It has become commonplace to look at the before and after of gentrification, without any regard to what takes place during the actual process. Those who fail to analyze what happens during the gentrification process do not get a complete history of the communities that have been so radically transformed.
To fully understand the rich history and culture of Thomas Circle, it is critical to study the Marion Barry drug bust at the Vista International Hotel, now known as the Westin Washington D. City Center, which occurred right in the middle of the gentrification process. Unbeknownst to Barry, Moore was an informant to the FBI, which had been working to take down the mayor for several weeks. The mayor had been under investigation for crack use for over a year, however, the arrest at the Vista International Hotel was part of a several week long undercover investigation.
As part of the undercover investigation, the entire arrest was filmed and publicized. Barry was subsequently put on trial, found guilty, and served six months in a federal prison. During that time Thomas Circle was starting to become gentrified, which is evident by the fact that important politicians, such as Barry, spent time there, while at the same time it was still a center for drugs and prostitution. What Milloy points out here is that well to do businessman come to Thomas Circle to pick up prostitutes and drugs.
What is interesting here is that a when the well to do businessman finished with their drugs and prostitutes for the night they went back home to the suburbs, however four years later when the Barry incident occurred these same businessman were starting to spend more and more time in the area.
Now instead of the businessmen coming at night for the drugs and prostitutes, they come to Thomas Circle during the day to work and go home at night. This shift demonstrates how as the neighborhood becomes increasingly gentrified it is viewed differently because businessmen have stopped viewing Thomas circle as a place to pick up drugs, but rather as the place where they work.
