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What’s it Gonna Take for Lower Georgia Ave to Get Some Love?

By Prince Of Petworth

I’m gonna oversimplify this but in my mind U Street/14th Street, NW, Georgia Ave, NW and H St, NE were commercially decimated by the 1968 riots. U Street/14th Street, NW has had an amazing renaissance. H St, NE is slowly on it’s way to an amazing renaissance. Georgia Ave, especially lower Georgia Ave is lagging very far behind. [ DC Mud recently highlighted some of the avenue’s woes.] So I have a couple of questions – is it gonna take the installation of street cars for lower Georgia Ave to become an attractive investment? Is lower Georgia Ave not gonna be touched by investors until H St, NE gets saturated and/or becomes too expensive?

My mind is rambling so bear with me. I walked around H St, NE over the weekend and during the day, to me, it felt absolutely deserted (H St itself not the surrounding neighborhoods). I suspect that feeling/reality may change when some of the street rail construction is cleaned up. So an unrelated question is – do you think H St, NE will ever have some daytime attractions or do you think it will remain a nighttime only destination?

Ed. Note: I think the new H St, NE signs in the photo above look fantastic.

Huge Fire on 600 Block of Quincy, NW Mon. Night

By Prince Of Petworth

DCfireems says on twitter:

“Quincy St NW – cause under invest – appears accidental – damage $100K – maybe 2 families displaced – no injuries”

And a reader who sent in the photos writes:

“Apparently the fire is out now, but it looks like 612, 614, and 616 Quincy St NW burned today. 612 and 614 look particularly devastated, 616 (the one with the fire truck ladder over the roof) at least has all of its windows. 612 has been vacant for years now, the other two houses are occupied.”

It is sad to hear that a couple of families have been displaced but thankfully there were no injuries, great response from the emergency responders.

Sherman Ave Streetscape Project will be held Tonight Thursday, April 8, from 6:30 to 8 PM

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

I came across a new DC Department of Transportation website that has tons of great new information on the Sherman Avenue Streetscape project (which, for those who are unfamiliar with the project, will reduce the number of traffic lanes from four to two and add a tree-lined median, wider sidewalks, new landscaping and traffic lights, and shared bike lanes). According to the website, the design is supposed to be finalized by mid-April, construction bidding should be finalized by June, and construction is slated to start this August and be completed by September 2011.
http://dashboard.ddot.dc.gov/ward1/ShermanAveStreetscapeW1/default.aspx

This document from the website also has lots of new design information and the latest depictions of the project. The plans still look great. As someone who lives on Sherman Avenue, I can’t wait.
http://dashboard.ddot.dc.gov/ward1/ShermanAveStreetscapeW1/Shared%20Documents/Progress%20Reports/Sherman_Ave_65pctDesign_2009-11_presentation.pdf

PS – The final DDOT community meeting on the Sherman Ave Streetscape Project will be held Thursday, April 8, from 6:30 to 8 PM at the DC Housing Finance Agency at 815 Florida Ave NW, according to a flyer I received yesterday at my house from the leader of the Pleasant Plains Civic Association.”

Rowhouse Fire Wed. Night on 700 block of Fairmont Street, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

From a reader:

“The photo was taken at the corner of Sherman and Fairmont. The fire was out and most firefighters were packing up and leaving when I got there at around 720 pm.”

In case anyone was wondering what all the sirens were at that time. Glad to hear that the fire was put out quickly.

Dear PoP – Police Activity at Warder and Quincy

By Prince Of Petworth


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“Dear PoP,

When I was walking home from the metro around 5:30 last night, I saw a number of police cars race up Rock Creek Church and New Hampshire to the intersection of Warder and Quincy. By the time I caught up with them, there were about 6 police cars blocking traffic on Warder and groups of policemen were walking up and down the street. I didn’t get close enough to figure out what was going on. Do any of your readers know what happened?”

Haven’t seen anything from MPD yet. Anyone happen to catch what happened?

Dear PoP – No More Entrees at Looking Glass Lounge

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

Looking glass dropped their entrees. Their excuse: we are transitioning away from being a restaurant. Hmm. I’m disappointed.”

Did many folks go to Looking Glass Lounge, on Georgia Ave at Princeton Streets, NW, for the entrees? Personally I’ve always been a big fan of the grilled cheese and tomato. Will you miss the entrees?

Ed. Note: Looking Glass Lounge is a PoP advertiser.

Dear PoP – What are These Cables?

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

Not sure if you guys noticed, but last week there were contractors installing fiber optic cables under Quebec Pl. I just noticed that there is a new orange fiber cable going up the telephone pole in the back of my house. I was wondering if you know what the purpose of the cable is? Is it for the future-proofing/regular maintenance or are there new services going to be offered? Last I heard FiOS is not available in D.C. due to politics.

I noticed one of the installation trucks said Danella Construction on it. I looked at ther website http://www.danella.com and they didn’t have any projects listed for D.C. other than an old project they did downtown.

I also drove down a few other alleys it appears the cables are on every alley along Warder St. and continuing up 7th St. From the pictures you can see the cables are not hooked up to anything on the pole yet.”

Anyone know what the story is on these orange cables? Have you seen them around your house/apartment as well?

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