Some thoughts on the Walter Reed Re-use Plan meeting

I left the first two Walter Reed Re-use meetings feeling excited about our neighborhood’s future. I left last night’s meeting feeling frustrated.

This was because, at least in part, there was a generational lopsidedness at my table. (Table assignments are given randomly, so one table isn’t dominated by a single group of friends/neighbors/people with common interests. This is done to facilitate unbiased discussion between citizens. A volunteer from America Speaks is present at each table to serve as moderator, so the “unbiased discussions” don’t turn ugly.) There were only two other “young” people at my table. Which is, I suppose, somewhat proportionally representative of Ward 4 in general (our ward “tends to skew old”, as ANC 4B commissioner Sara Green stated so eloquently last night). I haven’t experienced that kind of tension between the “young” and “not-so-young” residents of our area since I’ve lived here. The not-so-young at my table were concerned mostly with using the land for senior housing, along with amenities that would be useful to seniors. This is of course an important matter, particularly for an area of the city that “skews old”. But they mostly scoffed at the concerns of the more youthful people at out table (they seemed to be against any retail development or improved transportation infrastructure).

Another source of my frustration was a general feeling of dread that the outcome of the project won’t be anything close to what I’ve envisioned. The developers, in my opinion, have come up with an attractive, mixed-use plan for the land, and I’m hopeful that it moves forward smoothly. I want it to be done well, and have tremendous positive impact on our area!

Ward 4 Chat-n-Chew, Brightwood Bistro Thursday 8/26

From an e-mail:

Please join us for the District of Columbia Neighborhood College
Ward 4 Chat-N-Chew
“Economic Development and its Impact on the District of Columbia”
Thursday, August 26, 2010
6:30 pm –8:30 pm
Brightwood Bistro
5832 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20011

Please RSVP by August 24th to Karima Morris Woods at karima at gwu dot edu or 202-994-5384

The DC Neighborhood College (DCNC) is a public/private partnership managed by The George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. We provide civic development training for District neighborhood leaders to become more effective change agents and advocates through a twelve-month program of learning and networking. The Ward 4 Chat-N-Chew will focus on the impact of economic development within the District of Columbia. There will be an overall discussion and a series of table conversations on topics such as: How do you define economic development? What are the positive aspects that come along with economic development? What are the challenges that come along with economic development? What are the next steps for me and my organization? The purpose of the DCNC Chat-N-Chew sessions are to engage the community about their hopes and concerns; help local communities to move forward; and shape the future direction of each community.

Decisive, yet ambivalent!

Yard sign(s) in Takoma DC.

Third Walter Reed re-use project meeting is Thursday night

The third Walter Reed Re-Use Plan Public Workshop will take place this Thursday at 7pm. The focus for this meeting is the presentation of the "preferred scenarios" that have been developed from the data gathered from residents and other stakeholders at the two previous meetings. Please note that the location is different this time (it's at the St. George Ballroom, 4335 16th St. NW, behind St. George Antiochian Church at 16th & Webster).

MPD makes multiple prostitution arrests in Petworth

From the MPD-4 listserv:

On Saturday evening, the Fourth District Vice Unit, along with members from the Crime Suppression Team conducted an operation in the area of Georgia Ave and Taylor St NW. This area has been noted as an area for possible street prostitution in the past. First, we deployed several undercover officers (male).

Their job was to identify and possibly target any female prostitutes that might be operating in the area. In a very short time, we were able to identify and arrest several female suspects in the area and charge them with prostitution-related offenses. Then, we deployed several undercover officers (female), posing as potential prostitutes in order to target the "Johns". Over the next several hours, we were able to arrest several subjects and charge them with prostitution-related offenses as well.

This two-fold approach was an attempt by the vice unit to address both sides of the problem and, as a result, was very effective. The undercover officers did an outstanding job and the rest of my team acted in a highly professional and efficient manner. The Fourth District Vice unit plans to conduct these operations targeting street prostitution on a regular basis within different areas of the Fourth District. If anyone observes any activities or areas that they feel we should focus on, please let me know so that we can help address those issues. Thank you for your ongoing support.

John R. Haines
Lieutenant
Fourth District Vice Unit

Let's put things into perspective

DCist reports that the District Department of Public Works has collected over 50 tons of debris from last week's storms, with Ward 4 being the hardest-hit area of the city. To give you an idea of how much wreckage that actually is: fifty tons is about half the mass of a blue whale, and also the equivalent of twenty-six average-sized automobiles! And DPW is continuing to pick up even more debris.

Did you know that Brightwood has weekly safety walks?

We meet on a different evening at a different time each week (which can make it a little tough to plan, but it's necessary in order to catch perpetrators off-guard) and we're accompanied by at least one (often more) MPD 4 police officer(s). It's a great way to meet your neighbors, meet your beat cops, share safety concerns with each other, and show perps (and potential perps, and perps-in-training [PITs?!]) that we're watching them and won't put up with their crap.

Since the meeting dates and times are kept under wraps I've been reluctant to post them here, but we definitely want as many neighbors as possible to take part in these walks. E-mail me at thebrightwoodian at gmail dot com and I'll be sure to keep you updated on the when/where each week.

Capital Bikeshare ignores Upper Georgia Avenue; join anyway

The website for the new Capital Bikeshare program has launched, and the program itself will launch in September. They're running a special introductory offer on annual memberships ($50 instead of the usual $75), so go join.

Examine their map of proposed bike station locations and you'll notice that Ward 4 is horribly underserved. Yes, I complained about this to DDOT, telling them that I hope more Ward 4 stations will be added should the program prove to be phenomenally successful.

Usually, when a non-Brightwoodian asks me what it's like to live in a neighborhood that's not served by Metro, I reply that it doesn't affect me much since I personally am pretty stalwart about using my bike as my main form of transportation. Wouldn't the presence of Capital Bikeshare stations in our neighborhood help others to get around our admittedly transportationally-challenged neck of the woods more easily? I hope DDOT recognizes this in the future.

Two new residential developments for Takoma DC

Takoma's Long Awaited Residences May Be Underway Soon, announces DC Mud. As soon as the Chevron company cleans up the contaminated soil on the land, which was home to one of their filling stations years ago. From what I understand, part of the reason for the project's long delay is that Chevron's been dragging its feet. Here's hoping it comes together soon, as a nice building on that eyesore-of-an-empty-lot will make the walk from the Takoma Metro to Old Takoma much, much more pleasant.

I also received information on the Metro-Village co-housing development, to be built on Spring Place NW, behind The Gables. "The 40-45 privately owned homes will be comprised of studios, lofts, 1 BR and 2 BR homes," stated an email sent by Ann Zabaldo, who has worked on other co-housing projects in the area (including Silver Spring's Eastern Village). More information at metro-village.org.

Density around the Takoma Metro: a very good thing.

Georgia Ave Community Review this Saturday

Encouraging everyone to attend the Community Review of Georgia Avenue this Saturday, August 7 from 9 to 4 (lunch will be provided) at Howard's School of Architecture and Planning (6th & Howard Pl. NW).

More info from georgiaave.org:

The Community Review is an event sponsored by the Georgia Avenue Community Development Task Force and Howard University designed to gather community input into the future of the Georgia Avenue Corridor.

....

Historically, communities experiencing development and urban renewal have often been left out of the actual process of envisioning, designing, and contributing to the development of real estate in their communities. These decisions are often made without community input or involvement in ways that often run contrary to the needs and wishes of current residents, business owners, and space users. This Community Review is an opportunity for the Georgia Avenue community to stake a claim in guiding the process and making their voices heard by the city, developers, retailers, and other entities which will affect our community.