The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Darian Glover.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown’s own Golden Girls.
• The Q&A Cafe has Andrew Sullivan on January 27th.

36th St.

In what seems to be an annual event, GM forgot once more to mark the anniversary of the restoration of the historic Georgetown Metropolitan publication. His very first post was back on December 8, 2008, so that makes it eight years that he’s been prattling on like this. That’s easily at least five more years than he expected. One of these days he’ll come up with a good excuse to finally give it a rest, but until then, onward.

As is his tradition, GM likes to review what were the top five most read articles published over the past year. They are:

#5 – The Missed Opportunity of the Social Safeway

Here GM argues that Safeway made a mistake back when it tore down the old “Social Safeway” and constructed a new one without building residential units. The upper Georgetown commercial corridor seems to suffer for lack of foot traffic and more residents could have helped. This theory may get a test in the future as the former Days Inn just up Wisconsin Ave. gets converted to a mixed use project.

#4 – Laduree Almost Certainly Coming

Here GM correctly predicted that the fancy French macaron shop, Laduree, was coming to Georgetown. It still hasn’t opened though…

#3 – Five Guys to Close

The Five Guys closed. That’s about all the information this article communicated, but people sure love articles about stores opening or closing.

#2 – How to Make Another Georgetown

This article was a response to an article in the New York Times arguing against redevelopment in Harlem. GM’s basic point is that fighting development won’t prevent it from coming, and all that will happen is that poor residents will get pushed out even faster, as happened here in Georgetown.

#1 – The Mandate to Remember Black Georgetown

In this article, GM makes the argument that Georgetown’s history of preservation and its history of pushing out Black residents were not unconnected phenomenons. It’s an article that GM is especially proud of, and he would love it if you gave it a read. That it was the most read article he wrote last year is a bright spot in an otherwise dreary twelve months.

Final note:

These were the most read newly written articles. Some of GM’s old articles were even more. For some reason the 2011 version of his article on osage oranges is by far the most popular article from the last year. It was read five times more than his article on Black Georgetown. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Photo by Darian Glover.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Baked and Wired makes list of best bakeries in the world.
• That huge house that Rose and Joe Kennedy lived in (briefly) is for sale again for, like, the 10th time in the last couple years.

Potomac River

Recently a flotilla of barges appeared at the foot of the Key Bridge. They are there to assist in the rehabilitation of the bridge, which is just now kicking off. But what is being done for the project?

Most of the tasks are maintenance-oriented. According to a flyer produced by the BID they include:

Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• People really looking forward to Johnny Spero’s Reverie restaurant off of Grace St.
• This may be an expensive home, but it’s not a “federal”.

C & O Canal

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM’s not certain but he believes these barges appearing by the Georgetown waterfront are for the Key Bridge rehab project.
• Top ten moments from last year, according to the BID.

Cashell Alley