“You can’t be bored on West 39th Street,’ says new CID director

Amanda McGee, the new director of the West 39th Street business district, loves the diversity of architecture, businesses and people in the area.

Even though people don’t always know it, the stretch of 39^th Street between State Line Road and Southwest Trafficway does have an official name – the West 39^th Street business district. And if Amanda McGee has her way, more and more people will know the name and have a greater sense of all that’s available in the area.

McGee is the new director of the West 39^th Street Community Improvement District (CID). Since taking over the job, she’s heard a lot of people grapple with the identity of the area. They know its somewhere, she says, because they feel a very strong sense of place. But ask them where it is, and they are somewhat vague. Restaurant row? That area over by State Line? The place with all the cute little shops?

Bright colors and creative accents that might look out of place in other business districts fit right in on West 39th Street.

McGee, a planner by education and experience, knows exactly what gives West 39^th its distinctiveness. Its an area that evolved as a streetcar neighborhood with narrow streets and pedestrian-oriented storefronts. Exactly the kind of place, in fact, urban planners want to create today.

Since the turn of the 20^th century, the area has been the shopping district that serves neighborhoods like Volker and West Plaza. Those neighborhoods were built as streetcar lines expanded out of downtown and offered residents a chance to buy a small home in the “suburbs.” The business district that followed was walkable; its storefronts made to nurture small businesses; and its streets narrow enough to give it a kind of cozy feeling.

The scale of West 39^th Street has always been attractive to businesses, and today it’s a mix of restaurants, shops and services that serve the community around it. McGee says she’s constantly amazed by the diverse, well-traveled people who have gravitated to the area. It draws artists of all types: food artists, designers, visual artists. And, she says, the area is constantly evolving with new businesses moving in.

McGee says the vision of the West 39^th Street district is, simply, “to embrace what is already established and expand on the area’s strong sense of place.” The area doesn’t need to change, she says. It just needs to be enhanced and to become even more vibrant.

She foresees working with business owners and neighbors to develop design guidelines that will help reach that vision, but maintain the district’s historic feel.

“We also need to clean up and improve underutilized space in the district,” she says.

“You could never be bored on West 39^th Street,” McGee says. There too much going on, and if she’s successful, there will be even more going on in the future.