could be a victim.

[Anonymous]

All I'm hearing out of this is that DC should have stayed open during the pandemic like Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, of course with masking and proper distancing but total bans of shit Downs never should have occurred.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn’t a neighborhood bar do BETTER in a work from home environment?

Crime is not the biggest factor, but really as someone mentioned earlier his prices are too high which results in slower business. This likely lead to the crime, lack of business.

H street was never going to be the belle of the ball anyway. The area developed too quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that DC businesses are closing isn’t so much because of crime but because they need more customers. More density and vibrancy will bring more customers.

People start avoiding places when there's a huge increase in crime. Eventually, people even start moving away. I've been surprised by the number of long-time acquaintances (including people from here) I've talked to recently who have started looking into moving elsewhere.

I agree that it's probably a combination of factors, but crime seems to be one of the biggest issues dragging the city down at this point.

H Street resident here and yes, it's a confluence of factors, but I'm not sure you understand the interplay.

ALL of this links back to Covid. People stayed home during Covid because they had to. Businesses were closed. As things reopened, crowds didn't come back at the same levels. Prices absolutely went up, for various reasons, and that dampened enthusiasm for returning to prior levels. Also some businesses didn't survive the shit down, and fewer places overall made H less of a destination. All of this happened independent of the crime issues.

But the crime issues worsened during this time. When everything closed, we saw big increases in vagrancy and loitering along H. Without more people out and about, this contributed to a sense of unease. Panhandling increased. Crime was going up in the city all over, but the shuttered businesses and more of a sense of lawlessness I think really encouraged crime on a H.

And then of course the crime, panhandling, and vagrancy has an impact on businesses, and it spirals down. It's been very frustrating to watch.

I’m a DC native. As I’ve watched my city change —irreparably, one of the things I’ve wondered over the last two decades or so is : Then what? Much of the Old DC, that included Southern-ish neighborhoods with row houses and family owned businesses got swept away in the name of growth and “progress”. As new people moved in, the city changed to accommodate them and their needs — as cities do. Expensive bars and chi chi multi-family condos proliferated. Many of the people they existed to serve though, had zero ties to the city— beyond jobs that they viewed as personal stepping stones. Transients hung out with other transients, patronized the newer business, and easily moved in when the environments that had changed to accommodate their needs no longer did so.

That’s where we are now, and the changes on H St are a microcosm that highlights all of this. People like me will no longer come there to support other businesses and provide the safety of street traffic as we wait for our Horace and Dickey’s orders. And the newbies — both businesses and residents — will leave when their needs are no longer met.

So, yeah, the downward spiral is frustrating to watch, quite predictable, and even sadder for those of us who miss the kinds of neighborhoods and communities and the sense of safety that they engendered that preceded the “progress”.

[Anonymous]

Enforcing the law is inequitable.

[Anonymous]

Get involved with your ANC, with ANC committees, and with local business-run initiatives instead of just posting here. We have to take the reins back from from soft-on-crime progressives. But it will take effort beyond just posting anonymous messages.

Volunteer in local elections. In 2026, volunteer to get Allen, Nadeau, Lewis George, and Schwalb voted out of office.

And thank police officers for their service. Let them know that the rational liberals of DC don't judge everyone in a group by the actions of a small number of people in that group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get involved with your ANC, with ANC committees, and with local business-run initiatives instead of just posting here. We have to take the reins back from from soft-on-crime progressives. But it will take effort beyond just posting anonymous messages.

Volunteer in local elections. In 2026, volunteer to get Allen, Nadeau, Lewis George, and Schwalb voted out of office.

And thank police officers for their service. Let them know that the rational liberals of DC don't judge everyone in a group by the actions of a small number of people in that group.

I agree with this, but the ANC is really almost a scam. ANCs have zero actual authority, and you will spend tons of time deciding on a zoning variance (where the ANC opinion may actually impact something) and then driving yourself insane screaming about major issue while the city smiles politely, says thanks, and then does what they want.

Impacting council elections is far more important.

With regard to the police…everyone needs to read the DCist article. It profiles officers leaving the force and most cite the bizarre internal policies of how the police operates vs the defund the police / liberal rhetoric, as the reason for leaving.

Both are a problem and both need to be rectified.

[Anonymous]

Not to minimize the crime issue on H St, but I also don't think wine bars appeal to most young people (who are the major clientele on H St) in 2023. Seems like people are going downscale these days - sports bars, beer gardens, or dive bars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not fake news but the story is seven months old. I know the owner at Pursuit and he's been instrumental in getting attention on the very real problem of crime on H Street. Pursuit is alive and well and the businesses on the street are fighting. One of the things they've gotten is increased police presence to prevent incidents like this.

He needs a better proofreader. A very key word is left out.