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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Union Market and Eastern Market are similar?[/quote]

The neighborhoods are quite different in terms of types of housing stock, schools, and general feel.  (Eastern Market is row houses and a few low-rise apartment buildings sprinkled in.  Union Market is high-rise apartment buildings with row house neighborhoods within walking distance.)  I would say the market buildings themselves are different too -- I think of Union Market as having more prepared food with a smattering of fish/meat/veg purveyors, while Eastern Market has more food purveyors and only a couple of places that serve prepared food.  Plus the farmer's line on Saturday outside the building.  They both have other retail/restaurants/services in the immediate vicinity.[/quote]

I think they are really different. Eastern Market the neighborhood is a residential neighborhood of mostly SFHs and small apartment buildings, with a one block market/commercial strip, and then a larger commercial thoroughfare adjacent (Penn Ave).  Union Market is a fully commercial district of multiple blocks that they've made mixed use by adding housing above the street in the form of large condo developments. It is sandwiched between two major commuting arteries (Florida and NY Ave NE), both of which are hostile to pedestrians and neither has a lot of commercial businesses on it, though Florida is starting to develop some street-level retail right near Union Market.

Union Market as a neighborhood is going to be something very special and exciting in about 5-10 years, when they finish developing the buildings around the market and when they finally streetscape Florida to connect the neighborhood better to both H Street and NoMa. But it still won't be like Eastern Market. It will be much more dense, more commercially focused, and with mostly large mixed-used developments and virtually no SFHs.

I think the developments it will most resemble are the Wharf or City Center DC. At least, I hope it winds up that nice. I do think it could use a better anchor than just the markets. The Wharf has the Anthem and City Center has a unique (for DC) shopping district. Union Market is a bit of a hodgepodge but I'd like to see it establish itself a little more as an events venue, and also make the Angelika more of an anchor with a larger presence and perhaps an additional entertainment space. With the movie theater in Chinatown closing down, there's an opportunity to make UM a destination for film.[/quote]

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