Dear PoPville

“just don’t know if it’s reasonable to ask for something like money off of next month’s rent?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user LaTur

“Dear PoPville,

I have been renting a rowhouse around Petworth for the past three years along with two other roommates. It’s an old house and the rent is relatively cheap, so I try not to complain about a lot of minor infrastructure issues and interior aesthetics. But due to some serious leakage (initially from the rooftop/upstairs bathroom old window, now to a lesser extent from an old bathtub with broken tiles/flooring upstairs), our property manager has notified us that they want to do a complete renovation of the upstairs bathroom.

This work will “take about a week” to complete, and will obviously put our bathroom out of commission. We have a half bath downstairs, so there is no other shower option available. (more…)

“She then proceeded to tell me that drugs were found in the car and that the addresses were already under investigation for drug trafficking.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Rich Renomeron

Ed. Note: At this point I assume every single phone call is a scam. When my mom calls, I’m like “Oh yeah mom, what’d you buy me for my 12th birthday? Faster, faster. SCAMMER.” Click. But that’s just me.

“Dear PoPville,

I just wanted to submit a warning to fellow DCers. Today, I received a phone call from a legitimate 202 number (I didn’t know the number and normally wouldn’t answer, but did in case it was a work call). When I answered, they asked me to verify my name (I did), told me that I was under criminal investigation, and asked if I knew anything about it. I said no.

I will preface the rest of the story by saying that I have a very common name and am a bit paranoid about identity theft (it’s happened to several of my family members). I only stayed on the phone as long as I did (12 minutes!) so that I could confirm that my identity was not actually stolen.

Anyway, the woman on the phone told me that they found an abandoned car that was registered under my name. She described the car, gave me two addresses that were associated with it, and asked if I was familiar with any of these. I said no. She then proceeded to tell me that drugs were found in the car and that the addresses were already under investigation for drug trafficking. (more…)

“Are we going to wait until a child walking to school at 8:30 in the morning is killed at the intersection?

By Prince Of Petworth

Dennis Junius reported just before 8am:

“another accident at Taylor and 13th place NE. How many more until we get a traffic pattern change or someone gets killed? Been happening for years now with no action.”

Chris Baronner also reported just before 10am:

“@kenyanmcduffie Are we going to wait until a child walking to school at 8:30 in the morning is killed at the intersection of Taylor St NE/13th Place before making 13th Pl one ways or at least a 4-way stop? @PoPville Too many accidents/way too many near misses on daily basis!”

“What’s most disturbing is that we were likely home when it happened”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

“Dear PoPville,

Sometime Saturday afternoon our house in Eckington was burglarized. An HP laptop, Acer aspire laptop, nikon d7100 camera and 2 lenses, plus iPad mini stolen. What’s most disturbing is that we were likely home when it happened- we batten down the hatches when leaving the house and there were no signs or evidence of a break in, just noticed that all my electronics in that room had vanished. (more…)

“The more worrisome issue is that this occurred near the gas line that runs through my entire block”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

After one of the many recent significant rainstorms this season I noticed a sink hole appeared in my front yard in NW DC. We’ve owned since 2015 without any sign of issues. After re-filling with loads of dirt and replanting grass I thought I had the problem fixed. After another torrential rainstorm unfortunately the problem clearly remains. DC 311 has not had any good options. The more worrisome issue is that this occurred near the gas line that runs through my entire block in everyone’s front yard. Any reader recommendations on who to contact in the city to get this looked at?”

“Question for folks on the right way to treat weeds growing on public spaces.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

“Dear Popville,

Question for folks on the right way to treat weeds growing on public spaces. We have a bunch poking through the sidewalk on our street and also through a recently-laid brick ally in the back of our house. In my own experience, I have never found natural remedies for weeds (i.e. vinegar, dish soap, etc) to be effective and would normally go for the hard stuff on my own yard. However, as this is public space with a lot of dogs who may eat said weeds while walking around, I don’t want to spray anything toxic on them. I don’t want my little stretch of neighborhood to look like trash (or be more attractive to rats who want to live in weed overgrowths) but not sure what to do. Anyone have suggestions?”

Anyone have experience with “professional level (I.e. part time after work) higher education programs”?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Ted Eytan

“Dear PoPville,

I am a mid career federal employee looking for professional level (I.e. part time after work) higher education programs in the downtown DC area. I have one masters degree already, but would like to pursue another, possibly a MPA. I have access to the GI Bill, so cost is not a factor. Does anyone have experience with Georgetown’s School if Continuing Studies or another part time program downtown? I work on Capitol Hill and live on H st NE so ideally a program near one of these areas or in between.”

“Anybody else see that meteorite?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Joseph Gruber

Sadly no photo but Abigail Twittahfield messaged us around midnight:

“Anybody else see that meteorite just now fall & burn out (looking west from #DC)?! From Logan Cir it looked like it was right over Georgetown! It was nuts. And so bright out of the corner of my eye, it caught my attention.”

Anyone else see this – by chance snap a photo?

311 App – Effective or Not?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user 311

“Dear PoPville,

Just going through the comments in the post on Park Road and I got to thinking about how ineffective the DC311 mobile app has been for me. I’m curious what other readers’ experiences have been?”

Ed. Note: I haven’t used the app but when I call or tweet 311 I’ve had very good success. You guys?

“Have you ever heard of this?”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I usually pay my parking tickets without a fight (even the really questionable ones), but this seems like a whole nother level to me. Have you ever heard of this? I got this in front of the church at Shepherd and 8th NW. It’s particularly irritating as I am consistently blocked in on weekends by double parkers at that church.”

I guess it depends if there were emergency no parking signs posted with appropriate notice?

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