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This is Dan Kerr, we're at Columbia Heights Festival, it's Saturday, June 24th, 2023. Could you tell us your name? Sure. My name is Derek Brockbank. Okay. And could you tell us a little bit about your connection to the neighborhood? Sure. I moved to Washington, D.C. and lived in Columbia Heights in 2004, and then I lived in a couple places. I went over to Mount Pleasant, so still in the greater Columbia Heights neighborhood, and then I bought my house in Parkview, so sort of also within the Columbia Heights neighborhood in 2008, and I've been in the same house in Parkview since then. And so I've spent my past 19 years in Columbia Heights.

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That's fantastic. And, could you tell us what brought you initially to Columbia Heights? Why did you choose—? Well, I moved to DC for work, as many young 20s do, and was looking for a neighborhood that was sort of close to downtown but still had a neighborhood-y feel, had a little bit of space, and felt like it sort of had a multicultural flavor. You could go out and get different ethnic food, you weren't, you know, surrounded by people who all had a similar background or a similar race, culture, identity. And so I really liked the multiculturalism of Columbia Heights and so I moved in here and essentially have just really liked that ambiance and so that's why I've stayed. Okay, and how would you say that the neighborhood— well, actually, let me just take one step back. Could you tell us a little bit about your early experience with the neighborhood? Yeah, so I feel like when I moved here in 2004, the neighborhood was a little bit grittier, right? So the main Columbia Heights Plaza that now has Target, and fountains, and a Giant, at the time it was completely undeveloped. The only thing that was there was a CVS on one corner, a couple of abandoned lots, and a methadone clinic. So walking from the Metro to the house I lived in, just three or four blocks away—I mean, I'm from the city so I always felt safe. I feel like I've got a strong city, urban upbringing—and so I didn't feel unsafe, but it was definitely a different experience of walking past vacant lots with chain link fences right by the metro. And so just seeing the development that has taken shape starting with that sort of core by the metro, to extending out to the 11th Street strip, to the development on Georgia Avenue closer to where I live now, the sort of similar kind of development happening in Petworth, and seeing the Petworth Metro and the Columbia Heights Metro as the hubs of urban development— urban redevelopment in many ways, spread out and connect into other parts of the neighborhood has been fascinating.

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It's also been, you know, as someone who cares about the neighbors and cares—I've been here 20 years, but I also recognize there are people who've been here for 50. And so, I feel like the neighborhood has tried, in many ways, to redevelop without displacing the people that have lived here, but I don't always think it's been successful. And so, I guess, you'd ask me to sort of pivot to where I see it going, and I really hope that the growth, and the development, and the family atmosphere that I see in Columbia Heights can continue to grow, can continue to see bars, and restaurants, and places for people and kids and teens to hang out, but not at the expense of displacing folks who've lived here for generations. And I think that means creating more affordable housing and building at a rate that probably needs to be quicker than it is now. Housing is so expensive in the neighborhood. And there needs to be more opportunities for people of many different incomes to rent, and to buy, and to be homeowners in the neighborhood. So that's my goal. We can continue the development, but in a way that is inclusive and able to bring along the full community. Mm-hmm. I mean, thank you. That was really thoughtful. One concrete question I want to ask is about Room 11. Could you tell us about Room 11? Sure, yeah. So I marked Room 11 as one of my memories because I was sort of sad to see it go. The sort of 11th Street strip was, when I first moved to DC, I moved to DC— or, I moved to Columbia Heights the same year that Wonderland opened up. So Wonderland was, like, it. It was, you know, living over on 16th Street in Mount Pleasant. Wonderland was the sort of, in my 23 year old self, a sort of Wild West—even though it was East—the Wild West of Columbia Heights. And we'd go over there and it was super fun. And then I think a couple years later, Red Rocks opened and I remember going to Red Rocks Pizzeria, and all of a sudden it was like, okay, this little 11th Street corridor is starting to have restaurants and there's sort of a reason to go to it. And then I moved to— I actually bought a house over in Parkview, so sort of closer to 11th Street than I was previously in Mount Pleasant, and saw this sign that this this place called Room 11 was opening, and I happened to go the first week it was open. And it was this cute little cocktail wine bar, and it was the first place that I had seen in this side of Columbia Heights that was definitely more elegant. Wonderland, and I love Wonderland, but it's a dive bar. It's fun, you go, you get cheap beer, you dance, you get sweaty. Red Rocks is a pizzeria, but Room 11 was like, it had this, you went in, and I had this— almost every time I went, sometimes I'd get a cocktail, but I'd have a white port, which sort of made me feel very much like I was in my 70s drinking a white port. But it just had this elegance and just getting to go the first time, and it sort of became sort of a go-to for me and my wife to go at the end of a— we'd go out to a meal somewhere and then we'd head over to Room 11 for another sort of after-dinner drink that made us feel much more adult and much more sophisticated. And so it was both fun but also created this sophistication on 11th Street that led to Bad Saint, which was sort of an award-winning, nationally award-winning restaurant. You've seen El Chucho, you see all these other restaurants have opened up that have made national— regional and even national acclaim. And I think Room 11 was the one that kick-started that with sort of fancy, fancy cocktail after dinner drinks.

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Thank you. [coughs] Excuse me, is there anything else you'd like to share about Columbia Heights? Not really. It's just a lovely neighborhood and it's— I love the multiculturalism, and the diversity, and and and the ambiance that it has. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you.