The Georgetown Metropolitan

GM has lots of unpopular opinions. For instance, he thinks ketchup, mustard, and mayo are all terrible and ruin any sandwich or hot-dog they’re on. He thinks Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney is good as far as Christmas pop tunes go. And-more relevant to today’s discussion-he thinks the West Heating Plant on 29th St. in Georgetown is an attractive building.

Of course it isn’t like most architecture in Georgetown. And perhaps for that reason alone most people hate it. When they elaborate on their hatred, it normally involves words like “looming” or “gargantuan”. GM thinks those are all features of what is in fact an attractive and muscular style. It shares Streamlined Moderne features you’d just as likely find in a 1940’s Buick. In fact, in many ways the building and the works it contains is itself like some gigantic mid-century V8 engine covered up with a giant hood:

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Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Photo of one of the enslaved men sold by Georgetown University surfaces.
• Only a couple more days to eat at the Shophouse, which is closing Friday.

1500 block of 33rd St.

GM writes a lot about street trees and what you can do to help them stay alive, and, moreover, what you shouldn’t do, like prune them yourself. You might be led to conclude that if a tree is on your property, you can do whatever you like. But that is simply not true. The city has strict regulations about how you can prune or take down a tree on your property. And a resident just flagrantly violated those rules and will likely face a hefty fine as a result.

The rules are fairly complicated, but roughly speaking: if you have a decent sized tree on your property you cannot cut it down or dramatically prune it without either getting an arborist to certify that it’s dying or paying a fairly large fee. The rules have been around for a while, but they were updated last year by Council legislation. Here are the rules in more detail: Continue reading →

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Press Secretary gets confronted at the Georgetown Apple Store.
• Lots of the most expensive homes sold in DC last month were in Georgetown.

1500 block of 34th St.

There is supposedly a snow storm bearing down on us. GM figures the best way to jinx the storm and get no snow is to show a bunch of pictures of when we did get hit with a lot of snow. Surely that will do it!

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Photo by Zach Stern.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Shop House is really, truly, shutting down this time. No word on what will replace it. It seems unlikely to be converted to a Chipotle, since there’s already one in Georgetown. Some articles suggest that they are simply selling all the leases.
• Always lots to do in Georgetown.

3500 block of Prospect St.

Photo by Mararie.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM couldn’t make it to the meeting on the new plans for the West Heating Plant last night, but Urban Turf had it covered.
• Speaking of Urban Turf, they are also reporting that a raze application has been filed on the gas station at Pennsylvania Ave. and M St.