The Georgetown Metropolitan

In GM’s article yesterday, he mentioned that the Census Bureau counted about 800 fewer people in Georgetown in 2020 versus 2010. GM speculated that much of that could be attributed to undercounting caused by the pandemic. But a look at the more granular data presents a different story.

Above is a map of the Census block groups for the Georgetown area. Each block group shows the 2020 count (on top), the nominal change since 2010 (the middle), and the percentage change. As you can see, for most of Georgetown the changes were fairly minor. In east Georgetown, the upper, lower and eastern groups were basically the same. In the upper portions of west Georgetown, the numbers were also fairly flat. But the remaining groups showed some noticeable variation.

Most notably, the lower west part of Georgetown lost 571 people, over a quarter of the population. The next block group up (basically M up to O St. between Wisconsin and 35th) lost 127, over 12%. Conversely, Georgetown University gained 192, almost 5%.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Ritz Carlton condo sells for $11 million, setting a record.
• Bill that would allow open containers at the Georgetown Harbour moves forward.

At Monday night’s ANC meeting, two representatives of the ANC redistricting committee discussed a draft plan to redraw the Georgetown ANC district lines. The changes would be minor, but may require some dispensation to become approved.

The reps, former ANC commissioner Monica Roache and Burleith Citizens Association president Eric Lagenbacher, are on the Ward 2 task force charged with redrawing the boundaries both between ANCs and within them. In ANC2E’s case, there will be no changes to the boundaries of the ANC itself. But some changes are necessary for the individual districts within it (known as single member districts, or SMDs).

Each SMD is required to contain between 1,900 and 2,100 residents. The count must come from the decennial census. And Georgetown lost population under that count. Here is a chart shared at the ANC meeting showing the population changes for each SMD from 2010 (the second column) and 2020 (the third):

GM’s written briefly about this apparent drop in population. It’s unclear whether this drop is real or just a product of a pandemic-driven undercount. Regardless of the cause of this drop, these are the numbers that the task force has to use.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• New art studio opens on 33rd St.
• Nice article on the original Georgetown bulldog.

GM writes an occasional series called the Ghosts of Markets Past, wherein he explores the former corner markets that used to dot the neighborhood. In researching for that series he came across a fantastic resource: a list of all chain grocery stores in DC as included in various city directories. Although GM’s quest to highlight all the corner stores will continue, he wanted to compile the Georgetown locations from that listing.

The map above shows the Georgetown locations of various chain grocery stores in the 1930s and 1940s. (Here is a link to the map). The vast majority of them were Sanitary grocery stores. (This was a chain started in Bethesda by John Letts in 1909. By 1927, Letts bought Piggly Wiggly and had 362 locations. The next year Safeway bought out Sanitary.) Beyond the Sanitary grocery stores, there were a handful of A&Ps and Piggly Wigglys.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A sign in the window at L’Enfant Gallery states that they are indeed leaving the space, with the goal of staying in Georgetown.
• The newly reopened Whole Foods up in Glover Park made the New York Times and shopping there sounds frankly like an alarming experience.

A new “apartment hotel” has come to Georgetown. The hotel is the work of Sonder, a company that both manages AirBnb’s and offers its own apartments directly.

The company has secured 11 units at 1111 30th St. They are offering a mix of studio apartments up to two-bedroom apartments. Like Airbnb, the guests are charged nightly. In this case rates range from $117 up to $247 a night.

From what GM can tell, it appears these units are all from the form Georgetown Suites complex which closed down last year. At the time it was closed, it was announced that the units were being converted to residential. Considering that it had 224 units, it would appear that most of them may still be headed in that direction. These eleven units being advertised on Sonder are a small slice of the whole building.