3200 block of P St. (clearly not from today)

GM had a snow day yesterday and took the opportunity to walk around Georgetown and take stock of the sidewalks and roads. His findings: Most residents held up their end of the deal, but it only takes one bad apple on a street to cancel out the efforts of its neighbors.  But residents were head and shoulders above businesses, who have left most of the sidewalks on M and Wisconsin almost untouched by shovel or salt.

Ideally a sidewalk should be shoveled down to the brick. For the record, that is exactly what GM did in front of his home:

Not everyone has a shovel good enough to scrape the snow off the bricks (although GM was doing a pretty handy job using a pizza peel until his neighbor lent him a shovel).  After a storm like last weekend’s blizzard, it seems acceptable to have a thin layer of packed snow.  If that’s the case, you still ought to throw down some (pet-friendly) salt to make sure you don’t end up with a sheet of ice.

But a disappointing number of residents and businesses failed to meet even that lax standard.  With all the entrepreneurs running around offering to shovel your sidewalk, to do nothing truly earns you the Sidewalk of Shame title.

GM took a random walk through the village and came across several Sidewalks of Shame:

R St. between Avon and 31st.

Reservoir and 32nd. This is a classic example of the negligent corner-house owner. They cleared out the sidewalk in front of their door but completely ignored the Reservoir St. side.  If you don’t like it, I’m sure there are plenty of non-corner lot homeowners that would be happy to trade houses with you.

Reservoir and Wisconsin. This is the bottom of that giant estate next to the Georgetown Library. They did absolutely nothing on the south side. This is lazy and anti-social. Whoever owns that gigantic property can afford to pay someone to shovel the snow on both sides. Again, if that’s too much to ask, GM is happy to trade homes with you.

Reservoir and Wisconsin. This is the north side of A Mano. They cleared the sidewalk in front of the store but did nothing to the north side. Not very neighborly.

Wisconsin Ave. With a few notable exceptions, this was pretty much the scene everywhere on Wisconsin Ave. A path was beaten through the snow, but it was far from even and would be treacherous for anyone with mobility issues. The longer they wait, the more that rough trail will turn into an icy rough trail. It is somewhat understandable that shop keepers were unable to come in before today to clear the sidewalk. But arrangements could have been made. GM puts a lot of the blame on the BID. They should have coordinated the effort.

31st St. below R St. This is an example of another common phenomenon. As you may be able to see, there is a broken tree branch across the sidewalk at the top of the photo. It seems that a lot of homeowners used the presence of a tree branch as an excuse for not shoveling. Yes a full blown fallen tree is a good reason to come up short. A stray tree branch isn’t.

R St. and Wisconsin Ave. This is the beautiful Second Empire house on the northeast corner of R and Wisconsin. Notice that they have a lovely plowed driveway. The sidewalk, on the other hand, is absolutely untouched. Why does it seem the more expensive the house, the more irresponsible the behavior?

R St. between Avon and 31st St. The District itself is not pulling its weight either. Nothing has been done in front of the Jackson School and the Hurt Home. Not much has been done to R St. itself either, and plowing streets should be the main concern of DDOT. But the city cannot completely ignore city-owned property. What makes this even worse is that across the street the Park Service has done nothing to clear the northern sidewalk either. So between Avon Place and Lover’s Lane, there is nowhere to walk on R St. except the street. (For the record, NPS had workers out clearing walkways inside Montrose Park on Saturday. But they ignored the sidewalk.)

N and 27th. This is from a reader who reports that these residents cleared a path for themselves but did nothing to the rest of the sidewalk. Everyone else on the block cleared a path.

N and 27th. Alexander Memorial Baptist Church. Churches face the same issue that businesses do, namely nobody lives there who can wake up and clear the sidewalk. That said, by Sunday afternoon they should have made arrangements to have the sidewalk cleared. They didn’t. Add one more Sidewalk of Shame.

So if you see your house on this list, you are being a bad neighbor! Clear your sidewalks!

Please send in your own snapshots of Sidewalks of Shame to Georgetownmetropolitan@gmail.com.

Rose Park by Antisocialtory.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Yet another day off for federal workers.
• NBC dubs Martin’s Tavern the snowbound hotspot.
• Mt. Pleasant woman believes Georgetown got special treatment for snow removal. Apparently said woman has not actually visited Georgetown recently.

1500 block of Wisconsin Ave.

You may be nursing a bad back from shoveling out your front stoop, but GM sincerely hopes you were able to get out and enjoy the scenery this weekend. It was truly something special.

GM was out with his camera at about 11:00 Saturday morning and caught these shots:

Most stores were closed, obviously, but a handful of bars and taverns were open. GM saw Cafe Bonaparte, Martin’s, J. Paul’s, and Clyde’s. Oh, and Georgetown Cupcake. With a line. Good on ‘em!

The snow took a long time to start accumulating, as this time elapsed shot out GM’s front window shows:

Some observations:

• While there are plenty of residents who did little to nothing to clear the sidewalk outside their home, businesses seemed to do an even worse job.
• It wouldn’t be economically viable all the time, but it was awfully nice to walk on M and Wisconsin and only see your neighbors strolling about.
• A snowplow got stuck in the snow on M St. Not a great sign.
• Someone left a Lexus with diplomatic plates mired in the middle of the intersection 30th and O St. Did they think the plates offered immunity from common sense?
• Who in DC just keeps cross country skis around?

How’d Snowmageddon treat you?

Good morning Georgetown, dug out yet?

• GU students don’t let a little massive blizzard keep them from their Hoyas.
• How about that? Circulator running, for free, today.
• Anti-social neighbor on O St.

Lover’s Lane

By the time this post appears, the first few snow flakes of a supposedly historic snowstorm should be falling on Georgetown. Just Wednesday GM issued a call for photos of egregious non-sidewalk shovelers. So far he’s only received one entry. Surely this snowstorm will provide additional competition.

But to see if he can’t shame a few more homeowners into doing their duty, GM is posting that one photo he received. It’s from the corner of Wisconsin and R St.

The photo highlights one of the common causes of icy sidewalks: corner lots. In this particular case, the owner might be forgiven into think that the BID would clear the Wisconsin Ave. sidewalk (clearly the BID doesn’t and given the steep grade, the owner really should be especially certain it’s cleared). But as a general rule, as a corner lot homeowner, you have the responsibility to clear the sidewalk on the whole length of your property, not just the side you exit from.

For the record the law is DC Code Section 9-601:

It shall be the duty of every person, partnership, corporation, joint-stock company, or syndicate in charge or control of any building or lot of land within the fire limits of the District of Columbia, fronting or abutting on a paved sidewalk, whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee, or otherwise, within the first 8 hours of daylight after the ceasing to fall of any snow or sleet, to remove and clear away, or cause to be removed and cleared away, such snow or sleet from so much of said sidewalk as is in front of or abuts on said building or lot of land.

This storm is supposed to last into Saturday night, so you’ll have until an hour or so before kick-off on Super Bowl Sunday to get those sidewalks clear. GM has seen plenty of guys with shovels going door-to-door, so even if you’re physically unable, you should still be able to fulfill your legal responsibility.

Snowy Georgetown by Jim Malone.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown Visitation student teams with mentor for rewarding partnership.
• Georgetown’s getting another Circulator: Council approves new Circulator route to replace remaining Blue Bus route. The old route appears to be not affected by the change.
• Psst, the best places to sled around Georgetown are Montrose Park and Archibold Parkway (just South of Reservoir).

3200 block of O St.