The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Anthony G. Reyes.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A debate over whether to arm GU campus police.
• Falafel, Inc. continues to get good reviews.

1500 block of 33rd St.

The Potomac river is flooding. After basically an entire week of rain, the engorged river is bursting at the seams. Here in Georgetown that means mostly that the Washington Harbour complex is getting flooded. By the middle of the week all this water will be out to sea and the levels will be moving back down to normal. While impressive, it ultimately will not compare to some of the historic floods Georgetown’s had in the past.

The most recent flood that exceeds this current one came in 2011. Like this week’s that flood came from spring rains. But for comparison, the flood gauge at Point of Rocks Maryland reached just over 17 feet this year. In 2011 it reached 22.5 feet.

What was particularly memorable about the 2011 flood was that the managers of the Washington Harbour forgot to raise the flood walls. It was a really bad mistake:

The water completely filled the plaza and found its way into the garages below. Tenants were, shall we say, not pleased. Continue reading →

Photo by Alyson Hurt.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A nice twitter thread describing the routine behavior drivers demonstrate towards cyclists.
• Nice story of GU student walking across the stage for graduation after suffering paralyzing football injury. (We should still probably ban football though.)

Dumbarton Oaks

Tomorrow is Bike to Work Day here in DC. And as it has the last couple years, Georgetown is participating in the festivities.

Bike to Work Day was started way back in 1956 by the League of American Cyclists. Recently it has grown in popularity, particularly in cities like DC that are putting serious efforts into encouraging those that can to consider riding around town on a bike.

How it works is that you register here and select a pit stop to stop at during your trip on Friday. These locations will have on hand “bike ambassadors” to answer any questions you have about biking and how to incorporate it more into your routine. Also, you’ll be entered to win prizes, such as a free bike. Plus there’s free food and drinks to help power your ride into work.

Like in previous years, Georgetown will have a pit stop at the intersection of K and Wisconsin. It will be open from 7:30 to 9:30 am.

You get some pretty good stuff, like the stuff GM got a few years ago:

Continue reading →

Photo by Geoff Livingston.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Yes, GM harangues you about watering your trees, but you, uhh, can probably skip it this week….
• The waterfront movie series is coming back this summer. Check out the schedule.

Potomac Boat Club

This week on Know Your Trees, GM is discussing a tree you’re unlikely to find along the streets of Georgetown, but which you’ll easily find in the surrounding forests: beech.

Beech trees are very easily recognized. They have a smooth gray bark, which makes them popular with people looking to carve their initials (which gives them another feature that makes them easily recognized).

Their leaves are medium sized and have a simple pointed oval form:

In the fall they turn a bright yellow.

According to DDOT’s street tree map, there are just two beeches in Georgetown. (They’re on the southeast corner of Q and 32nd.) The reason they don’t get planted along streets that they grow slowly and do not tolerate urban environments very well. Continue reading →

Photo by Geoff Livingston.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Martha’s Table CEO coming to the Q & A Cafe this week.
• Tom Wolfe once wrote this about Georgetown’s phone numbers: “In such fashionable districts as Georgetown and Chevy Chase, the correct telephone exchange (FEderal or OLiver) has been one of the symbols of status.”