The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Joe Flood.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM got a little ahead of himself yesterday. Despite releasing a feasibility study saying that constructing the Palisades Trolley Trail would be a good idea, DDOT apparently doesn’t actually want to do it. So it won’t buy the Foundry Branch Trestle Bridge and WMATA will have it destroyed. Big win for “bike friendly” Georgetown University! Not to mention all those that claim to care about historic preservation when it means blocking construction of condos, but not when an actual significant piece of history will be scrap-heaped! It’s amazing how honest people become once you propose something that might make some cyclists less likely to die.
• In other distressing news: A Californian woman was arrested for making bomb threats against Georgetown Visitation over the school’s decision to report its alumnae’s same-sex marriages in its alumni magazine.

1100 block of 34th St.

Photo by Brett Young.

The DC Department of Transportation released the results of its feasibility study into the construction of a pedestrian/bike trail between Georgetown and the Palisades. It ultimately recommends the construction of the trail and also recommends repurposing the Foundry Branch Trestle Bridge for the eastern end of the trail.

Here’s the report (just read the Executive Summary if you want the highlights):

The study came from an effort to take the existing right-of-way that the city has through the Palisades (which once was where the Glen Echo Trolley went) and rehab it to be better suited for pedestrian and bike use. By bringing the trail all the way to Georgetown, it would provide a much needed non-auto connection between the neighborhoods. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Don’t be alarmed at the “police activity” at the western end of Water St. tonight. The city is filming a PSA.
• The special election to fill the Ward 2 seat will be held on June 16th. Confusingly this will be two weeks after the primary election for the same seat.

1400 block of 30th St.

Facing almost certain expulsion from the DC Council, Jack Evans submitted his resignation yesterday. It will be effective as of January 17th.

This brings to an end a remarkable downfall of one of DC’s most powerful–and certainly most long lasting–politicians. And the lion’s share of the credit for this turn of events is Jeffrey Anderson of the District Dig. Long before the Washington Post was on the scene–or even the FBI raiding Evans house–Anderson was raising difficult questions about Evans’ relationship to a variety of parties trying to do business with the District government.

As GM wrote last June, Evans’ last act of public service should be for him to walk away. It took a bit longer for him to realize this than it ought to have, but Evans finally took that step yesterday. It prevented the distinct shame of becoming the first Councilmember ever expelled from the Council. But by waiting this long, he eliminated all doubt that that’s how it would have otherwise ended. Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Jack Evans to resign (more on this later).
• This is one of the most spectacular properties in Georgetown.

Georgetown Waterfront

Delta Phi Epsilon–Georgetown University’s foreign service-themed fraternity–is selling the house it has long occupied at 3401 Prospect St. It can be yours for $3.9 million.

As is.

And “as is” seems to include a lot of crap the fraternity is leaving behind:

Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Locals try to keep E.D.E.N. Southworth’s name alive, Georgetown’s most famous author.
• Here’s a great history that goes deeper into Southworth’s history and her legendary cottage on Prospect St.