Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have always been infatuated with New York City during the 1990's and the entire decade in general for quite a long while, and now I am curious to know what D.C. was like during the 90's. The oldest I was when the 90's ended was 7 and some of my memories of The City back in those days were school trips to the National Zoo and the museums, especially the Natural History one. In fact, I remember 90's Forestville, Suitland, Temple Hills, Landover, and Tyson's Corner Galleria more so than 90's D.C., no lie!
So without further ado, I would love for those who have clearer and crispier memories of 90's D.C. to share your thoughts and memories of what things were like in D.C. during the Marion Barry Era, like the nightlife, entertainment, music scene, culture (obviously it was better in this regard since this was before gentrification went into FULL swing), crime (I already know that D.C. was murda capital back then, but I would still like to hear insight), shopping, streetlife, housing quality, cost of living, the state/nature of the neighborhoods, the local economy, etc.
The party scene was awesome. The Zei Club. Enough said.
The cost of living. Pleeeease, a struggling wage earner used to be able to afford living near 14th Street back in the day. Only the DuPont Circle area was gentrified at the time. Struggling income earners could still afford a dump in Adams Morgan, Logan Circle, Mount Pleasant etc.
Crime. There were prostitutes along K Street making their moves on male pedestrians and drug dealing was rampant in MacPherson Square Park. Yeah, it was scarier at night back then. Now, you have new glitzy office buildings for law and PR firms in the same neighborhood and new clubs selling drinks at $12 a glass and tables for parties at $400 for the evening. Bye-bye prostitutes and drug dealers on K Street.
There were more independent shops along many downtown streets. I remember clothing tailors, music record sellers and magazine shops owned by families struggling to make a profit. Now...you have corporate chains running restaurants and retail shops. What. The. F#ck.
The 9:30 Club used to be near the FBI building. There were shops that sold pornographic magazines near the old 9:30 Club. I miss those dirty mag stores.
Back then, DC was a majority black city and it definitely had a more "Chocolate City" feel to it. Chocolate in the Go-Go music. Chocolate in the black-owned businesses. There was a real black pride feeling in the city. Many white suburban types were intimated by this scene but I didn't mind it all.
The people were REAL back then. No pretension. No smartphones or cell phones to check every two minutes during a conversation. You were more interested in making FRIENDS in the long term than contacts so you can advance your career in the short term. Life was more casual back then.
I sound nostalgic because DC WAS a better place with the people. Sure, there was more CRIME and BLIGHT back in the 1990s but the people you met in bars and parties made you feel like you were in a HOME. Today, it could not be more different and that is so depressing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcave360
I have always been infatuated with New York City during the 1990's and the entire decade in general for quite a long while, and now I am curious to know what D.C. was like during the 90's. The oldest I was when the 90's ended was 7 and some of my memories of The City back in those days were school trips to the National Zoo and the museums, especially the Natural History one. In fact, I remember 90's Forestville, Suitland, Temple Hills, Landover, and Tyson's Corner Galleria more so than 90's D.C., no lie!
So without further ado, I would love for those who have clearer and crispier memories of 90's D.C. to share your thoughts and memories of what things were like in D.C. during the Marion Barry Era, like the nightlife, entertainment, music scene, culture (obviously it was better in this regard since this was before gentrification went into FULL swing), crime (I already know that D.C. was murda capital back then, but I would still like to hear insight), shopping, streetlife, housing quality, cost of living, the state/nature of the neighborhoods, the local economy, etc.
The party scene was awesome. The Zei Club. Enough said.
The cost of living. Pleeeease, a struggling wage earner used to be able to afford living near 14th Street back in the day. Only the DuPont Circle area was gentrified at the time. Struggling income earners could still afford a dump in Adams Morgan, Logan Circle, Mount Pleasant etc.
Crime. There were prostitutes along K Street making their moves on male pedestrians and drug dealing was rampant in MacPherson Square Park. Yeah, it was scarier at night back then. Now, you have new glitzy office buildings for law and PR firms in the same neighborhood and new clubs selling drinks at $12 a glass and tables for parties at $400 for the evening. Bye-bye prostitutes and drug dealers on K Street.
There were more independent shops along many downtown streets. I remember clothing tailors, music record sellers and magazine shops owned by families struggling to make a profit. Now...you have corporate chains running restaurants and retail shops. What. The. F#ck.
The 9:30 Club used to be near the FBI building. There were shops that sold pornographic magazines near the old 9:30 Club. I miss those dirty mag stores.
Back then, DC was a majority black city and it definitely had a more "Chocolate City" feel to it. Chocolate in the Go-Go music. Chocolate in the black-owned businesses. There was a real black pride feeling in the city. Many white suburban types were intimated by this scene but I didn't mind it all.
The people were REAL back then. No pretension. No smartphones or cell phones to check every two minutes during a conversation. You were more interested in making FRIENDS in the long term than contacts so you can advance your career in the short term. Life was more casual back then.
I sound nostalgic because DC WAS a better place with the people. Sure, there was more CRIME and BLIGHT back in the 1990s but the people you met in bars and parties made you feel like you were in a HOME. Today, it could not be more different and that is so depressing.
Wow! That sounds so mindboggling! It's amazing how time flys. DC definitely seemed to have had a LOT more local culture back then, heck practically most major American cities particularly the NYC. Whereas now, everything feels kinda monotonous and warped. I mean the local culture is still there in some parts of DC like U Street, Adams Morgan, eastern Anacostia, etc., but I usually can't help but sense that this culture is practically a "shadow of its former self". Yes, there was a LOT of crime and grime in Chocolate City during those days, but hey, atleast it really was THE CHOCOLATE CITY I'm really cool with D.C. being a "Rainbow or Multicultural City", but the old Chocolate City just sound so sexy to me imo. Sometimes I wish I was 20 years old back then lol it's all good though.
The good thing about gentrification is that it can curtail crime, but basically as a sacrifice, it can make a city with a lot of local culture lose some if not all of its character over time. Not to mention the housing prices lol. Expensive indeed! I'm still interested in living in the former Chocolate City one day, maybe try out condo living or sharing a rowhome with a roomie in either Capitol Hill, U Street, Columbia Heights, SW Waterfront/Navy Yard, Adams Morgan, Logan Circle, the upcoming CityCenterDC, Bloomingdale (idk about that though, mainly because it always seems to flood in that neighborhood), Trinidad (maybe) or Shaw one day. I'm in college right now, so this is just a pipe dream for now.
But back to the topic, the 9:30 club and porno mag shops used to be near the FBI building? Oh wow, the Feds didn't give y'all too much trouble did they? lol And there was a thousand more small businesses and ma-and-pa shops in The City? That's what I'm talking about! I'm cool with chains, but there is such a thing called OVER-SATURATION and CULTURE DEPRIVATION! I wish they would see that!!! And wow, K Street and MacPherson used to have all that? That is crazy!!!
Interesting life story! I am really looking forward to many more who wish to offer their experiences of what D.C. was like during the Era of Boom Bap, 2pac, Grunge, G-Funk, Techno, Euro-Dance, Clinton, Internet 1.0, Michael Jordan, Beavis and Butthead, Nickelodeon, Martin, Friends, Seinfeld, The Wayan Bros., Jurassic Park-style CGI, Living Single, Flannel, Doc Martin, Coogi, Black Leather, Poetic Justice braids, Aaliyah, and Friday aka The 90's! Sorry for that btw, let's just say most of us 20-somethings really do have a romanticized perspective on that particular decade lol
D.C. was murder capital back in the 90's so imagine that.
All of DC east of Rock Creek Park was filled with hoods.
Logan Circle? Hood!
U street? Hood!
Dupont Circle? Sketchy!
Columbia Heights? HOOD!!
Eastern Market? Ghetto!!
All of Gerogia Ave? Hood!
All of 14th street? Hood!
DC was a city filled with nothing but drug dealers, bootleggers, hustlers, runners, dudes shooting at anything with a New York license plate, ya mean, old school DC.
Back in the day Jamaicans set up shop Uptown (NW) in places like Malcolm X park, Kennedy st, along Georgia ave, and all over that area mainly to sell drugs. There were a lot of hustlers from New York that came down here to try and make that money because there was a lot of money involved in the DC drug game, read up on Alpo and Ray Edmond.
While I am sure that many people had a better time in the 90s compared to today, it seems spurious to say that DC of the past was objectively BETTER when thanks to todays lower crime rates there are literally hundreds of people who have not been robbed, assaulted and murdered who would have been had the crime rates not gone down.
Those people won't be posting in this thread disputing the notion that life was better in the 90s because obviously by definition you can't know what didn't happen to you.
While I am sure that many people had a better time in the 90s compared to today, it seems spurious to say that DC of the past was objectively BETTER when thanks to todays lower crime rates there are literally hundreds of people who have not been robbed, assaulted and murdered who would have been had the crime rates not gone down.
Those people won't be posting in this thread disputing the notion that life was better in the 90s because obviously by definition you can't know what didn't happen to you.
True that, I didn't necessarily wanted DC to literally go back to its shady and violent state during the 90's, but I wouldn't mind if some of those lost local-owned businesses (except for strip malls, I believe we have enough of that particularly in PG lol) and local-bred culture was as numerous now as they were back then. I mean, their still there, but they are basically a shadow of their former self. I am glad that nonetheless that DC is changing for the good, especially with reduction in crime in various neighborhoods, that sea of construction cranes all over the city, quality of living, cleanliness, and investment into their waterfronts.
D.C. was murder capital back in the 90's so imagine that.
All of DC east of Rock Creek Park was filled with hoods.
Logan Circle? Hood!
U street? Hood!
Dupont Circle? Sketchy!
Columbia Heights? HOOD!!
Eastern Market? Ghetto!!
All of Gerogia Ave? Hood!
All of 14th street? Hood!
DC was a city filled with nothing but drug dealers, bootleggers, hustlers, runners, dudes shooting at anything with a New York license plate, ya mean, old school DC.
True that, I didn't necessarily wanted DC to literally go back to its shady and violent state during the 90's, but I wouldn't mind if some of those lost local-owned businesses (except for strip malls, I believe we have enough of that particularly in PG lol) and local-bred culture was as numerous now as they were back then. I mean, their still there, but they are basically a shadow of their former self. I am glad that nonetheless that DC is changing for the good, especially with reduction in crime in various neighborhoods, that sea of construction cranes all over the city, quality of living, cleanliness, and investment into their waterfronts.
Here's to hoping for a bright future DC
DC is changing for better or worse. Downtown is basically revitalizing itself much like how Los Angeles is improving with their downtown.
There is still more improvements to be done with the city and it won't be long till they get them fixed.
Crime. There were prostitutes along K Street making their moves on male pedestrians and drug dealing was rampant in MacPherson Square Park. Yeah, it was scarier at night back then. Now, you have new glitzy office buildings for law and PR firms in the same neighborhood and new clubs selling drinks at $12 a glass and tables for parties at $400 for the evening. Bye-bye prostitutes and drug dealers on K Street.
The 9:30 Club used to be near the FBI building. There were shops that sold pornographic magazines near the old 9:30 Club. I miss those dirty mag stores.
Some of those things were more true during the 1970s and 1980s. The entire block filled with nude dance bars, massage parlors, and bath houses on 14th street between H and I, were gone by the late 1980s, and replaced by new office buildings and the Hilton Garden Inn - (I suspect the moving away of the nearby Greyhound and Trailways stations and the youth hostel, took away some of their business). I seem to recall that the porno magazine shops on lower 9th Street left about that time, too. The 9:30 club used be at 930 F Street (near today's YWCA).
Last edited by slowlane3; 11-18-2012 at 07:05 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
for quite a long while, and now I am curious to know what D.C. was like during the 90's. The oldest I was when the 90's ended was 7 and some of my memories of The City back in those days were school trips to the National Zoo and the museums, especially the Natural History one. In fact, I remember 90's Forestville, Suitland, Temple Hills, Landover, and Tyson's Corner Galleria more so than 90's D.C., no lie! 
It's amazing how time flys. DC definitely seemed to have had a LOT more local culture back then, heck practically most major American cities particularly the NYC. Whereas now, everything feels kinda monotonous and warped. I mean the local culture is still there in some parts of DC like U Street, Adams Morgan, eastern Anacostia, etc., but I usually can't help but sense that this culture is practically a "shadow of its former self".
Yes, there was a LOT of crime and grime in Chocolate City during those days, but hey, atleast it really was THE CHOCOLATE CITY
I'm really cool with D.C. being a "Rainbow or Multicultural City", but the old Chocolate City just sound so sexy to me imo. Sometimes I wish I was 20 years old back then lol it's all good though.
