Washington City Paper: Contents for Mar. 31

God Is in the Real Estate
What do you call an outfit that evicts struggling artists and demolishes historic buildings in order to build a high-rent office tower? On F Street, you call it divine.

Cover Story

What do you call an outfit that evicts struggling artists and demolishes historic buildings in order to build a high-rent office tower? On F Street, you call it divine.

Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

Anthony Caffry may have been a priest, but his true calling, history shows, was real estate.

Knocking around Washington in 1794, the Irish-born priest set out to find a spot to build the future nation's capital's first Catholic church. Caffry eventually settled on a vacant block along F Street. The street was hardly more than a cow path then, but it was convenient, about halfway between the planned sites of the "President's House" and the Capitol: Square 376, Lots 5 and 6. The lots sold for 40 pounds each, the equivalent of about $1,000 today. It was such a good deal that the priest came back later for Lot 7; he purchased that one for

60 pounds.

What Caffry sought, says historian Morris J. MacGregor, was "a well-situated site at a bargain price." And that's precisely what he got: location, location, location. St. Patrick's Church is up the street from Ford's Theatre, where Abraham Lincoln was shot in the 19th century, and a stone's throw from the MCI Center, where Michael Jordan's Wizards may soar in the 21st.

Ever since Caffry planted his flag on F Street, the story of St. Patrick's has been tied to the fate of downtown Washington. It's a fate that depends heavily on the vagaries of the local real estate market, which has seen downtown go from muddy village to commercial hub to emblem of urban decay.... Continued

Issue of Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2000

News and Features

God Is in the Real Estate
What do you call an outfit that evicts struggling artists and demolishes historic buildings in order to build a high-rent office tower? On F Street, you call it divine.
Cover Story By Kevin Diaz
Latin Sensation
From his bench on the D.C. Superior Court, Judge John H. Bayly Jr. is breathing new vitam into a dead language.
The City By Annys Shin
Reasonable Doubts
The City By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Garden-Variety Activism
For decades, Lou Aronica's job was protecting D.C.'s rights. Now it's protecting the city's plants.
The City By Laura Lang
Toking a Stand
Medical marijuana activists are tightening the joints on an underground distribution network.
The City By Patrick Tracey
National Airport
The City By Judith Larsen
Historical Revision
The Mail By The Faculty
Everything Zen
The Mail By Reuben Jackson
An Incredible, Stupendous, Eye-Popping Letter
The Mail By Rana Silver
Magical Realism
The Mail By Laila Hirschfeld
Hair Raising
The Mail By Matthew Katz
Eternal Flame
The Mail By J. Craig Attarian
Cats in the Cradle
The Mail By Linda Saffell
Jubilee Year
The Mail By Hugh Hammet
It Works for Her
The Mail By Joseph C. Parry
Ackerman Backer Man
The Mail By Keith Jarrell
Doing Your BIDding
The Mail By The Rev. Linda M. Kaufman

Columns

Money for Nothing
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
The Thermodynamics of Hype
Paper Trail By David Carr
Overboard
City Desk By Kevin Diaz
Recycled Wisdom
City Desk By Laura Lang
The Squeaky Rat
City Desk By Andrew Katz
Post Position
Loose Lips By Erik Wemple

Eats

Tastes Like a Duck
Young & Hungry By Brett Anderson

Movies

Why Do the Heathen Rage?
Film Review By Arion Berger
Love and 45s
Film Review By Mark Jenkins

Music

Femi Monde
Music Review By John Murph
Rhyme and Unreason
Music Review By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Stiff Upper Lip
Music Reviews By Sean Daly
Live at the Fillmore--February 1969
Music Reviews By Caroline Schweiter
Blank-Wave Arcade
Music Reviews By Mike Kanin
No Strings Attached
Music Reviews By Tina Plottel
Greatest Hits Live
Music Reviews By Michael Little

Theater

Too Fun to Be True
Theater Review By Bob Mondello
Mama's Boys
Theater Review By Trey Graham

Arts and Events

Saxophonal Healing
Gospel-jazz saxophonist Derrick "Tony" Lewis is playing his seductive instrument in service to the Lord. Blasphemy? Hardly.
Arts By Nefretiti Makenta
Gray Immanence
Art Review By Glenn Dixon
Battle Cry
Books By Paul Spillenger
More Love Than Money
Artifacts By P. Mitchell Prothero
Yippie Yi Yay
Artifacts By Patrick Tracey
Yippie Yi Yay
Artifacts By Patrick Tracey