to me, this is fun

where in dc?

Why the Post is whack for local stuff

here is an article about the beltway, in the Distict Extra!

1. the beltway isn't in the district.
2. most residents of the district don't really think much on the beltway.


personally, i find the beltway an example of the DIFFERENCE between living in the city and living in the suburbs. Here in DC, most areas are full of sidewalks, and very accesible to public transportation. The suburbs tend to be mainly oriented by personal car ownership. The Beltway is an icon of this. It doesnt tie us together, it further separates us.

another reason why the post is whack for local stuff:

of the three articels listed as main articles for the district extra, one is about the district.


also, on the metro sections DC page, there is a large emphasis on crime, and looking up crime. This is not even present on the main pages for the surrounding counties Metro page.

that sucks.

destruction near the dc farmers market

i snapped this while driving toward the wholesale district.

theres some talk of it here

Eckington's Urban Loft Village????

what was meant to be a retail strip renovation is now going to be swanky lofts in the eastern edge of eckington

here's the website

homeless shelter on 14th.

here is a washington post article about the homeless shelter at 14th and r.




when i had first heard of the possibility of this sale, i had assumed the shelter was being pushed out .. so to speak.. but it seems that it was already considered inefficient.



I wonder if the Emery Shelter could cash in on its land and move, so that it is not directly connected to a grade school. Here is an InShaw post on that

photos of north cap

here are some pictures of north capitol.








I noticed guys fixing up the place on the sw corner of North Cap and R street. There was work going happening in the BIG lot at new york and north cap, but i cant imagine we can expect anything yet.








Click em to enlarge

i saw a comment about the new york avenue metro

i saw this blog posting linked from dc blogs and thought i'd pass it on.

the writer works near the new york avenue metro and wrote about walking from the metro to work.

i was a teenage ax murderer.

actually it was today... years and years from my teens. and i didnt use and ax, but a cordless recipro saw. still i murdered a tree in my front yard today.

i have chopped down a few trees in my life. mostly ones that were fairly dead and would fall soon. this one was fairly healthy, but it stood in the way of my vision for my front yard. i morbidly joked with my wife that i felt like i was clubbing a seal to death. but my bloodlust took hold of me as i imagined a nice seating area and some other plants that i dont know the name of.

So good bye tree. while i feel guilty for destroying your beautiful greeness, you won't be missed. not at all. already my living room is brighter!

north capitol dividers

Looks like they are finishing up the new fence along north capitol. the city has installed very metal gates dividing the lanes that go under new york and rhode island avenue.

i'll go take a picture this afteroon.

harris teeter

here is the hillrag article about harris teeter on h street.



sounds like a far far better design than the brentwood giant.

bloomingdale resident Marshall Keys

website
Bloomingdale resident Marshall Keys has a weekly gig on Wednesdays at the P Stret Bistro. Its across from whole foods on P NW.



Check him out.

a homeless shelter near a school???? say it aint so

here is an article in the post concerning the building of a homeless shelter near a school.



In the District we dont mind having convicted sex offenders and drug users in a homeless shetler that is attached to a school, but in montgomery county?

also
But some area residents say the building is too close to Silver Spring International Middle School and Sligo Creek Elementary School. And they question the wisdom of placing recovering substance abusers in a building next to a grocery store that sells beer and wine.

here in dc, we wouldn't even think about putting a homeless shelter too far from liquor stores. what would they do for fun?



If fact we prefer to place recovering drug abusers right into the heart of neighborhoods with open air drug markets. we like to put poor kids into areas where they get to mix with convicted sex offenders and drug users. we like to build places for the homeless in neighborhoods with no jobs and easy access to drugs, prostitution and alcohol.


what we like to do is pray on the good hearts of the poor and build social services in their neighborhoods so their kids are surrounded by reality.

my yard

my yard was decent, passable, mildly acceptable when i first moved into my house.
Then WASA fixed the lead pipes. The crew dug up my yard and flip the topsoil to the botton of the 5 foot deep hole and the clay/layers of brick/ broken glass became the new top. then they spread hay.

i had gigantic, almost radioactive weeds growing out of this potent hay. after that my attempt to tame my yard never evoloved passed the "just dug up look". sometimes it dint look even that good.

last weekend my wife and i began to remedy that. we dug up some more bricks and clay and broken glass and replaced it with some great rich dung/soil/composty stuff.

We began planting and did some more planting today. now, finally we have a mildly acceptable front yard again.

NOMA....

Update on NoMa Plan– Discussions are heating-up regarding the redevelopment plans being drafted by the District’s Office of Planning for the North Capitol St. commercial corridor extending north from Union Station to beyond Florida Avenue. Bobbie Krengel, Citizen Member of the ANC’s Zoning Committee continues to draw attention to the enormity of the plan and its potential impact on adjacent low rise and row house residential neighborhoods. Receiving the strongest and most focused attention by the ANC to date, approval was received to support a resolution drafted by Krengel and members of the zoning committee which urges the Office of Zoning to incorporate four key considerations before finalizing their initial Draft Plan which is due to be released in April. If adopted, the plan would include a step down model based on a ratio of the height and density of new construction in proximity to existing buildings and homes; the elimination of all C-M zoning which allows commercial and manufacturing uses to encourage instead new residential construction; delayed approval of all Planned Unit Development (PUD) projects to ensure that these projects are evaluated for consistency with the NoMa plan; and issuing a moratorium on all demolition within NoMa boundaries to ensure that developers do not destroy existing row homes to facilitate larger development prior to the release of the final NoMa Plan. Two recent examples of demolition included the 14 row houses built prior to 1908 on 2nd St., NE to make way for the new Dreyfuss Project, and the several row homes recently demolished to accommodate Ronald Cohen’s mega development planned for 3rd. St., NE. The ANC is suggesting that the Office of Planning consider implementing this resolution as a zoning overlay similar to the existing plan that regulates redevelopment of the H Street NE commercial corridor. The third and final community meeting before the release of OP’s initial NoMa Draft Plan will take place on March 16.

here is the link

Parker flats

here are some comments about the price reductions at the parker flats

another article about eckington

a post article about the conflict in eckington. more here

I did read that St Martins conceded to a mixed income approach, but that info is shakey, as they keep refering to a mixed income "neighborhood" rather than a mixed income "development". more here


that and this article about the "racial tension" on h street make me think the Washington Post is going the way of the Washington City Paper. And for the Record, Clifton Humphries, owner of the H Street Martini Lounge was serioulsy misquoted and misrepresented in the article. It seems to be the opinion of a few H street area denizens that Paul Schwartzman, that "journalist" approached the article with the agenda of division.
read the comments here

Can we get local news without sensationalism anywhere?

groundbreaking rehearsal

apparently the large construction equipment i saw playing around in the lot next to the giant in brentwood last week were preparing for a groundbreaking today.

54,000 square feet of retail is to be added between giant and the rhode island avenue metro.

The new retailers include: AJ Wright, Downtown Locker Room, Rainbow Women Clothing, Footlocker, Anna's Linens, America's Best Optical, Radio Shack and Citi-bank.


There will be a press conference/photo op with Vincent Orange, but you could have guessed that.


While i'm not sure if i will be hitting up on any of these stores i do hope the citi-bank diffuses the ridiculous overcrowding at bank of america. while im thinking about, why did they not put a drive through teller window instead of a drive up atm???? you almost always have to get out of your car and walk to the OTHER ATM to get deposit envelopes anyway.


one more thing, why no bookstore up at the brentwood shopping center. or a gym? or a office supply store, or........

bates, shaw, truxton....... a hood with many names

the bates area civic association has an updated website.


it looks like they are the same area encompassed by Truxton Cirlce.
and of course, Shaw East.

a rumor...14 blocks away

check this out

Trader Joe's at 14th & V?

smoking ban

the smoking ban is set to start tomorrow. here's a wash post story.

the full ban starts jan 1st of next year.

Vacant property on your block?

here is a pdf to let DC know about it.

Carter Woodson

I just learned
Carter Woodson graduated from my alma mater back in 1903.

Since my college is and was very small that is quite fascinating to me. Especially since for years i have seen his portrait on the boarded up building at 9th and rhode island.

want to change DC?

Do you live or work in the District of Columbia? If so, tell us about the District's biggest problems and how you think they should be solved. To get you thinking, we're putting real prize money on the table. The best idea will receive $5,000, the second-best $2,500, and the third-best $1,000--all sponsored by the June and John Hechinger Family Trusts and donors to the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. Who will pick the best ideas? You will! You will have the chance to vote online to select the three best ideas from 20 finalists. And the three winners will get to present their ideas to the Mayoral candidates at a forum in June. We will compile your great ideas and present them to the public, government officials, and candidates running in the District's 2006 elections. This is your chance to have city leaders listen to how you think the city should be run, and to infuse the elections this year with the issues that matter most to you. Make sure your voice is heard!

go HERE!