The Georgetown Metropolitan

Will Georgetowners and those to the west soon get some relief from airplane noise? They may, if a plan floated by the FAA to change the routes of planes leaving National Airport is adopted.

While planes have been flying in and out of National Airport for generations, locals began complaining about the noise more in the last several years. The problem’s gotten worse, they say, because of the “Next Gen” procedures that allow the planes to cut over land more and not stay directly above the Potomac. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• After coming back from a corporate bankruptcy, the Pinkberry is closed again.
• New coffee and juice bar now open on Grace. Sundevich coming soon.

Cady’s Alley

Starting this summer, a new farmers market has been setting up every Sunday morning in front of the old Marvelous Market at P and Wisconsin. It’s by Licking Creek Farms and offers a variety of produce and other items. Maybe you’ve visited it, but chances are you haven’t because the market won’t keep coming unless more customers come. GM has heard that the vendor is considering closing the market unless business improves.

That’s the thing with commercial amenities like farmers markets or specialty grocery stores. Everyone says they want them, but when they do actually open, often there’s not enough actual demand to keep it open. Of course, it’s not solely the fault of the fickle public. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU Hospital files its expansion plans.
• In Georgetown, the average price per square foot of housing is around $800.

1800 block of Wisconsin Ave. (in August)

GM had earlier reported on the coming retirements of several of the current ANC commissioners, but now he can say for certain who will be on the ballot to replace them. Here are the names you’ll see in the voting booth:

• SMD 01: The only long-time commissioner not to resign or face a competitor, Ed Solomon will continue to represent Burleith and Hillandale on the ANC
• SMD 02: Ron Lewis is stepping down and the GM-endorsed Joe Gibbons is running unopposed.
• SMD 03: Jeff Jones is also stepping down and there is a real race to replace him. The ANC’s pro bono counselor, Rick Murphy, is on the ballot and also received GM’s endorsement. Rick will face Greg Miller, who is running a strong campaign. Miller is a relatively recent graduate of Georgetown University who has been fairly active in community affairs (he serves with GM on the transportation working group of the Georgetown Community Partnership). With it being an open seat, it really could go either way.
• SMD 04: The older of the student districts, this one has a single candidate running, the incumbent Mara Goldman.
• SMD 05: Bill Starrels is of course running again for his long held seat. But this year he has competition from Lisa Palmer. Taking down an incumbent like Starrels will be tough, especially in a district with a lot of relatively inaccessible apartment buildings. So Palmer has her worked cut out for her. But the ballot box can surprise you!
• SMD 06: Yet another long time commissioner is stepping down from this district: Tom Birch. Jim Wilcox will run unopposed for this seat. Wilcox has long been active in the Georgetown Business Association, and his views will likely be influenced by that experience. That said, GM has worked alongside Jim many times on various issues and even though GM doesn’t always agree with him, he’s found Jim to be a thoughtful advocate.
• SMD 07: Monica Roaché is running unopposed for this seat. Monica first won this seat last election and has been a fantastic addition to the commission. GM is thrilled she’s re-upping.
• SMD 08: This is the relatively new district on the Georgetown campus. Zachary Schroepfer is running unopposed. (Side note: Congrats to Mara and Zachary for getting on the ballot. It’s a real challenge for students to find eligible voters from their SMDs in the middle of the summer to sign their petition. They often fail, so it’s great to see them both succeed.)

Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• This is very surprising: 1789 is moving to a tasting menu format.
• GM has reported this for a while, but as you can see: Laduree is coming to M St.

Georgetown Visitation

GM’s going to ease back into the grind with a fairly straight forward Now and a Long Time Ago. It shows the scene of 35th and Canal Rd. as of 1959. It’s from DDOT’s historic collection.

There are a couple interesting things about the historic shot. The first is to not how many more trees there are today than in 1959. Most of the time when GM superimposes shots from the mid-century, there are far more trees. But here there are really far fewer trees, particularly on the far side of the bridge. (It was also winter at the time of the shot, but even taking that into account, the area that became Francis Scott Key Park is pretty barren). Continue reading →