Photo by PoPville flickr user Glyn Lowe Photoworks

Dear PoPville,

This war ends now. No more bloodshed. Cyclists and drivers, hear me.

This is a crisis. DC, you know what our commute is like: how white-knuckle-and-teeth-grindingly awful the experience can be. Obviously, the DMV leads the nation in automobile accidents. Anyone who’s driven on our roads knows why. And now, the green revolution could not have come at a worse time: many of us have also decided to begin biking to work en masse. Not only are the cars already at war with each other, but we’ve cast bikes into the fray, as well.

Yesterday my wife and I went to the intensive care unit to visit our downstairs roommate, who last week had been hit by a car while biking. When the driver hit her, she got “very airborne,” as she put it, and when she landed and arrived at the hospital, the doctors had to put her leg bones back into her leg. She will be able to walk without assistance after months of physical therapy. Was she obeying all traffic laws? Yes.

My wife normally bikes to work. Today I decided to drive her. During the ride, I told her I was glad she wasn’t biking today. As I approached her building, we spotted a cyclist lying on the ground and a crowd around him — another accident.

This feels like Juarez. Too many accidents.

Drivers and cyclists — there’s fault on both sides. If we don’t stop hitting each other, the government will undoubtedly pass stupid legislation that will suck the fun out of cycling and make it even less fun to drive a car in DC, if that’s even possible. And more people will be hurt and killed.

The following list of suggestions is by no means exhaustive. I simply want to add to the discussion about how we can all get to work without killing each other.

1. Obey the rules of the road. Cyclists, the first one’s for you. I love you and I want everyone to bike to work, but you are breaking my heart. I’ve seen you, blowing through those red lights like you’re Road Warrior. Everyone else has seen you. Stop doing that. Cars expect every vehicle on the road to be behaving in the same way. When you don’t, they just want to hit you.

2. No really, obey the rules of the road. Drivers, we need to set a better example for those pesky cyclists. I’ve seen you drivers in the left turn lane, blowing through a light a full five seconds after it turns red because you “deserve” to turn left or something. I’ve seen you blocking the box like you own that box. You own nothing. Stop it.

3. No sudden moves. I know this one is difficult to follow, especially when other people are terrible drivers, but you really need to A) look around you, and B) make your move.

4. Use signals. You know those hand signals you’re supposed to use on a bike? Learn them and use them, even when you don’t see cars around you. Drivers, you all need to learn them too, because the insurance claim will probably not be in your favor.

5. No “shortcuts.” Watch for “short-cutters.” People on bikes can do things people in cars can’t, like darting between other cars, going the wrong way down one-way streets, cutting through people’s lawns, and generally traveling in ways that cars don’t expect. This one goes along with rule #1 — obey the rules of the road and stop doing this. And if you absolutely have to do it, follow rule #3.

Hopefully if each one of us follows these rules and pays attention we can cut down on the amount of bloodshed out there. I wish you all the best of luck, and godspeed.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Nivad

Dear PoPville,

We recently had grand jury service in Washington D.C., under which we were required to serve five days a week for five weeks.

We expected grand jury service to be hard on our personal and professional lives. But we didn’t anticipate being disrespected and ignored by the D.C. Superior Court and our elected official when we raised a concern.

It wasn’t until we were sworn in that we learned we would be prohibited from bringing electronic devices such as laptop computers, iPads, Kindles or iPods into the courthouse. We wrote a letter to Grand Jury Coordinator Cynthia Walicki, D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Lee Satterfield and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton asking for the prohibition to be lifted. We never received a response.

We were confused when we learned about the prohibition on all electronic devices. We knew grand jurors weren’t allowed to have phones with cameras in the jury room. That was stated on the District of Columbia Courts website. But the website and handouts we were given said we could bring other electronic devices into the courthouse, such as laptops, which could be used during breaks.

The prohibition on all electronic devices was put in place several months ago apparently because some jurors used their devices while in session. (The language on the website was only recently updated to state the prohibition, after we complained.)

We respectfully wrote our letter asking for the prohibition to be lifted. We knew it was a long shot. But it is insulting we weren’t even given the courtesy of a response. Having access to our laptops would lessen the hardship of jury duty, enabling us to keep up with work when we weren’t in session.

The court also wasn’t forthcoming in letting us know that we could get special permission to access our phones during breaks. We eventually learned that we could request a letter granting permission to our phones, which were kept with security at the entrance to the courthouse. (Apparently, the court has also recently started restricting access to phones.)

We don’t think it’s fair to punish all grand jurors for the actions of a few bad apples. As citizens of D.C. we are obligated to serve grand jury duty. We’re happy to carry out our civic responsibility. But the D.C. Superior Court is making grand jury service much more of a hardship than it needs to be. Giving grand jurors access to laptops and phones during downtime would be a simple and important move. It’s too late for us as our service is over. But maybe new jurors will be able to change the court.

Chris Strohm
Frances Vollmer
Nikkia Saddler
Carolyn Dudley
Stephanie Morclecai
Richelle King
Jackie Proctor
Evonne Edmonds
Andi Davis
Warren Johnson Jr.
Angela Clark
Keily Levy
Courtney Siegel

Old City Green is located on the southwest corner of 9th and N St, NW.

Dear PoPville,

We here at OLD CITY green wanted to let you know about some recent developments in our journey as a small business and community gathering space. As you may have heard, we were recently informed that we are losing our lease on this space at the end of August. We had been verbally told in the winter that we had two years on the lot, but a month later that was changed to just a five month lease.

Although our landlord (Douglas Development) has been very kind over the years and has gone out of their way to help us stay afloat, this short notice has a negative impact on our survival as a business and community green space. Douglas Development and CAS Riegler are joining forces to start developing a 5 story condo/mixed use building on our spot beginning fall of this year.

We have been essentially left out of the conversation, unable to compete with the multi-million dollar project slated to take place. Moving plants and beehives in the middle of summer takes its toll. Ideally, a green business would relocate in the off season to minimize loss. Having to move before Christmas, means 30% of our yearly revenue is at stake. We very much want to stay in the neighborhood as we feel that we have become a community space that is more than just a retail store. However, we are struggling to find an affordable place to buy or rent.

OLD CITY green has been called the green beating heart of the community, and as of yet our green heart has no place to go. OLD CITY green has not only provided product, but has become an educational and neighborhood gathering space as well.

Here are a few examples of how we have been a part of the community over the years:

-“Best New Shaw Business” 2009 Shaw Main Streets
-Washington City Paper’s “Best Garden Store” of 2011
-“Shaw Community Partner Award” 2011 Shaw Main Streets
-Approx. 4,000 flower bulbs over a period of 4 years planted in Shaw tree boxes during our annual “Tulip Planting” event
-4 Easter egg hunts, 8 movie nights, and a Halloween haunted garden event for neighborhood kids
-Employing teens from the neighborhood
-Teaching nutritional health and local food education in DC high school
-Teaching 12 gardening and nutrition workshops for clients at Bread for the City
-Hiring local musicians to play on site for our neighbors and customers
-Educational field trips for DC schools
-Free workshops (Seed bomb making, herbal tea, fall vegetable planting, native landscaping)
-Hosting neighborhood garden tours
– A certified Butterfly Way Station
-Offered approx. $30,000 in discounts and free product to neighborhood gardeners, local businesses and DC non-profits
-Hosted a Community Supported Agriculture program for about 100 Shaw households for three years running
-Member of “Live Green” and “Think Local First”
-Worked with non profit organizations such as Bread for the City, DC Greenworks, Casey Trees, City Blossoms, and the Neighborhood Farm Initiative
-Hosted fundraisers for So Others Might Eat, N St. Village, Shaw Main Streets, DC Children First,Metro Teen Aids, and Wangari Gardens
-Supporting and working with other local small businesses such as Chatman’s Bakery, Seasonal Pantry, Longview Gallery, Wagtime, Azi’s Cafe, etc.
-Hosting volunteer teams for beautification of the neighborhood
-Donations of labor, time and product to local churches such as Shiloh Baptist Church with Seaton Green, Salem Baptist Church, and The Immaculate Conception

We don’t write this to victimize ourselves, but we feel that we are an example of a bigger issue going on here. Large condos are popping up all over the place, perpetuating the “building up, not building community” problem of gentrification. If developers are going to build more condos and apartments and bring in more people, there needs to be a place for people to go to for their “green” and other specialty item needs. As local, independent businesses are pushed out of the inner city, the systemic response is to go to the big box stores (Home Depot, Costco, Target, WalMart), which take money and good paying jobs away from the local economy.

There will be a public hearing about our lot on June 26th at 9:30 in 220-S, 1 Judiciary Square, 441 4th St., NW.

It’s not easy being green,
The OLD CITY green team

Ed. Note: If you have a PoP-Ed you’d like published, send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail with a quick note about the topic you’d like to write about.

Mayor Gray: No Time for Delays. Send New Food Truck Regs to City Council!

By Kristi Whitfield
Co-Owner, Curbside Cupcakes

Curbside Cupcakes is Washington DC’s first mobile cupcake truck. When my husband and I maxed out our credit cards and refinanced our house to open Curbside Cupcakes in 2009, there were only a few food trucks serving the District. Since then our numbers have grown substantially because consumers appreciate and support the influx of new and innovative dining options that many food trucks offer. In light of our popular and growing industry of small business owner/operators, Mayor Vincent Gray has proposed new vending regulations that, while not perfect, are a major upgrade from what’s on the books now. If special interest groups succeed in pressuring the Mayor to send these regulations “back to the drawing board”, then fellow “truckers” like Curbside Cupcakes are in danger of not only losing our businesses but our houses and every nickel and dime we scraped together to make our dreams a reality. And all this over what? Competition. Our detractors say that food trucks are “stealing away” customers from storefronts. This attitude reflects a shocking sense of entitlement. Businesses don’t own customers. Businesses earn customers.

In 2010 the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) collected over 2,500 comments on a previous version of proposed regulations. Food truck opponents were more honest then about their concerns, which boiled down to not wanting to compete with food trucks; given the expenses that storefronts incur for brick and mortar shops they figure why should they have to compete with “outsiders” for customers. This position turned out to be very unpopular, so this time around opponents of the legislation say they have “concerns” about crowded sidewalks, limited parking and increased trash.

In our battle for survival, the food trucks are the little guy. Many food truck owners would have liked to start as storefronts, but most of us don’t have the personal or corporate wealth that would allow us access to hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in restaurant real estate. Lack of wealth should not limit my husband and me from spreading Cupcake Bliss to all areas of the District.

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