Click on the link to read the * entire * Washington Post article on DC alleys.
The dark alley sat between two Bloomingdale rowhouses. Alex Caron-Schuler peered inside.
“I think it’s right here,” Caron-Schuler said softly. “Back here. They call it ‘the secret garden.’ ”
Caron-Schuler is 28. He is a government worker, a part-time bike messenger and an enthusiast for alleyways — behind-the-scenes labyrinths that are the veins of city neighborhoods.
Secluded and unpredictable, alleys were once feared as laid-brick hotbeds of bad behavior. But in a changing city, they are increasingly being re-imagined as repositories of communal whimsy.
Embracing the alleyway’s grit and intrigue is now viewed by the District as a possible path toward a more confident and vibrant urban life.
A new city survey of historic side streets advocates leveraging the alleys’ special history and cultural significance to create community play spaces.
Already, alleys are the hidden sites in scavenger hunts. They are the sets for strange experiments by the city’s young creatives. They are the playground for middle-aged men who play childhood games. And they are usually busiest in the summer.
And, yes, there are secret gardens. On this muggy August night, the growl of traffic disappeared as Caron-Schuler walked up the alley. Before him was tranquil Crispus Attucks Park, bordered by bushes with small, purple flowers. Green grass glowed under city lights.
“Wow,” he said as he walked past a group of women sitting on blankets, eating humus and talking about the changing fabric of the city.
“This place didn’t used to be very nice, but the neighbors came together and cleaned it up,” Megan Woods, 31, explained to new members of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. “This is where I met all my neighbors. One of them was named Shoes, and I have no idea if that’s his real name. I didn’t care to find out because I liked that his name was Shoes.”
Above a field of dried daisies, Caron-Schuler noticed another rare find flying above.
“Whoa,” he said. “Was that a bat?”
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