Lifeguard
Lisa Marie + DECOY
Exhibition opening:
Saturday, January 24
6 – 9 pm
@ 1506 14th Street NW
Live painting by Lisa Marie Thalhammer and DECOY will be raffled to benefit Sitar Arts Center.
Music:
DJ Natty Boom
Yoko K
I’m glad they’ll be supporting the Sitar Arts Center as I’m a huge fan. More after the jump. (more…)
The reader writes that this is from From Mt P St., just north of Irving. I’m digging the scissors.
Sorry I forgot to mention this – “DPR To Make Improvements To Dog Exercise Area at Walter Pierce Park”:
“The DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) announced today that they will be making improvements to the dog exercise area at Walter Pierce Park, located at Adams Mill & Ontario Roads, NW.
Weather permitting, the dog exercise area is scheduled to close and work begin on January 22, 2009. Once underway, work is expected to last approximately three weeks. The rest of Walter Pierce Park will remain open.
Improvements to the dog exercise area include the installation of new five-foot high perimeter fencing with a double gate, and installation of a new dog exercise surface, which will be 6 inches of compacted stone.”
For more on Walter Pierce Park you can read a profile here.
Speaking of dog parks – the park at S Street and 17th, NW is also slated to become a dog park.
More photos after the jump. (They also have some cool sculptures that I’ve never photographed before I hope they remain after the renovation.) (more…)
Thanks to all who sent in photos and tagged photos in fickr. Due to the many entries I can only enter one photo per person (which is extremely difficult to do!).It was a phenomenal turn out and I’m afraid I can no longer accept entries. Of course you can still join the new flickr pool I created called PoPville photos. In the pool you can enter up to 3 photos a day capturing the beautiful life from any of our neighborhoods. So please feel free to add photos whenever you’d like!
Above is a photo from “The Hay Say”.
Below is an entry from Liz who writes: “Here’s a shot of two little girls, one from Vermont and the other from Ottawa, who trekked to DC for the big day.”
Below is a great shot of the crowds from Lauren who writes: “They were taken by my partner from the top of the jumbotron tower between 14th and 15th on the Mall where I was working production.”
I’m gonna need some help so let me know in the comments which one(s) you like the best. I still have more entries going up next week but I’d like to announce a winner and some honorable mentions next Friday. More entries after the jump. (more…)
This home is located at 1719 19th Street, NW:
The flier says:
“Elegant Kalorama-style house in Dupont. Grand living & dining rooms w/ fplc & soaring 11’+ ceilings; Large windows on 3 sides, skylight & exquisite moldings; Enormous professional(but user-friendly) granite & SS kitchen w/ island, Sep. breakfast room & sitting/entertaining area; Garage. Deck. 7000+ sqft, 5 stories, 5 fplc’s, 5+ BR’s. Easy walk to Metro, fine dining, shopping, museums, galleries.”
More info and a sweet virtual tour found here.
Dang, how sweet are those built in bookshelves? Obviously looking at this house is just for fun but it is interesting to note that it’s been on the market for over 200 days. The asking price for this beauty? $2,599,000 Well, like I said, enjoy the virtual tour! What’s your favorite part of the house?
You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. I’ll open this thread every Monday and Friday. Have you recovered from inauguration week yet?
In real life, hipchickindc is licensed as a real estate broker in the District of Columbia and Virginia, and as a real estate salesperson in Maryland. Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Featured Property: 1901 19th St NW #301 and #401
With a sexy location and a condo fee of $525. per month, these 897 square foot 2 bedroom 1 bath condos elicited spirited debate as a PoP Good Deal or Not (GDoN) back on the 23rd of October 2008. To see the original discussion, click here.
Alas, what has become of them?
Neither has gone to settlement yet, but Unit 301 is under contract with a pending settlement date of 31 January 2009 (which is actually a Saturday, so we’ll assume the 30th or the following Monday). We won’t know what the final sales price is until settlement, but the list price at contract was $500,000. As evident in the pictures, which can be seen by clicking the link then clicking the filmstrip icon at the top left, this unit was nicely updated. According to the comments back in October, a contract had fallen through, and the current contract was ratified on 15 December 2008. The total time period on market, including the previous under contract time period, was 110 days.
These units were on the same tier, so presumably were the same floor plan. Typically, a higher level floor garners a bit of a premium in pricing, however, the additional walkup may have cancelled out the upper floor benefit somewhat and the pictures indicate that the kitchen had late 1980’s melamine cabinets. At last look it was priced at $499,900. It may have hurt that it was originally priced at $519,900. Comments indicate that Unit 401 was rented as of 01/15/2009 and withdrawn from the market. The listing can be seen here. Pics are best viewed by clicking the camera icon at top left.
Other 2 bedroom comps in the immediate area can be seen here.
“The reason I’m searching your site is that I am desperate to find a neighborhood in DC that I can afford and one in which I’m not afraid to raise my kids. (2 1/2 and 4 1/2) I am an unabashed urbanite and well used to live in urban areas, but having children has made me a bit more concerned about where I live. My husband and I have both lived in DC (in neighborhoods that are no longer affordable) when we were single, and we recently bought a house near Baltimore. But the commute is killing us, and I am just so unhappy having the girls in pre-school so far away from where I work.
Can you offer me any advice on where in DC we could buy a house/rowhouse for under $400 that is in decent shape and safe enough to raise a family? Is Petworth a good choice for such a move?
I am hoping you will tell me it is as I’ve been looking through the listings and found a number of places that don’t look too run-down in Petworth for the price we need. But can you tell me about the community vibe? Any good playgrounds locally?”
Well, this is a super tough question for two reasons. First I am biased as I am a huge fan of Petworth and will instantly rave about it. Although, second, I don’t have any children.
But I’ll take a crack at it. As we’ve discussed many times DC Public Schools are for the most part a bit problematic. For sure there are some good ones particularly for younger children but I’ve heard choosing a high school can be a very difficult choice. But recently there have been some very good public charter school options. But since you didn’t ask specifically about schools I’ll focus on community a bit.
Let me say that in the almost six years (admittedly not a long time) I’ve lived in Petworth I’ve noticed tons of children. There are children from long term residents and children from new comers as well. Petworth has a very good playground on Taylor Street near 7th.
I honestly do think Petworth is a great choice because there is a strong community here. But it will still take an effort to become part of the community. Often you have to make the first move and introduce yourself around the neighborhood. But having said that, in my 11 years in DC I have never been more welcomed than when I moved to Petworth. Like all of DC’s neighborhoods crime does exist in Petworth but like any good urbanite if you use common sense and good judgment it most likely will not affect you. Again, over the nearly six years that I’ve lived here none of my neighbors have encountered any problems (and I talk with tons of neighbors).
Another positive attribute about Petworth is that it is very convenient to get downtown by metro or bus. Plus you are fairly close to Rock Creek Park as well.
As is no secret I’m a huge fan of many of DC’s neighborhoods. Of course the under $400k limit for a home will limit your search. I’m not sure how much the homes cost but if you are able to put in some sweat equity I’ve also become a big fan of the Bloomingdale neighborhood. At the moment there isn’t as much development (restaurants/bars/etc) in Bloomingdale, though they have one of the best coffee shops in the city. But the homes and streets in Bloomingdale are among the most beautiful I’ve seen. Of course crime exists there as well but again crime, sadly, exists all over the city.
So let’s also make this the Friday Question of the Day – if you were looking to buy a house in DC for under $400k – what neighborhood would you choose to raise children?
This photo was actually submitted for the contest by AngryParakeet but I had meant to ask if anyone used the bike valet? From the photo it looks like it was a great success. But I’m wondering how long did it take to retrieve your bikes? Anyone use this option?
Some more good entries for an abbreviated week. But given the inauguration insanity I had to go with Sully:
“The National Guard took their job here very seriously.”
Congrats. Please email me directly so I can get you a t-shirt.