Friday Question of the Day

Friday Question of the Day – Favorite Cheap Eats?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

We talk a lot about new restaurants opening up all over town. And it is almost guaranteed that someone brings up price. So I thought I’d focus this Friday Question of the Day on your favorite cheap eats. Let’s count cheap eats as something that costs $10 or less. It’s a tough decision for me but if I gotta make one selection I’m gonna go with a slice of mushroom pizza from Vace’s located at 3315 Connecticut Ave NW in Cleveland Park. Though a close second is anything savory, like the pizza or quiche, from the nearby Palena Market recently launched at 3529 Connecticut Ave, NW.

So what do you guys say: What and where can you get your favorite cheap eats?

Friday Question of the Day – Is This Logo a Tribute or Offensive?

By Prince Of Petworth


Logo via Maid to Clean’s Facebook page

Dear PoPville,

Would the commentariat please weigh in on an office debate about whether the local “Maid to Clean” logo is at all offensive? Some would argue that they’ve highjacked a famous symbol of female empowerment to suggest that their mostly female staff are born to clean.


Rosie the Riveter via Wikipedia


Friday Question of the Day – How Do You Commute to Work?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user fromcaliw/love

I figure we haven’t done a poll in a while so for the Friday Question of the Day – let’s talk commutes – how do you most often get to work/get around town?


Personally since I became a member of bikeshare I use the bikes in place of riding metro pretty often.

And since we talk about it a lot, I’m also curious how many folks are members of bikeshare?


And last but not least since I love sweet city rides – I’m curious how many in PoPville own a car?


Friday Question of the Day – Should We Consider Giving Washington DC a new Nickname?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

Dear PoPville,

New York is the Big Apple. Chicago is the Windy City. Detroit is the Motor City. Vegas is Sin City. Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love. Does Washington, D.C. have a nickname? Chocolate City does not seem as apt as it once did, and The Nation’s Capital is not very catchy. It would be great if PoPville could come to a consensus on a new nickname.

I don’t think we could come to consensus on whether or not water is wet but it is an interesting question. What do you guys think – has the time come to consider a new nickname for DC?

Back in July 2010 the Washington Post reported:

unless the earnest and obvious “Nation’s Capital” is your idea of a cool handle, Washington and its environs have never gotten very far in the civic nickname game.

We are pleased to report, however, that this could be changing. A nickname has recently emerged that could put the Washington area on the regional nickname map: the DMV. As in, D for the District, M for Maryland, and V for Virginia.

I’m not quite sure DMV has stuck – have you guys heard people (besides newspapers) use it?

For city nicknames wikipedia lists the following for DC:

The Capital of the World.
Chocolate City.
City of Magnificent Distances (reported in the 1880s)
District of Crime.
Murder Capital of America (Late 1980s to early 1990s).

Well personally the issue has been settled for me – I will now refer to our Nation’s Capital only as the City of Magnificent Distances or maybe just CMD. I freaking love it.

So for the Friday Question of the Day: If you think Washington DC should have a new nickname, what are some good alternatives?

Friday Question of the Day – Panhandling a Problem in DC?

By Prince Of Petworth

Over the holidays there was an interesting discussion on the MPD-1D listserv that started off with the following request:

“Please resolve the issue of panhandlers sitting in front of SW New Safeway!”

MPD responded:

First District members will use some of their persuasive talents to encourage these folks to go elsewhere; however, “panhandling” and loitering are not illegal in the District of Columbia. Aggressive Panhandling is a violation of the law, but this would involve an activity like using tactics that are meant to intimidate people. The City Council purposely did not make the mere act of panhandling a violation, so while it may not be conducive to the promotion of the area, we are limited in what action we can take. If the law was to change and panhandling did become illegal, we would enforce.

In addition to our persuasive tactics, it would help if the community not give money to these panhandlers. I stopped at Safeway myself the other night on my way home and saw at least 3 people give money to a subject panhandling. As long as people continue to give money to the panhandlers, they will keep coming back. The community could urge people that want to help the homeless to give money to organization that provide services to the homeless rather than to panhandlers.

A resident included this secton from DC Code for reference:

D.C. Code s.22-2301-2306 (Panhandling Control Act of 1993), specifically s.2302(a)-(h) which states:

(a) No person may ask, beg, or solicit alms, including money and other things of value, in an aggressive manner in any place open to the general public, including sidewalks, streets, alleys, driveways, parking lots, parks, plazas, buildings, doorways and entrances to buildings, and gasoline service stations, and the grounds enclosing buildings.

As stated the key words in the above code are “in an aggressive manner”. The Downtown BID shares a primer on aggressive panhandling here.

When I was in San Fransisco over the holidays I happened to notice the following plaque in front of a downtown building (see photo above as well):

So for the Friday Question of the Day – do you think DC Code/laws need to be updated to deal with panhandling? Do you think panhandling in DC is a significant problem in general? Do you think an MPD officer responding “First District members will use some of their persuasive talents to encourage these folks to go elsewhere” is a satisfactory way to deal with this problem (if you do consider it a problem)?

Friday Question of the Day – Strangest Building/Place in DC?

By Prince Of Petworth

A reader writes in:

“I am curious about the Burger King at 4422 Connecticut Ave in Van Ness. It is three stories, one floor is decorated in 80’s movie decor, the other decorated with Rock n Roll memorabilia. Do you have any history on this location?”

I stopped in last week and couldn’t believe how bizarrely awesome it was. Anyone know why it’s decked out like this? The workers I spoke with didn’t know.

And for the Friday question of the day – do you know of any other equally strange buildings/places in DC?

Friday Question of the Day – What will you do over the holidays?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Brandon Kopp

In the random rant/revel from yesterday caitb asked:

“But between not knowing what to do with all the travel time we’re not spending in the car/airport and generally not knowing what happens in DC this time of year, I’m stumped for DC festivities. Places to go, things to see?”

So I thought this would make for a fun Friday question of the day – what will you be doing over the holidays? And for those that are staying in DC, how will you take advantage of having the city to “yourselves”?

Any places that are normally super crowded that you’re hoping to check out?

Friday Question of the Day – Debating the roles and expectations of Bars in our neighborhoods

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user JosephLeonardo

Dear PoPville,

I was wondering if you might be willing to post the following query to your readers relating to an experience I had recently. I think it raises interesting questions about the role of “public” private spaces, namely local bars, and what purpose they serve for city dwellers. Since moving here from New York two years ago, I’ve found that norms and expectations relating to the uses of public spaces are different here and I thought this episode might spur some debate among your readers (I swear this isn’t another “why can’t be DC be as cool as NY” rant).

This week an old friend called and let me know he was in the neighborhood and asked if I wanted to meet up. We’ve had a long-standing backgammon rivalry for a while and so when we decided to head to the Raven, which is just a few doors down from my apartment, I brought the board and we settled into a booth and began to play. Once we got started, we realized that neither of us really felt like drinking, but we figured it was cool to play since the bar wasn’t too crowded and there were plenty of empty booths. However, after a few minutes, the bartender came out from behind the bar and asked us if we were going to order something. This is the question I want to pose to your readers: is a bar a place where people can gather regardless of whether they are “customers” or is there an expectation that they will buy something when they enter the door?

My initial reaction was surprise. I’d always assumed bars are places where people are welcome to gather, regardless of whether or not they imbibe. Space wasn’t an issue since it was a pretty slow night, and we weren’t putting anyone out (although I realize the bartender survives on tips). In New York I’d played backgammon or chess in my local dive many times without buying anything, knowing that the bartender wouldn’t mind since I was a good customer. I don’t claim to be a regular at the Raven, but it is my neighborhood bar and I drink there fairly often. A local haunt was one of the first things I sought out after moving to DC because it’s important to have a public space that you can call your own. What I’d like to ask your readers is this: am I unjustified feeling so annoyed by the bartender’s demand that we buy something?

Friday Question of the Day – From the Forum – Getting Involved in Local Politics?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user ekelly80

Andy uploaded a bit of a provocative question to the forum yesterday:

Many of us yuppies you see on PoP have decided to make DC home, long-term. And many of us are politically savvy, heck, many of us even work in politics or public affairs or communications work professionally.

But not a ton of people you see represented here are involving themselves politically in the District.

And you know many of us roll our eyes at the thing we read about or see ourselves every day, whether it’s business permitting headaches, bike lanes or DC council ethics. So I think we should all consider where we belong in making the District a better place. If not now, when?

So, what should we do to get involved? What is appropriate? Are there rules of thumb for diving into DC politics?

Friday Question of the Day: Talking Neighborhood Boundaries – What are the borders of Chinatown?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Blinkofanaye

A reader wrote in suggesting I reconsider the way I think of Chinatown and Penn Quarter. They suggest that the whole area except for H St, NW between 6th and 7th be identified as Penn Quarter.


View Larger Map

Most regulars of the site know that I’m not a strict adherent of specific neighborhood borders. It can drive people crazy but if I’m one block over from a neighborhood, I genuinely have no problem calling it either neighborhood’s name. I recognize that is upsetting to some people. I’m also comfortable with folks self identifying to a certain degree. For example if some one tells me they live in Columbia Heights but I know they are technically 1 block north – I have no problem accepting their identification with Columbia Heights.

Having said that, I do think the particular situation of Chinatown/Penn Quarter is worth exploring. And I’m sure one day we’ll debate Navy Yard/Capital Riverfront…

I know when I first moved to DC in 1997 I had never heard of Penn Quarter but I had heard of Chinatown. But I also realize that the streets/neighborhood I thought made up Chinatown have changed a lot over the years. If anything, as has been joked about before, there is now a China-block (if that.)

So I’m curious what you guys think are the proper borders of Chinatown? Do you think we should just call the whole area Penn Quarter? If so, what are the borders you would give to Penn Quarter? Ah, hell, and I know we’ve touched on it before – what happens when City Center is built where the old convention center used to be? What will that neighborhood be called?

And I’m not talking about city tax records or how wikipedia maps them out. I want to know what your impressions are. I realize that most people don’t obsess about this but for those that do – when you’re walking around 7th and F St, NW (for example) do you feel like you’re in Chinatown or Penn Quarter? Alright, I’m rambling now. Your turn.

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