Columbia Heights

Pocket Park at 14th and Oak St, NW Looking Good in Columbia Heights

By Prince Of Petworth

Wow, I feel it’s been a really long time coming but it looks like it’s gonna be worth the wait. This past weekend was the first time I’d seen what the space was looking like. Even though planting still needed to be completed – you can certainly get a taste of how it’s gonna look. It was bulldozed back in Sept. ’10. And of course this the former home to the benches.

From what you can tell now – do you think this is an improvement?

Ed. Note: Yesterday the Washington Post reported that:

“An outside investigator has concluded there was “no wrongdoing” by former D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in the issuance of parks and recreation contracts to firms with ties to his administration.”

I will return for more photos when everything has been planted and the weather warms up a bit.

Red Rocks Sporting New Outdoor Seating in Columbia Heights

By Prince Of Petworth

Red Rocks located at the corner of 11th and Park Rd, NW is now sporting a new outdoor seating set up. So what do you think – do you like the new tables and chairs or did you prefer the old picnic table set up?

A little bit of neighborhood trivia – Red Rocks originally switched from tables and chairs to picnic tables back in July ’08.


Photos courtesy of James OBrien

The 5pm Post – Columbia Heights Community Yard Sale set for April 2

By Prince Of Petworth

From an email:

Columbia Heights Community Yard Sale set for April 2

Donate items to local nonprofit Community of Hope

The Columbia Heights Day Initiative — the grassroots nonprofit that presents the popular neighborhood festival every summer — is having our second annual Community Yard Sale & Spring Clean on Saturday, April 2.

It’s time to clean out those closets, spruce up your house and make that apartment spic-n-span! The organized yard sale event gives Columbia Heights residents an opportunity to hold their own yard sale, donate items to a local charity, and shop for great deals in the neighborhood.

Anyone interested having their own yard sale or wants to volunteer can contact Ania at [email protected]. Yard sale locations will be posted on our Google Map, as they are confirmed. People are encouraged to have their sales from 9:30 am to 4 pm

As part of the North Columbia Heights Civic Association’s

“Great Day of Service,” we are also collecting donations of home goods and clothing at the Columbia Heights Civic Plaza from 11 am – 4 pm. The donations will benefit Community of Hope, a neighborhood group that works to improve the health and quality of life of low-income, homeless, and underserved families and individuals in DC. Click through to review suggested items to donate — http://www.communityofhopedc.org/kind-donations.

Fri. Afternoon Rental Option – Columbia Heights

By Prince Of Petworth

This rental is located at 1435 Newton St NW:


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The Craigslist adsays:

“Competitive price, unbeatable location, great unit: this efficiency apartment has it all right in the heart of Columbia Heights! Need parking? We offer convenient parking next to the building, but you can forget about your car if you want. We have 3 Zipcars in our parking lot 24/7 and our building is only a short walk from the metro station. The bus stops on 14th and 16th street are right around the corner. Want to have some fun? You don’t have to go too far and waste your time looking for parking. New cool restaurants, lounges with live music and even big retail stores are also a couple of blocks away. A new Giant supermarket, coffee shops, a theater and much more are a few steps from Newton and 14th St. We only have one unit available.”

$1180 sound right for this studio?

The 5pm Post – Support New Tryst/Diner Concept Coming to 11th and Monroe St, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

Dear PoP,

Hey there! I learned about the awesome plans for a “Diner-plus” diner-café-bar in my neighborhood on PoP. My house was so excited, we decided to e-mail Constantine to set up a Q&A/chat, of sorts, with him and our neighbors.

He was great, and we’re all friggin’ thrilled about the venture. Anyway, this Wednesday, there’s an ANC meeting, and they’ll be taking up his plans. Apparently, there’s a small band who don’t want to see the place go in. They won’t be able to shut the project down, but they could definitely throw some sand in the gears, and if enough people show up to voice their support, it could really help. If anyone else is as excited as my housemates and I are about seeing this vacant graffiti magnet of a building turn into a neighborhood hot spot, they should definitely come out! Here’s the info:

Date: Wednesday, March 9th.
Place: Harriet Tubman Elementary School (Gymnasium) – 3101 13th St (ENTRANCE on the parking lot side on corner of Kenyon St & 13th)
Time: 7pm

Tivoli Ticket Booth at 14th and Park Rd, NW will Likely Sell Z Burger Milkshakes

By Prince Of Petworth

Back in Feb. a reader was told a “Zebra Girl” would be coming into the old Mayorga Coffee/Nori Sushi space at the corner of 14th and Park Rd, NW in Columbia Heights. Of course, we know this will soon become a Z Burger. At the time there was also discussion about what will/should become of the ticket booth space. I’m now hearing that it will likely be used by Z Burger to sell milkshakes. I’ll be sure to update when construction progresses. Stay tuned.

Wed. Afternoon Rental Option – Columbia Heights/Pleasant Plains

By Prince Of Petworth

This rental is located at harvard st. NW at sherman ave. NW:


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The Craigslist ad says:

“Available May 1: this is a recently-renovated (within the past 18 months) studio apartment in a Columbia Heights rowhouse. It is a GREAT DEAL for your own, private studio in DC.

It has new tile bath and kitchen (granite countertops in both). Carpeted. Very clean.

There is laundry in-house (adjacent to the room), cable TV, and high-speed internet+wifi. Power and gas are paid separately, split with all tenants in the house (though rarely exceeds about $75). Pet deposit is $250 + $50/mo (no dogs though).

The neighborhood is great: it is ~3 blocks to the Columbia Heights metro, “DC USA” shopping mall (with Target, Best Buy, etc.), 11th street bars and restaurants (such as Wonderland, Meridian Pint). You can also walk (~1 mile or less) to Adams Morgan, U Street, and the 930 club.

Also, within a two blocks are bus lines that take you to downtown, Adams Morgan, Dupont, Potomac Park, Van Ness, Cleveland Park and Tenleytown. (Buses 70, 71, 79, 64, H1, H2, H3, H4, H8).

The only drawback to the apartment is there is a low ceiling (6’6″) with a duct that comes down the middle to about 6′, so it will be most comfortable for someone below that height.

One year lease will get you the studio, I MAY be willing to work with shorter-term lease, but that is not preferred. Also, if there is more than one adult tenant, there is a $300 additional monthly fee.”

I’m curious what you guys think about, “if there is more than one adult tenant, there is a $300 additional monthly fee.” Have you ever seen that before?

Anyway, let’s assume it is one person – does $1000 sound realistic for this basement apartment?

Lou’s City Bar Opens This Thursday in Columbia Heights

By Prince Of Petworth

Back in mid-Feb. we took a very early look at Lou’s City Bar, the sports bar, coming to 1400 Irving St, NW (just west of 14th Street.) I was able to stop by on Sunday to snap some updated photos (finishing touches were still taking place.) While you’ll see a couple of soft openings this week the official opening is this Thursday. And while I’ll share lots of photos (including the menu) after the jump I just wanted to point out two very cool things:

First, every Wed. will be half priced draft beers on all drafts.

Second, there are tons of booths! I’m a huge fan.

Now that you can see the space will all the tvs and furniture – what are your initial thoughts?

More photos as well as menu after the jump. (more…)

Man Shot at 14 and Fairmont St NW Fri. Night

By Prince Of Petworth


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From MPD at 8:50pm Friday evening:

“An adult male was shot at 14 and Fairmont St NW and was transported to an area hospital in stable condition.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Department on 2027279099 or 888919CRIME or text at 50411.”

Thanks to all the readers who sent in a heads up as well.

Sadly, the vicious cycle continues.

I hate to Ed. Note this but Ed. Note: This is a tragedy that I hope doesn’t simply devolve into neighborhood bashing, it is just that, a tragedy. It sucks. It is my hope that this conversation doesn’t turn into a vicious cycle of our own, ie “Columbia Heights sucks, no it doesn’t” repeat ad nauseum. Folks who live in H St, NE, Petworth, Trinidad, Bloomingdale, Eckington, Edgewood, Hill East, Adams Morgan, Shaw, Logan, Brightwood, Ft. Totten, River East and elsewhere are all mixed up in this situation. This situation sucks and is horrible and horrifying. Period.

If we have outrage it should be directed to the drug dealers (who plague many DC neighborhoods), politicians and/or the criminal justice system who are too cowardly to actually tackle the severity of this problem. Rather they (and myself included) only seem to react for half a second after an incident. Residents of our city are scared (levels vary but the fear is real for many.) I think we may need our own Mandela or a Giuliani. Or more likely a hybrid leader. We need to keep our social programs fully funded. I’m not saying we need a revolution – I’m saying we need a politician who won’t pander but will actually make tough decisions and lead our city out of this vicious cycle which seems to repeat itself year after year after year after year after year… Period.

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