In my view, then, the key 2020 event in the decline of Chinatown wasn’t so much the pandemic as the death of George Floyd and the absurd reaction to it. In D.C., the “defund the police movement” amounted to a green light for the criminals who are keeping law-abiding folks off the street at night.
Thus, the blame for Chinatown’s decline lies with the D.C. City Council, the Biden-appointed federal prosecutor, and to a lesser extent the mayor for their notoriously soft-on-crime policies and practices. Blaming the pandemic is largely an evasion.
If Leonsis ends up moving his two teams, as now seems almost certain, the Chinatown neighborhood will continue to descend — perhaps to a state as bad as that which prevailed before the arena was built. Yes, Georgetown will probably keep playing its home basketball games (not much of an attraction these days) at the arena. There will be some concerts, horse shows, and the occasional monster truck extravaganza, as well.
But all of this won’t come close to making up for the dates vacated by the Caps and Wizards.
[I’d bet that the evacuation of DC by major-league sports franchises won’t be the last for urban areas around the country. A number of teams associated with major cities actually play outside their boundaries, but a number of them remain in the urban cores. As crime and decline degrade their fan base and support staff, the suburbs will start looking a lot more attractive, especially when teams need a stadium upgrade. And if that doesn’t work, they may look to relocate entirely to states where the government does more to control the environment, such as the Raiders and A’s move to Las Vegas. — Ed]
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