Category Archives: Uncategorized

Montrose Park

The New York Times published a lovely article last week about the benefits over losing your “tree blindness”.  In other words, it extolled the virtues of learning to distinguish between tree species, which would otherwise blend into the background.

The author, DC-resident Gabriel Popkin, wrote:

But here’s the good news: Tree blindness can be cured. A few years ago, I knew two types of native trees, oak and maple. I considered all conifers to be pines. Then in 2012, I took an ecology course in Wisconsin in which we learned to identify 14 tree species — which, in the chilly upper Midwest, actually gets you pretty far. Suddenly the largest, most conspicuous living beings in my environment were no longer strangers. The trees lining my street in Madison with the rough, saucer-size leaves were basswoods. The giant in my backyard with the diamond bark and opposing rows of leaflets neatly lined up like soldiers was an ash.

GM can attest that learning to distinguish between tree species has made him come to value and appreciate the trees we live with. So he’s starting a new series to help you to learn the common street trees in Georgetown. Today he’s discussing maples.

Sugar Maple

This is the star of the fall, when its leaves turn into an explosion of reds and oranges, contrasted with the remaining green. A maple leaf is easy to spot, it looks like this:

And you can tell it’s a sugar maple by the bark, which takes on a shaggy appearance, like this:

Sugar maples are spectacular trees, but they are really struggling with the heat in Georgetown. It’s only a matter of time before they are all dead here, victims of climate change. GM has a great sugar maple outside his house, but it’s showing signs of stress and probably won’t last more than five more years.

Norway Maples

Sugar maples are the most spectacular maples, but Georgetown has other types of maples. The most common other type of maple is the Norway maple. This species is considered invasive in the United States and it is not recommended for planting here. Nonetheless, many are around in Georgetown because it’s known to be a hardy urban tree.

Identifying the Norway maple is relatively easy, but not necessarily by its leaf. The leaf is fairly similar to the sugar maple, but the lobes are a bit thicker.

It’s easier to identify it by the tree’s bark. Unlike the sugar maple’s shaggy bark, the Norway maple has a tight pattern like this:

On top of being invasive, Norway maples also don’t produce the same spectacular fall fireworks that the sugar maple does. It mostly just turns yellow and falls. They are also struggling in Georgetown’s heat.

Red Maple

Less prevalent than the sugar or Norway maple, the red maple is nonetheless an impressive species.

A red maple is easily identified by its distinctive leaf, which has fewer lobes than either the sugar or Norway maple:

It’s easiest to identify red maples in the fall when they explode in red:

Red maples are generally more heat tolerant than sugar or Norway maples (hence they are also known as “swamp maples”) and their natural range spreads from the deep south all the way to Canada.

They grow fairly quickly to an impressive size, which also adds to their popularity. However, like most maples, they tend to have a very shallow root system. In an environment like Georgetown’s, this causes a problem both for the tree and the sidewalk. The roots can become easily damaged by routine utility maintenance, and they can cause the sidewalk to buckle and bend as they grow. Some sub-species of the red maple have deeper seeking roots, but nonetheless it doesn’t seem that the city is planting many, if any, of these trees in Georgetown anymore.

There are a couple of impressive red maples just north of the Safeway parking garage. In a month or so they will burst into a bright red. Keep an eye out for them. Continue reading →

Photo by Marc Andre.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Signs of progress for the new Amazon book store.
• In a bit of a Hail Mary attempt, the DC Preservation League is attempting to have the West Heating Plant designated a historic landmark. This is odd because the same request was denied in 2015.

1700 block of 32nd St.

The DC Department of Transportation just released a new archive of old photos from its collection. It’s located here. GM would like to take advantage of this great archive with a new series: Georgetown Time Machine. In it he’ll take one photo from the archive and highlight what difference time has had on Georgetown.

Today he starts with an aerial shot of the mixing bowl around lower east Georgetown and the Rock Creek Parkway. The photo is most likely from the late 1940s.

Here are some of the interesting items:

The industrial section of Georgetown was still quite industrial at this point. You can see the train tracks, as well as the freight trains themselves, at the eastern end of K St. What’s also quite interesting is that there’s no Whitehurst Freeway. That was opened in 1949, and DDOT says this photo comes from a batch of photos that could come from 1947, so that’s probably the correct date. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown! GM’s back from his late summer trip. Here’s the latest:

• Two men die after jumping into the Potomac river from the old Aqueduct abutment.
• GM hadn’t noticed this: Chopsticks is closed.
• Nice feature on the family behind Cafe Bonaparte.

GM’s heading out of town tomorrow for a late summer trip up north. He’ll be back at the end of August. Stay cool!

3200 block of O St.

The Washington Business Journal has confirmed what some have already guessed that Capital One would do with its recently purchased property at Wisconsin and M. Namely, that the bank plans to turn the property into a Capital One Cafe. This is terribly sad. And lame. Super lame.

This is how the bank describes this new concept:

Capital One Cafes — which combine financial advisory space with a co-working lounge and a food and beverage operation — are designed to attract a younger audience. They are open to the public, not just to Capital One customers. The company has opened up more than 20 around the country but has none in D.C.

This is how GM describes this new concept:

The WBJ article homes in on the real purpose of this extremely expensive endeavor: branding. They write:

When 3150 M St. NW sold for such a high price, David Dochter of Dochter and Alexander Retail Advisors, which represented the seller, said at the time that it was a matter of both “location” and “branding.” The comment makes a lot more sense now as Capital One prepares to put its brand on two of D.C.’s most high profile locations.

There is absolutely no way in hell that Capital One will ever get a return from the retail business at this location to justify the $50 million it paid for the property. They can’t sell enough lattés or lines of credit to get this location into the black. But viewed instead like a giant billboard, then it makes sense. (Or at least gets closer to making sense). Continue reading →

Photo by Marc Andre.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Via Umbria’s new chef.
• Georgetown has three of Eater’s most essential coffee shops.