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Last September, as part of its ambitious agenda the Georgetown BID issued a monumental report on the state of Georgetown. As GM wrote then, the report: “GM has only started to absorb it, but it is an incredibly dense report with data GM could only dream about pulling together. And it’s beautifully presented as well.”

The BID is quickly back with an updated report for 2014, and it’s even better. The report would be notable enough for its glossy and professional design, but it’s much deeper than that. Like the previous report, it contains fascinating data on the state of Georgetown. GM invites you to read it below, but in the meantime, here are some of the more eye-popping data-points from the report: Continue reading →

Photo by Michael Cisneros.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Is Bikeshare good or bad for bike shops? Well, before bikeshare, we had three bike shops in Georgetown. With the recent opening of District Cycleworks on P St., we now have five.
• Checking out the “Grace” condo on Grace st.

1500 block of 33rd St.

Photo by 
Shinya ICHINOHE.

Over the winter, GM wrote about the prospect of homeowners turning their homes into proto-Bed and Breakfasts with the Airbnb service. Well now word comes that Airbnb wants to do for restaurants what it’s done for the hotel business. In short: it wants to enable you to turn your house into a restaurant.

As Slate describes:

Airbnb, already the scourge of hoteliers the world over, may now be taking aim at your local bistro. Apparently restless with its wildly successful business of letting users rent their homes to travelers, Reuters reports that the startup has launched a small pilot program in San Francisco where hosts can charge strangers to attend a dinner party.

Slate goes on to throw cold water on the idea, explaining how much of a pain in the ass running a restaurant is, and how easily (and quickly) the regulators would shut it down (although the same could be said of Airbnb right now, but it still operates, albeit in a legally gray area). Continue reading →

Photo by Geoff Livingston.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Evermay Chamber ensemble gets out of the house a bit.
• Rats.

3200 block of Q St.

Photo by Steve Fernie.

Last week at Greater Greater Washington, Palisades resident Brett Young argued for the creation of a new bike/pedestrian path from Georgetown out to Glen Echo. It would follow the old Cabin John trolley path owned by the city and WMATA.

Young explains:

The trail was once wide enough to accommodate two trolleys, about 25 feet. On this section, the trail would need to be paved, and the bridges rebuilt. Even with paving just 10 feet wide the trail could have room for bicyclists, joggers, and others to enjoy this resource.

The challenges for a project like this are legion. But let just consider for a moment what this would look like if it were built. Yes, there are two significant bike/hike trails parallel to this (the canal towpath and the C&O trail), but this would address a need not met by these trails. Most of all, consider how difficult it is to use the trails to get between Georgetown and Palisades. If you use the trail from Georgetown, there is really only one spot way out by the Delcaria reservoir where you can awkwardly cut up off the trail and access the neighborhood. And that’s, of course, after traveling all the way down to the waterfront to get to the trail in the first place.

Of course, you could always just use Reservoir to get between the neighborhoods, but that has several fairly long and steep inclines. Plus, cars drive too fast on that road. Continue reading →

Photo by PLM.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown has an average “luxury home” price of $2.895 million (whatever the hell that means).
• Speaking of average home, this map will show you the average home age for a block. (Keep in mind, however, that the data for Georgetown is probably wrong. Homes built before 1900 are often given the date of 1900 by default.)

Dumbarton Oaks

This week in Old Georgetown in Color, GM sticks with the Hoya theme (it’s easier to find good old black and white photos of them). The grim fellow above is Bill Hudack. He’s shown here in 1921, the year he captained the squad to a respectable 10-4 record. He was head coach in 1929-30 and found slightly less success, managing a 13-12 record.