The Georgetown Metropolitan

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A bit more on CM Pinto’s request for funds relating to the gondola.
• GU’s business school just got a metric ton of money. Again.

Dumbarton Oaks

Left for dead, the proposal to link Georgetown with Rosslyn via an aerial gondola has roared back to life. As first reported by DC Urban Turf, Councilmember Brooke Pinto has submitted a budget request for $14 million related to the project.

The gondola proposal has had a long bumpy (or maybe the right word would be turbulent?) road from being just a glimmer in BID CEO Joe Sternleib’s eye to where it is today: still mostly a glimmer in Joe Sternleib’s eye. But the glimmer just got glimmier.

A small part ($2 million) of the money being request by Pinto would go towards to purchase of the land where the former Key Bridge Exxon was. The stated reason for this acquisition is to convert it to the city’s first electric vehicle charging facility, to be used by taxi/car sharing drivers and other commercial vehicles. The rest would go toward funding a full environmental impact study of the gondola. If it concludes that the project makes sense, the property could be used to serve as the Georgetown terminus. Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Councilmember Pinto requests to add Wisconsin Ave. to the city’s Great Streets initiative to provide small businesses with grants.
• A scaffolding on top of the building where Peacock Cafe is located got blown off in Sunday’s wind storm.

Dumbarton Oaks

East Georgetown residents are receiving Covid vaccines at a much higher rate than west Georgetown residents. This disparity appeared when GM first looked at this data in February, and it has only grown since then.

A total of 1,811 residents in east Georgetown have received at least one vaccination shot. A total of 12.84% of east Georgetown residents (and 47.73% of the seniors) have received a vaccine. (GM should note that the city groups east Georgetown with Kalorama and west Dupont for data reporting purposes).

The story is much different on the west side. So far only 519 west Georgetown residents have received a shot. Only 6.01% of west Georgetowners (and 36.16% of the seniors) have received a shot. Continue reading →

Photo by Jeff Vincent.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Connecting the long-known burials of black residents along Q st. with Georgetown’s slave holding past.
• Swanky new juice shop coming to Prospect St.

Dumbarton Oaks Park

By the end of this week, the air will be filled with the amazing scent of saucer magnolias blooming. To celebrate, GM is re-running his piece from 2017 about magnolia trees. Enjoy!:

This week for Know Your Trees, GM will consider a group of trees known primarily for their flowers: the magnolias.

While there are a wide variety of species and sub-species of magnolias throughout the world, in Georgetown you are likely to see three basic types: southern magnolias, saucer magnolias, and the Yulan magnolia.

The southern magnolia is quite different from the other two. It is easier identified by its big waxy green leaves with cinnamon brown undersides:

Despite having a deciduous look, southern magnolias are actually evergreens. They keep their leaves through the winter, and only start shedding them once new leaves are ready to replace them. (The shedding is a feature that leads many to dislike this tree.)

In the early summer they sport large showy white flowers, although typically they appear only a few at a time on the tree:

There are not a ton of southern magnolias in tree boxes along the sidewalks in Georgetown, but they are everywhere around Georgetown and DC.

Other than the fact that the flowers are similar, the other two magnolias are quite different. Continue reading →

Photo by Ted Eytan.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• L’Annexe cocktail bar plans comeback.
• Shaw’s Green Almond Pantry plans to reopen in Georgetown following a fire last year.