The Georgetown Metropolitan

GM is still in rerun mode today, so please enjoy his second installment in his Seven Georgetowns series:

Two weeks ago, GM introduced a new series: Seven Georgetowns. The basic idea is that Georgetown is made up of seven individual sections that if they were to be judged as neighborhoods on their own, they’d still have a ton to offer their residents. And today, GM will discuss the section he affectionately refers to as the DMZ.

Yes, it’s DMZ like “de-militarized zone”. The idea is that it is a narrow strip of contested land between two large powers that is operating under an indefinite armistice. The powers in this case are Georgetown University and “the residents”. (Much like genuine DMZ’s, there’s a sensitivity over terminology. Full-time non-student residents like to call themselves “residents”, but students are residents too, so the term is a bit loaded.)

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The car used in the drive-by shooting outside Nationals Park was found on Water St. in Georgetown.
• The Cat Cafe claws back.

Summer makes for some slow news days, so GM is going to re-run his Seven Georgetowns series from a few years back. And as NBC used to say, if you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you!

A common refrain you’ll hear from longer time Georgetown residents is that the neighborhood isn’t what it once was. GM doesn’t have to list all the old stores or restaurants that people miss. Or any other neighborhood amenity lost to history.

What GM would like to suggest today is that maybe Georgetown is somehow less than the sum of its parts. In other words, when considered as an entire neighborhood, there are countless complaints about what it lacks or has in excess. But people rarely experience the entire neighborhood on any sort of a regular basis. If most residents are like GM, they spend most of their time in the neighborhood within 5-7 blocks or so.

And when you start breaking up Georgetown into some natural groupings around that premise, you end up with seven smaller “neighborhoods”. And each is distinct from the others with impressive strengths and unique drawbacks. So maybe Georgetown as a whole is great, and maybe it isn’t. But the seven sub-neighborhoods are pretty great when judged on their own.

GM came up with a map, seen above, with these seven sub-neighborhoods. Is it a perfect map reflecting all residents’ views? Of course not. But it is GM’s best guess. Suggest your own changes below if you’d like!

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU to return to standard grading this fall.
• WATER YOUR STREET TREES! It hasn’t rained substantial amounts in weeks.

This week on Georgetown Time Machine, GM visits the cheerful presence of a smiling nurse. The photo is from inside Georgetown University Hospital and was taken during Christmastime in 1954. It comes from the Daryl C. Crain, Jr. photo collection at the DCPL archives.

GM doesn’t have too much more to add about the scene, since sadly there’s no information as to who the nurse is. But he can tell you that the hat she is wearing is known as a nurse’s cap. It was the hat traditionally worn by members of her profession for centuries. At Georgetown, nurse students would receive their cap in a ceremony following their second year:

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Sandlot added a plant-based burger truck.
• Pro-insurrection propaganda posters seen around the neighborhood.

A resident on P St. is apparently fed up with flower thieves and has the receipts.

At least that’s what appears to be the case based upon an amusing poster that was tied to a tree on the street. It reads:

When you were
stealing those
flowers,
Did you notice our
doorbell camera?

[winking emoji]

What to do with
the footage??

Us: [angry emoji][devil emoji]
You: [sweating emoji][sad emoji]

GM’s had his experience having things stolen from his porch and catching the thief in the act on camera. It even once made the New York Times. So he can sympathize with the flower-less resident. Posting the footage probably won’t lead to anyone getting caught, or even somewhat shamed. But you never know. Maybe it will also make its way to national news.