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A reader writes:
“There are 3 or 4 of these signs along 17th st north of U. As a dog owner in the neighborhood, yes, there has been an increase of unscooped poop lately, but I’m not sure a hostile anonymous note is the solution.”
We’ll have to add this to the list of those pushed over the edge. I always suspected it would get political at some point…
Dear PoPville,
I had a pretty nasty experience with a Zipcar driver and I’m wondering if anyone else has had this happen.
I was biking down Kansas past Georgia and suddenly a car came right up behind me and laid on the horn. There’s no bike lane on Kansas, and I was already pretty far over to the right, but I pulled over to the curb. Then I saw a small red zip car pull out into oncoming traffic at the stop sign at Taylor (by the SED Center pre-school), run the stop sign, and speed down Kansas toward 13th Street. He blew through the next couple stop signs as well and then turned onto 13th Street, where I lost sight of him.
I got the tag number and later in the day when I got home, I called Zipcar and told them what had happened, and that the guy was really driving aggressively and dangerously. The lady at Zipcar took the info but didn’t ask what time or where this happened. She then told me it was probably somebody racing to get their car back in time!!!
I then told her that if that’s how people drive when they need to turn their cars back in, then Zipcar should be considered a hazard on the road. I finally got her to look up whether the car had been taken out multiple times that day, and if that was the case, maybe she could figure out who it was that needed to race down Kansas at 45-50 mph to return the vehicle. As it turned out, the car had been taken out earlier that morning and the guy still had it.
Anyways, I will definitely steer clear of Zipcar drivers when I’m on my bike, but I was pretty shocked at the company’s total lack of accountability on this.
Thoughts? Anything else I could have done?
Photo by PoPville flickr user philliefan99
It’s been a rough week with crime and accidents so I need a fun Friday Question of the Day. Not to mention the weather was so unbelievably beautiful yesterday. So it got me thinking about what I’m most looking forward to with the coming warm weather:
Cherry blossoms and other flowers blooming around town. (Park Service announced peek cherry blossom blooms for between March 24 and March 31)
Outdoor/roof deck dining and drinking. (It’s great to have Standard back at 14th and S St, NW)
And, finally, I can’t wait to go hit the beach!
For today’s FQotD – what are you most looking forward to doing with the coming warm weather?
Photo by PoPville flickr user McGhee Street Photography
This has been a rough week with numerous reports of muggings around town. But something else I read from the MPD-5D listserv really got me thinking about our quality of life. Here’s an excerpt:
Counting the stolen plants, stolen stepping stones, destroyed planter pots, bashed in garage door, and 3 occurrences of spray-painted graffiti, this is the 12th time our Eckington [Ed. Note: specific address removed and this situation could apply to many of the neighborhoods we live in.] property has been vandalized or robbed in the two years and three months since we moved into it. Each incident on its own may seem somewhat insignificant and maybe we should just be happy that we haven’t been mugged at gunpoint yet, but when you look at the combined losses and expenses it is very troublesome. It makes me angry, as well as discouraged.
I know we all have different philosophies/thresholds but I’m curious what would you do if you faced this exact situation. Assuming you are renting or are could sell your property without much of a loss – would you move? Would you set an arbitrary time frame, like, “if it doesn’t stop or get better in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years etc. I’m moving”?
Would your calculations change if you were mugged at gunpoint?
Like I said, we all have different ways of reacting and we may not know how we would react unless we actually experienced them but for today’s Friday Question of the Day – what would you/do you think you would do if you were in the same situation as the OP? Would you ever move to a different neighborhood/city if your quality of life degraded or didn’t improve like you thought it would?
Photo by PoPville flickr user johnmcochran2012
Dear PoPville,
My husband and I have been in our rowhouse for two years and we love it – except for our noisy and angry neighbors that have violent arguments. I expect to hear plenty of noise from neighbors since we live in a city within close proximity to other people. However, we’ve reached our limit with our neighbors’ disruptive behavior. (We’ve called 311 and 911 a few times and the situation isn’t improving.)
We are ready to install QuietRock and/or other sound-deadening materials (with thanks to you and your readers for the suggestions) and we need a reliable contractor who has experience with sound-proofing or is a sound-proofing specialist.
Can you or your readers recommend a contractor with sound-proofing experience? Can anyone comment on any success/disappointment they have had with sound-proofing materials?
I know this topic is brought up often, but we’d really appreciate suggestions!
Dear PoPville,
I’m trying to figure out what to do about this annoying Emergency No Parking situation going on in my neighborhood. A couple days ago, neighbors posted Emergency No Parking signs in front of their house, taking up the space about 5 or 6 cars would fit in. Then, a construction debris container was dropped in front of their house. That’s all fine, especially since there’s no back alley access to our back yards. However, they included reserved space for their construction company’s vans, that don’t show up until 10 a.m. or later. They put up traffic cones to reserve the spaces, even though they’re limited to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The worst part is, the permit is through June 30, 2012, so we have to deal with this for six more months.
The parking restrictions they’ve placed on the block are really excessive, considering it’s hard to find parking there anyway (it’s right behind Penn Ave. SE). I don’t believe you can reserve spaces for anything other than the “roll off debris container” that the parking permit designates the parking restrictions for, but they’re reserving another 3 car-lengths in front of the container. They’ve taken up like 20 percent of the parking spots on that side of the street. I’ve attached pictures to show what I’m talking about.
Any suggestions on who to call on this?
Dear PoPville,
I took this picture last night at 9th and S, NW. I usually see this happen at least once a month at this corner. Is it illegal? Not knowing who is doing it, is there anything to be done? That can is effectively filled until the next garbage day. Shouldn’t people be required to dump this much garbage at their residence?
Does anyone know who this should be reported to 311? DPW?
Photo by PoPville flickr user owash
Dear PoPville,
I really wanted to appeal to all drivers in DC and in the surrounding area who come into the city for work or for fun to please try to be more respectful of posted crosswalks. A few days ago I was almost hit at a crosswalk in front of my house and this was the closest of many near misses over the past year or so. I have taken interest in past postings on this site about crosswalk etiquette for both drivers and pedestrians. based on the discussion in the comments, I realized that drivers may not realize that I was intending to cross when I was waiting on the curb at a crosswalk. I have since begun taking a few steps into the street to about the edge of the parking spots to indicate that I intend to cross. I have noticed that this has absolutely no effect.
Despite clearly waiting to cross, dozens of cars will blow past and I even had one car try to go around a driver that was kind enough to stop for me, almost hitting me. I can sometimes make it halfway across the street but will have to stand in the middle of the street waiting for drivers on the eastbound lane to stop. Usually this means waiting for the light 50 yards down the road to cycle to red and force cars to stop. even so, they often stop in the middle of the crosswalk. The near miss that led me to write this appeal occurred with me standing in the middle of the eastbound lane waiting for a line of westbound traffic to yield or to pass. I stepped into the eastbound lane with no traffic visible coming from that direction and despite being in the middle of the lane, the driver failed to stop.
Having seen other posts, I feel it is important to state the following:
the crosswalk is clearly painted and visible on the street at a T intersection 50 yards from a stop light. It also features a stand up yellow sign on the center line stating that DC law requires motorists to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk.
No single group of drivers are solely responsible — I have seen DC, MD, VA, NJ, GA, and CA drivers fail to yield. Most strikingly, DCPD also fails to yield. I’m not sure how the rest of the public should be expected to respect the law when the PD doesn’t. The worst, however, are WMATA buses. They really like to stop in the middle of the crosswalk when the light is red.
Really, I just want to ask everyone who drives in the district to try to be aware of pedestrian crosswalks and to respect the pedestrians who are trying to cross.
