CTB in DC

“Dear PoPville,

A friend, not super close, but a lovely person in my general social circle, was recently hospitalized after an accident. She faces surgery and possibly a stay in rehab. Loads of people would like to stay in touch, have updates, help out with whatever.

She certainly doesn’t need to respond individually to 50 emails or texts, so does anyone have a suggestion for how to organize a central point of contact for disparate friends? Not everyone is on Facebook, or Instagram, or whatever, and with different various social circles, not everyone has everyone’s email. Is there some way to do this?


“Dear PoPville,

If you’re thinking about a local wedding or other special event, Petworth (and 16th Street Heights/Brightwood Park) has many gems. On September 28th, Moreland’s Tavern transformed into a festive, floral setting with an elegant dining room, delicious buffet, hopping dancefloor, featuring The Experience Band and Show, and tented outdoor patios for cocktails and jazz. The staff decorated to the nines with wisteria and candles, and the service was spectacular. Afterward, the dance party continued down the street at Neptune Room, a funky dive bar on Georgia Avenue. The wedding ceremony took place earlier in the evening in the intimate garden of Friends Meeting of Washington in Dupont, which has beautifully-lit indoor and outdoor spaces for photos. San Matteo, another Petworth hot-spot, served as the venue for the Friday welcome party, offering signature cocktails and a variety of tasty Italian dishes. All vendors were local, making the wedding easy to plan and low stress, and with neighborhood charm. Check out the vendor list (Rich & Clara Wedding Vendors PDF) if you would like inspiration and information for some terrific local venues and artists.

The couple, Clara Haskell Botstein and Rich Martinelli, met in DC and live in Petworth with their orange tabby cat Lyonel, featured in PoPville in March of 2020. (more…)



photo by John Sonderman

“Dear PoPville,

I live in Alexandria near where the GW Parkway entry is. I swear we get a motorcade 1-2 times a day. Any chance we know who it would be?

I know JD lives over in Del Ray but it always seems to be going north / south which is not his direction. Assuming he’s on the road these days, it seems too frequent to be him.

Thanks from a curious resident!”


“Dear PoPville,

Over the summer as part of the installation of bike lanes on 11th Street NW in downtown, DDOT and DPW inexplicably removed disabled parking spaces on the north and south sides of the 1000 block of F Street NW, where no bike lanes were added. They moved the “no parking” signs so that the disabled spaces are now in no parking zones. Except they left the red disabled-only parking meters, (more…)



3000 Georgia Ave, NW between Irving and Columbia Road, NW

“Dear PoPville,

Over the last couple of years Bruce Monroe park has become a pole of attraction for drugs and crime. Last year, the play area was vandalized. This year, the fence has been taken down already twice, presumably to obtain access after hours (see picture above). There is always a lot of trash scattered on the ground. It is not unusual to see people using drugs, and a few months ago someone died of overdose.

The situation, already regrettable, (more…)


View More Stories