Arts Is Capitol Hill the new Pioneer Square?
Pioneer Square was, basically, neutered when a man died during the Mardi Gras Riots there in 2001. Businesses in the Square that are not bar-related (the sublime David Ishii, Bookseller, among others) either have closed or are in the process of closing, and the bars in the Square don’t seem to be doing so well, either.
As I write this, it’s now 2:10 a.m. Saturday night on Capitol Hill. There are twelve or so police cars blocking Pike street, from Broadway to Boylston. People were staggering about in front of the bars in the scissored-off area. I received a couple offers for various illegal things as I wandered around, trying to figure out if I should intercede in a fight in a nearby alley. A woman in far-too-tight-hot pants was getting escorted across the street while a buzzcut police officer glared at everyone involved. A man in a rooming house near the cut-off streets kept shouting “Cripplefight!” out his window as a fight broke out on the corner of Pine and Boylston. This coming Tuesday, of course, is Fat Tuesday, which means that we are officially in the thick of Mardi Gras: What are your pre-Lenten plans?
And also, Don Knotts is dead. It must be the apocalypse.
I don't know if it's the new Pioneer Square, but it certainly is an unpleasant place. I used to adore Capitol Hill, but if it weren't for our offices and a handful of critical music venues, I probably would never go to the Hill. I have no idea why people still romanticize it. If and when the Comet sale is finalized, I think that might be the nail in the coffin.