Thursday, September 17, 2009
Brought to You By the Letter "H"
I lack a photos, but DC Greenworks has installed some pretty cool looking planters along the strip that are brightly colored and shaped like the letter H. The downside, some of the plants apparently aren't faring too well. Let's hope H Street businesses clue in and give them a watering.
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29 comments:
Could you or if anybody have any
pictures please post.
The flower pots
somebody told us that the planters are only there temporarily and going to be auctioned - that they're there to highlight the lack of plant life in the spaces. Is that right? Seems hypocritical.
I don't know the background.
Hypocritical? Explain.
Anyway, part of the purpose of the planter is indeed to draw attention to the lack of attention that has historically been paid to the H Street streetscape. Thus, all the "H"s were placed in the "treeboxes" that are without trees.
The removal will occur when the District, as part of the Great Streets Initiative, hopefully installs actual trees in their place. Thus, having served their purpose, they will be auctioned off.
As someone who helped install these things (rough going, and all while braving the, let's say, "vibrant" nightlife of our corridor at 8pm-midnight), I think I may have to purchase one.
James, thanks for the info. I kind of wish that at least a few would stick around. They are very distinctive, and mark the Corridor well.
Well, word we got from the "DC Greenworks" reps (the group that put this together) is that they should be around for at least a year, since DC won't get to the sidewalk improvement portion of the Streetscape until 2010.
But, hey, the good news for people that like the H's is that the DC goverment is incompetent beyond words and I'm SURE that there will be TONS of delays, leaving the H's to decorate our streets for years to come!
I'm glad these things are temporary. probably an improvement to what was there but they are ugly, the shapes and the colors that is.
I'm all for brightening up H st, but those things are so ugly and garish. i hope they don't last.
ugly compared to the trash and general bareness of the planter boxes that were there prior? I think the H's are a great addition, more symbolic than anything else. the bright colors are purposefully eye catching so you'll notice the current lack of color and greenery on H St. they were also built as part of a summer program for neighborhood kids. DC Greenworks taught the kids basic carpentry skills, lessons on sustainability and urban planning, and gave them something to be responsible for and proud of. I think it was and is a great success and more than that, an important step in the right direction. to hope that this kind of work is temporary is an uneducated statement. I applaud DC Greenworks and hope they're here to stay.
U-G-L-Y They ain't got no alibi. They ugly!
I think H street would look much better with some trees or plants in the treeboxes, but these are very garish and don't do much to improve the area.
Also, did DDOT approve their placement in the treeboxes?
Anont--
Let's have a little reading comprehension session, shall we?
The very point of the boxes is to convince DC to put some trees in there. So to say "trees would look better" is pretty much conceding the point of the Hs being there in the first place.
So, that you think they are "ugly", actually doesn't matter. If you find them ugly, then put some pressure on DC to replace them with trees. If you think they are an aesthetic improvement to trash and unkempt grass (the camp I'm in), then while we wait for DC to put in trees, we have something better to look at.
Which is all to say, your argument is invalid.
@James, It's not an argument. It's a subjective opinion. Boo on you for saying someone's personal opinion is "wrong."
Ok sorry--what I meant to say is that your opinion is both (a) nonsensical, and (b) irrelevant.
Better?
so what we started with was treeboxes with nothing in them. now we have abnoxious flourescent planters with dying plants in them. That's like taking a dump on the floor when it needs swept
This is great.
A group of people try to do something nice for our neighborhood that will not only draw attention to our neighborhood's neglected status, but provided a benefit to underprivileged kids, took a lot of hard work and effort by numerous parties to produce, and were installed through a fun coordinated effort of neighborhood locals, and some armchair art critics jump all over it? And eloquently describe it as being akin to taking a "dump on the floor"?
Well done.
This is why you don't have nice things.
I like the boxes. I didn't say the plants were dead. I just mentioned that some weren't "faring too well," by which I meant they looked thirsty.
But aren't trees a part of the DDOT Streetscape plan? It would seem that if they were, they would be a final element... well somewhere after sidewalks but maybe before streetcars?
So maybe the city IS actually planning for trees but will wait until this construction is finished next year.
I actually kind of like the planters...although my H Street experience tells me that there needs to be a maintenance schedule so the plants don't die and the planters are kept clear of trash.
I think the planters are kewl.For the haters.......If you dont like the planters,why dont you put your money where your mouth is and start
a Street Beautification Project.I have about 10 neighborhood kids that would love the opportunity to earn some extra money and a skill.
Here is a pic I took soon after they appeared.
They make H Street look uglier!
Dear Project H Fans and Critics,
I hope you enjoyed the festival yesterday as much as we did! If you did not have a chance to stop by the DC Greenworks booth, as many people did, to check out our public space permit, letters of support from ANC 6A, the DDOT Public Space Committee, the District Department of the Environment, H Street Main Street and Mactec Construction, and support petitions signed by many businesses on the corridor, please feel free to come by our office at 1341 H Street NE or contact me directly to learn more about this provocative project.
As some informed and very helpful posters have noted, this project is art, and therefore not ever destined or even intended to be adored by all. Seeing the amount of comments generated just in this forum means the project is successful! When was the last time H Street environmental amenities, or lack thereof, launched an animated public discussion? If this is the discussion here, do you doubt that others who patronize the corridor may be seeing the tree boxes and lack of trees for the first time? Dream big everybody! What if people talked passionately about lack of trees every day?
The H St Main Street Clean and Safe Team will be keeping the planters free of debris and reporting vandalism. Business owners along the corridor have adopted these planters and committed to watering them. That said, if you see one that is thirsty, help it out. If you see one that is injured, note the identification number and phone number on the side and call us. We would really appreciate your help in keeping our community clean and vibrant!
Many thanks for taking interest in our community works!
Sincerely,
Sara Loveland
Interim Executive Director
DC Greenworks
202.330.8745
sara@dcgreenworks.org
The boxes look liked abandoned furniture put out on the street and the wild unruly grasses they have put in them just makes them look worse. Who will be watering these grasses? Are they resistant to the cold? I would hate for the boxes to end up having dead grass in them or just dirt. I also wish the soil underneath the boxes were leveled before anything was placed on them. The unevenness makes the boxes jut out at all different angles. These boxes make the street worse than before.
Art? Some consider tagging to be art.
The new planter boxes lack continuity and make no statement about the lack of anything on H Street other than good design.
They're a mess.
Sara,
thanks for chiming in on this issue. I think the H's look great. There are some plants that could use watering, but most look great. I've brought up the issue of neglected/abused trees on H Street before. Eventually they will be all be replaced as part of the Streetscape project, but that doesn't detract from the overall project.
By hypocritical, i meant why get rid of them after putting so much effort to have them installed? I thought they looked great.
Maybe trees will be better and add some shade and oxygen, but I thought it was a great project. No hating implied!
Sara,
I read the Frozen Tropics blog on a regular basis and could not disagree more with some of the people who posted. So, instead of an anonymous rant, I’d like to say I think that the project is an improvement. As a resident, I am thrilled that organizations like yours are teaching kids something and giving them something to be proud of. At the H Street Festival on Saturday, my friends and I commented over and over about how much we liked them. The Festival was diverse, and edgy, exciting, and fun. Your organization’s work had a part in making OUR H Street NE the coolest place in DC that day!
THANK YOU!
Andy Sikkenga
I LOVE the H planter boxes. It's fall now, so I'd love to see some nice mums planted in these boxes which would add some color and life to the street.
The grasses look a bit too much like weeds for my taste. Something with flowers would be really nice this time of year, and would last for several months.
Does H Street Main Street have any money for flowers? Maybe the sidewalk cleaning people could also maintain the flower boxes since they do seem to have a lot of free time.
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