We mentioned this briefly over the weekend, but it’s worth looking into — there have been various reports and rumors that portions of Columbia Heights were going to be renamed Tivoli North (or sometimes Tivoli Heights) after the theater located at 14th and Park Road. The name change (or invention) infuriated many, but then it turns out to have been blown out of proportion.
As far as we can tell, one of the first mentions of the name came from the Prince of Petworth, who posted an unsourced rumor about part of the neighborhood from Monroe Street NW to Spring Road NW being renamed “Tivoli Heights” or “Tivoli Heights Corridor.” The commenters were up in arms about it, asking why there needed to be a new name, claiming there already was a name for that area (variously Holmead Village, 16th Street Heights, North Columbia Heights or just Columbia Heights), and so on.
Later in the comments thread, IMGoph deduced that the group thinking about this change was one Tivoli Heights Business Association. Later, ANC 4C, which is outside the traditional area called Columbia Heights (which most people agree ends at Spring Road, the ward boundary), voted to approve Tivoli North banners from Spring Road north to Shepherd Street, an area which oddly starts about 8 blocks north of the Tivoli itself.
Then a couple of weeks later, NBC4, PoP and others reported on a flier claiming the upcoming ANC 1A meeting was going to have an item on the agenda voting on the name change, this time to “Tivoli Square.” Again, commenters were outraged. Later that day, ANC 1A comissioner Cliff Valenti responded both in the comments and via email, basically calling shenanigans. Valenti called the flier “extremely misleading” and said that it was “being circulated to cause trouble in the neighborhood instead of having constructive dialogue.”
The actual banner design deflates some of the criticism: it says “Columbia Heights” in big letters with “Tivoli North” in small letters, basically showing Tivoli North to be a sub-neighborhood of ol’ CH. The Web site listed on the banner, Tivolinorth.com, redirects to mid14thstreet.com, which doesn’t seem to mention Tivoli North anywhere.
So, this may have been all blown out of proportion, but the echo chamber on the blogs and neighborhood listserves didn’t help — a little bit of rumor here and there caused a lot of consternation, instead of the interested groups just saying what they were doing and why. Transparency, people!
And it’s maybe not that bad of an idea, as that area’s name is sort of debatable: Is it Columbia Heights, Petworth, or some other name? Whatever it is, it’s definitely clear that people don’t like it when business associations invent new names for neighborhoods or portions thereof. Just see NoMa.
