The Georgetown Metropolitan

Yesterday, DCist ran in interesting piece identifying various unusual or notable trees around the District. Probably the most impressive on the list is the nearly 400 year old white pine bonsai kept at the arboretum. But several Georgetown trees make the cut too. Including the katsura trees at Dumbarton Oaks:

A couple Himalayan cedars, also at Dumbarton Oaks, and the massive tulip poplar on the northwest corner of Montrose Park (top photo).

These are all great trees, but GM wanted to highlight a few more notable trees in our neighborhood.

The first group are a couple of Chinese dawn redwoods planted at the P St. home of Sophia Owen.

These trees were planted by Owen in the 1960s, and if you get a good wide view of east Georgetown, you will see that they tower over all the buildings and trees. They now stand approximately 110 feet tall. If they’re left alone and healthy, they could eventually grow to over 400 feet tall. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The existential side of Hela spa.
• Two storefronts on M St. are heading to auction.

2900 block of K St.

On the same day that a loving tribute to the departed Current newspapers appeared in the Washington Post, Georgetowners (and other NW DC residents) would be excused for doing a double-take when approaching their front door. Sitting there was what appeared to be a Current newspaper. This would be completely surprising given that the company filed for total liquidation earlier this spring.

But opening the cellophane bag and flipping open the paper would reveal that it wasn’t a Current newspaper, but something that looks almost identical: the Northwest Courier.

The Northwest Courier is the work of several former Current staff members, Brendan Martin and Kaleel Weatherly, who wanted to recreate the service that the beloved Current had delivered for generations. Continue reading →

Photo by Russ Morris.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Loving tribute to the Current.
• New on-street murals on K/Water St.

Georgetown Waterfront Park

NBC reported earlier this week, that WMATA is again studying what can be done to relieve the train congestion in the tunnel between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom. NBC floats the possibility that the solution could ultimately lead to one or even two new Metro stops in Georgetown. Although GGW poured a little cold water on the possibility that the study would ultimately support such an ambitious plan, GM thought it would be a good time to revisit why it is that congestion on the Orange and Blue lines could help justify the Georgetown stations. Here is an article he published in 2013 after another Metro study supported the more ambitious plan:

As GM has written multiple times in the past, WMATA’s long term planners have contemplated bringing the Metro to Georgetown in the distant future. While the future is still distant, the planners nonetheless took an important step recently and endorsed a Metrorail expansion that would create two stations in Georgetown.

The exact details remain somewhat fuzzy, but as you can see above from the map accompanying the announcement, the planners call for a new tunnel under the Potomac and a new subway line heading underneath M St. and onward to Union Station. This part of the plan is very similar to most ideas the planners have floated in the past. But what the train would do after Union Station is dramatically different in this plan than in the earlier ones.

Rather than branch out through H St. and of eastward, the line would head south towards the Capitol, and then curl back through SW DC towards the Pentagon. It would in effect create a loop line, similar to other loop lines around the world. Continue reading →

Photo by M R.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Jack Evans is asking for a chance to explain himself.
• It’s always a good time for tiki drinks. And Farmers Fishers and Bakers has always had one of the best tiki drinks in the city.

Potomac River

ANC 2E will be meeting for its July meeting next Monday, July 1st. Since there’s no August meeting, this will be the last meeting until September. As such, this meeting tends to be one of the longer ones.

There are not blockbuster topics on the agenda, but a couple might spark your interests:

• The future of Jelleff Field
• The future of 5G wireless towers in Georgetown
• The effort by the BID to bring more predictability to the Old Georgetown Board proceedings
• A new accessory dwelling unit application

Continue reading →