Willpower Health & Fitness Studio Membership

Here is a little info:

Membership Specials: 12/24/05 - 1/15/06
$50 Enrollment & $50 Monthlyuntil 12/31/05
$100 Enrollment & $50 Monthlyuntil 1/14/06
$199 Enrollment & $65 Monthly after 1/15/06
Pay No Monthly Fees Until February When You Join Now!
202-397-FITT www.wpfitness.com

Cameron's Seafood Coming to Hechinger Mall?

(Photo from the wholesale food district)

I received an email tip that Cameron's Seafood (a restaurant & fish market) is planning to open up shop in Hechinger Mall. Apparently, Cameron's is mailing out coupon's stating that its Hechinger Mall location is opening in February. Here's what Washingtonian Online had to say about Cameron's Bethesda location.

ANC5B Info

I've seen this before, but it's actually interesting each time I look at it, so I'm posting it again. This census type info on ANC 5B (covering Trinidad & other areas). Some of the info is old since it's census stuff, but it is still worth a look.

NPR on Plexiglass Store Barriers

You might want to listen to this NPR story on the plexiglass barriers in some DC stores.

ANC SMD Map

I've been looking for one of these for a while. I'm going to add it to the map links on the right, but just so people notice it, here is a map of the Single Member Districts within each of the ANCs.

Night Dreams

1300 block of H Street.

Metro, the X2 & the H Street Corridor

This is NOT my photo. It belongs to A Nameless Yeast & falls under a Creative Commons license.

Check out what the Post has to say about Metro's antiquated bus system. Transportation is one of the most discussed issues on the listservs covering the H Street Corridor & it ALWAYS seems to pop up at community meetings. The "arts & entertainment" section of H Street is not exactly near a metro station (about a mile from NY Ave, or Union Station). Basically, your options are walk, drive, bike, or take the bus. The basic disagreement usually comes down to parking & how much of a priority it needs to be (i.e. is is more parking necessary for the success of H Street, or can public transportation effectively move patrons to and from key areas?).

The X2 is, of course, the primary bus serving H Street, but the 90 & 96 also have a major impact when they cross H at 8th Street NE. I ride the X2 everyday, so I know that the bus is prone to severe overcrowding, a complete disregard for the posted schedule & nasty leaks when it rains. I also remember a few years back when the X2 continued to run (about one an hour) when everything else in the city had shut down (including metrorail) because of a snowstorm. Some people don't like to ride buses because public transportation can sometimes be unpredictable (but so can traffic), or because they feel buses are unsafe/dirty. I think that the ultimate plan for the X2 is to "rebrand" the bus (think Circulator) to attract new riders who wouldn't normally ride a bus. Of course, the real ultimate plan is to put in lightrail on H Street, but that is for the future. I will be thrilled to see new buses added to the route & a reduction in the "bunching" of buses that often occurs. Getting people to ride buses who don't already ride buses can be hard. You not only have to convince them that buses are dependable, but you might also need to overcome the "bus snobbery" factor. I once suffered from this dreaded disease, but I'm a convert. If it's a nice day, I might actually take the 90 to Adams Morgan instead of using the redline (I like to watch the city passing by). But, just because I'm ok with thdoesn't doesn't mean your average shopper/person looking for a night out will be willing to hop on board for the trip to H Street. I worry less about people getting home because I think we'll be seeing more cabs soon (which I am very excited about). I don't know what the solution is to the parking issue (the ANC has lifted rush hour parking restrictions on H & is looking at other moves). We are definitely going to have more cars as businesses begin to populate the vacant storefronts.

Take a peak at the graphic showing the best & worst lines in the city in terms of economic efficiency. What is the most efficient bus line in the city (requiring only a $0.38 per passenger subsidy)? The X2 is apparently the winner. Also of interest is the Post's look at who is riding the metro bus versus who is riding metrorail (broken down by household income, race, gender, & vehicles per household). These figures cover the entire district, so they aren't all that helpful in looking at who rides the X2 (or who rides it for the particular stretches most of interest to us). And you have to remember what the demographic trends are in the parts of the city that are well served by metrorail, versus trends in areas underserved by metrorail (so geography plays a big role in these numbers).

**************************
UPDATE
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Check out Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space on the same article.

More on East Coast Motors Shooting

Here's more information from the Post on the shooting at East Coast Auto (Bladensburg Road). The owner was shot & killed Dec. 24th in an apparent robbery attempt.

District Chronicles: Phish Tea

I came across this recent piece from the District Chronicles (Howard U) on Phish Tea. The article is not a review, but more just a little information on the owner.

Shooting @ East Coat Auto

In less than festive news, a used car dealer was shot and killed around 5:20pm last night. The car lot, East Coast Auto, is located in the 1100 block of Bladensburg (where Levis & L meet Bladensburg). The Post article quotes an area resident whose son the owner, Francis Kamara, tutored, as saying that Mr. Kamara made an effort to employee neighborhood youth. The apparent motive in the killing was robbery.

Alley in 1300 Block of H Street

Mason's

1000 block of H Street.

Atlas Update

Follow this link & click on "news" to get the latest on the progress at H Street's Atlas Performing Arts Center. According to their website, renovation should be completed mid-way through this summer, & everything should be ready for the Fall season. The Atlas has raised 84% of its goal for the Capital Campaign (over $16.7 million!), but they still need help to make it through the home stretch (something you might want to consider when making your end of year donations).

Abdo Photo by PBWolf

This photo of Senate Square was taken by neighborhood resident PBWolf. The view is from the west. I wasn't having much luck with resizing (I was getting lots of distortion). You can click on the photo to go to Flickr & see a larger image.

Atlas Gifts

Still shopping for that last minute gift? Want to show your H Street pride, but didn't get a t-shirt at the festival? There's still time to order an Atlas Performing Arts Center gift. It won't arrive in time for the holidays, but you could always print out a picture of the item. Check out the selection here.

Recycle for the Holidays

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MARY MYERS, DPW
December 9, 2005
202/671-2375



District Reminds Residents to Recycle the Holiday Cheer This Season

Gift wrapping paper, holiday catalogues, gift boxes, and greeting cards are
all recyclable.

(Washington, DC) The holiday season offers many opportunities to recycle,
above and beyond the usual paper, plastic, glass and metal, according to the
District Department of Public Works, Office of Recycling. Rather than
trashing those piles of gift boxes, tags, wrapping paper, and the rolls the
paper comes on, put those items directly into your recycling cart or bin.
Don't forget all those gift catalogues, holiday cards and shopping lists.
When you're finished with them, they're recyclable, too. For more recycling
information, call 202/645-8245.

A Look at Abdo's Senate Square

I recently got an email alerting me to the fact that Abdo has added additional info to its Senate Square site. Click around for maps a peak inside the units.
For previous posts referencing Senate Square & the Children's Museum check out these old posts:
1 2 3

Family Liquor Temporarily Shut Down?

I heard from a source in the 8th & H Street area that Family Liquor has had its license suspended by DCRA for selling liquor to a minor. The store apparently shuttered its doors some time last week & there is no word yet on when it might re-open. Family Liquor (8th & H) has recently annoyed (and sometimes enraged) neighbors by refusing to clean up its act. Family Liquor, unlike some stores that have entered into voluntary agreements wit the ANC that bar them from selling singles, does sell singles & is often blamed for not only a significant portion of the public drunkeness on H Street, but also for much of the public urination that occurs on, or around H Street.

900 Block of 11th Street

What H Street Really Needs

Ok, there has been a ton of great discussion on the H Street listserv about what exactly H Street needs (is it more parking?) & how to best get to where we want to be. So, I've decided to write about something that has been on my mind for a while. H Street needs at least one (to start) good, yet inexpensive restaurant. Yes, this is obvious, but I'm going to offer an example of what I consider to be a pretty ideal restaurant (for our purposes) & then work from there. I'm going to use Busboys & Poets. Let's start by scrapping the bookstore portion of the place (I don't think that would work on H Street (yet). What's great about B & P is that it offers really good (I'm not claiming Inn at Little Washington's, just yummy) food at great prices (see the link for their menu online). See how they have a nice menu, but most of the stuff is pretty simple (salads, burgers & pizza), but with nice ingredients? Did you notice the menu only features three food items costing over $10.00? Impressive. I wouldn't try to plop this exact place onto H Street, but I think that B &P shows that it is entirely possible to offer good food at good prices & still have a classy atmosphere (yes, a place on H Street is not going to have the level of just-walking-by-&-thought-I'd-stop-in traffic that you get on 14th Street, but still.

H Street Pool Hall Rumor?

Someone recently mentioned that they had heard about a guy looking at the space above Cluck-U-Chicken for a pool hall. This was the first I'd heard about the matter. Has anyone else heard this? Is there even a door on the front of that building leading up to that space (because I don't see one)?

A Window on Stella Bleu

This is the window display from Stella Bleu (1200 block of H Street). Stella Bleu has a boutique downstairs & salon upstairs.

WBJ Re: Condos on H Street

The Washington Business Journal had this article on condo development in & around H Street's western end. The piece deals with not only the new plans for Capitol Place, but also Senate Square & Richard Cohen's project at 2nd & K.

New Years Benefit on H Street

Still shopping around for the hottest New Year's Eve party in DC? Want to have fun ringing in the new year, support a local establishment AND contributing to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at the same time? Then come on down to H Street Martini Lounge on December 31st! The party starts at 8 pm and goes until 3 am, tickets are $85.00 each and include: unlimited beverages (red & white wine, light & dark beer, vodka, gin, bourbon, and all non-alcoholic drinks), heavy hors d'oeuvers all night, a champagne toast at midnight, live DJ, door cover, and of course, your donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. There will be ample free parking in the Auto Zone parking lot directly across the street after 9 P.M. however, we don't want anyone drinking and driving so a complimentary shuttle will be provided and run continuously from the Lounge to Union Station from midnight until 3:00 am. For tickets contact - Mary Beth Goodman at mbgoodmanemail@yahoo.com or Jen Leaman at jkleaman@fastmail.fm

Phish Tea Review in City Paper

This week's City Paper had a very good review of H Street's Phish Tea. The writer praised not only the food, but also the service. This is particularly notable because most of the grumbling I've heard about Phish Tea has involved service/organizational issues. I wanted to link to the review, but it appears not to be online yet (I guess the City Paper's restaurant database has a different online schedule that the rest of the paper). At any rate, here are a few earlier (not as favorable) City Paper reviews of Phish Tea. This was not the first positive review that Phish Tea has gotten, & I hope that it won't be the last. But before Phish Tea truly makes it to the top of local residents' lists, the service/organizational issues really do need to go.

PSA 504 Meeting Tomorrow

What: A Community meeting for the police service area that covers Trinidad.
When: 10-12pm Saturday Dec 17th
Where: Developing Families Center, 801 17th Street, NE

R&B Coffee to Add Evening Hours & Space

Work on R&B Coffee's 2nd floor is nearly complete. Over the space of several months the upstairs has been totally transformed & very soon it will be open as additional seating space for R&B customers. The owner, Alphonso Morgan, envisions using the upstairs to host poetry & music events. He also has future plans to install a small kitchen upstairs so that R&B can serve up eggs & waffles for breakfast. For now you'll have more space to sip your coffee, or enjoy your panini. I'm not sure what the new hours will be, but I promise to post the info once I know. It also isn't clear exactly when the upstairs will be open, but it sounds like it will probably happen in early January.

Will Power Health & Fitness Studio

Here's a shot of the new gym opening at 1005 H Street.

Sing-A-Long @ the Atlas Performing Arts Center

Please join The Atlas Performing Arts Center (1300 block of H Street) and the Capital City Symphony on December 22, 2005 7:30pm for a Holiday Sing-a-long at the Atlas. Join members of the community and the Capital City Symphony for a fun holiday community event!

Tickets are free and reservations are encouraged!
Call 202 399 7993

Snowy Alley

WP on Tenants Purchasing Building

Today's Post has a really interesting article on a group of tenents from 14th & W NW who are purchasing their building. It has an accompanying map showing other such efforts across DC. None of the properties on the map are particularly close to this neighborhood, but I think the topic is one of interest to the District as a whole.

Will Power Health & Fitness

That is apparently the name of the gym opening up in 1005 H Street.

Here's a shot of the building prior to renovation. Here's the new website.

Snowy Morning on Morse

Chase Auto Repair

On a field trip to Ivy City. What a cool old building. Parts of Ivy City are almost completely deserted on weekends.

Keep Out

You probably won't recognize this building if you stroll down the 1100 block of Florida Ave. This photo is from the archives & the featured building now boasts a few coats of canary yellow paint.

Info on Alley Body Last Summer

As part of its series on unsolved crimes today's Post takes a look at the killing of Darren Carter (better known as the flaming body discovered in the alley behind Danny's & H Street Cafe -1200 block of H Street). The murder drew citywide attention & had local neighbors up in arms. I believe the alley , which had been a trouble spot in the past, is slated to receive cameras as part of a special program.

Smoking Ban Update

Here's another article from the Post on the looming smoking ban. The piece focuses on a proposed waiver within the proposed legislation.

Louis Dreyfus Group Near Union Station

Here's a map of the area in question.I got this from the ANC6A listserv. The Capitol Hill Restoration Society December newsletter has an article on a project that the Louis Dreyfus Group is planning. Details were sketchy. The article does say that the planned project would be a mixed use (residential/retail) development & that they are looking to do a PUD. The Restoration Society expressed concern about the height of the project (90 feet on 3rd Street & 120 feet on 2nd Street).

The newsletter describes the proposed space roughly as:

"The property covered is an L-shaped piece of property fronting on H Street NE, on the north, G Street to a mid-block alley on the south, Second Street on the west, the mid-block alley on the east, and around 40 feet of frontage on Third Street immediately south of H Street."




Here's a note from the map's creator:
In this map (adapted from an H Street Main Street Map (http://restore.dc.gov/restoredc/lib/restoredc/maps/H_St_MS_map.pdf)) I have sketched out in red the area that I THINK the article describes. NOTE: The red lines were added by me and are only a guess. If this is right, what about the 8 houses on G St and the buildings behind? Eminent domain?

Kenny G



h street corridor
h street dc

Council Passes Smoking Ban

I'm posting this because it is of interest since H Street has some restaurants & taverns in the pipeline. The Council, in a 12-1 vote (Schwartz), passed the smoking ban. Mayor William has yet to sign the measure.

Bright Bike

At Union Station.

Still More on the Uline Arena

Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space has some interesting info on the history of the Uline Arena.

Snowy Weather?

A shot from one of last years storms. Corner of 12th & I looking southwest.

More on Sursum Corda Deal

Here's another Post piece on the (not quite in the immediate area, but still not too distant & very interesting) housing complex Sursum Corda (located a bit west of the New York Ave metro station). Under the deal that residents have struck with developers, residents would get $80k & would have the opportunity to remain in the complex after it is redeveloped. Many questions still remain. Is the land undervalued? Will the developers keep their promise? Even if the developers keep their promise, will it work? What can residents who choose to take the money and go really do with $80k?

Martini Lounge Neighbors' Night Dec. 6th

From the listserv:
Greetings once again,We would like to remind you about Neighbors' Night Out this Tuesday, December 6th. Again, we want our neighbors to come out before this year's end. H Street Martini Lounge will be celebrating with our neighbors all evening long. However, for those who can make it out before 7pm, after you celebrate the holiday season with us, you can walk one block down to the Atlas Performing Arts Center who will have a free concert open to the public at 7:30pm. The Levine School of Music will perform "Music for Percussion Duo," a father-daughter recital featuring Leon Khoja-Eynatyan and Tatevik Khoja-Eynatyan. Hope to see you on the 6th.Cheers!
martini
H Street Martini lounge

1100 Block of Florida Ave NE

ANC Commissioner Holden Resigns

ANC Commissioner Robyn Holden (6A01), who replaced Wanda Stevens Harris & defeated challenger Raphael Velento Marshall (who is now associated with H Street Main Street), has resigned. Here is the text of her letter as posted to a neighborhood by Commissioner Joseph Fengler:

Commissioner Joseph Fengler:

I am writing to inform you that I will be resigning my responsibilities as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, due to increased family obligations effective December 1, 2005.

I realize that selecting and introducing a new ANC may be difficult, and I will do whatever I can to make this transition a smooth one. I have streamlined the list of active SMD 6A01 residents that attend the monthly meetings. I can provide that list when the new commissioner takes office.

I am pleased to have had the opportunity to work with ANC 6A. I wish you continued success and growth.

Sincerely

Robyn Holden

cc:

Board of Elections

Mayor Williams

Councilmember Ambrose

Chair ANC 6A

Jerome Duval

Commissioner Holden has, as is true of some other neighborhood commissioners, occasionally been the subject of local controversy. Commissioner Holden particularly sparked controversy recently when she publicized her local single member district meeting with a flyer that included the question "Do you want 8 bars to open at the same time on H Street?"
Robyn Holden, who also hosts a radio show on WPFW and previously broadccasted on WHUR, was popular with some residents, but unpopular with others. The "8 bars" remark above refers to the taverns & restaurants that Joe Englert & his business associates wish to open on H Street. The first of these places, The Argonaut, opened a few months back. The next place in line appears to be The Pug. Commissioner Holden held regular meeting on a variety of topics, Englert's establishments were simply (perhaps) the highest profile of these topics.

Post Article on Housing Unaffordability

Today's Post features another article on the large group of people who can't afford the high priced homes in the area, but also don't qualify for low income housing assistance.

New Forum to Address H Street Corridor Sanitation

I received an email telling me about this new discussion board that residents & business owners can use to express their feelings about sanitation issues on H Street & on the surrounding streets. Discussion is not strictly limited to talking about actual trash, but can also address related issues like graffiti, or why a particular corner is a persistent problem spot. What makes this discussion board unique is that not only can you share your opinions with your neighbors, but Merritt Drucker (the District's Clean City Coordinator) had made an explicit promise to regularly monitor the board. The board is the brainchild of Merritt Drucker & area resident Melissa Marcello (whose firm Pursuant Research is providing this service to the community free of charge).