The Georgetown Metropolitan

1000 block of Wisconsin Ave.

The stretch of Wisconsin Ave. between Dumbarton and P has long been the ugly duckling of Georgetown’s retail drags. The buildings have long since fallen into serious disrepair. While people have floated endless speculative theories as to why the perceived quality of the shops is so poor (i.e. accusations of money laundering or drug dealing) the reality is that the tenants are there because nobody else wants to move in to the shoddy buildings. And the building owners have been unwilling to invest in the buildings to change that. That condition, however, appears to be slowly ending.

As everyone can see, Robert Bell has brought the shabby Georgetown Theater back into pristine condition. But the buildings immediately to the north are some of the worst looking buildings in all commercial Georgetown. And now they are both slated for dramatic renovations. A banner announced this in the window of the former location of Village Arts and Craft. If you can believe it, this building will soon look like the picture above. And while it doesn’t have a banner in the window, the next building up the block is also slated for a similar overhaul. Continue reading →

Photo by Lauren Rauk.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Footage of Jackie Kennedy moving into the home that’s for sale now. It happened in the wake of JFK’s assassination, and, frankly, it was attention like this that forced her to move out shortly thereafter.
• District Donut popup opened in Cady’s Alley.

1500 block of Wisconsin Ave.

Yesterday, Georgetown University released a draft for their next campus plan. For those that have been around the neighborhood more than a couple year, they likely remember the contentious last campus plan that ended up with a happy ending. This plan is off to a much better start, and is likely to not face nearly the same conflict before approval. Much of that is due to the success of the last plan, although Georgetown’s relatively modest proposals will likely also contribute to a smooth approval.

The Last Plan

The last time Georgetown went through this was much worse. It was ugly, with nasty comments coming from both the permanent residents and the campus. The university refused to buckle to the neighbors’ and ANC’s demands, and pushed the fight to the Zoning Commission. After fighting it out at the Zoning Commission, and somewhat beyond, the school and neighbors reached a settlement (two years into the ten years that the plan was supposed to cover).

Key to the settlement was the creation of the Georgetown Community Partnership. It’s a steering committee, with a series of working groups covering a range of relevant topics like safety and student life, or transportation and parking. The committees are made up of school administrators, students, and representatives of the ANCs and the citizens groups. (Disclosure: GM represents the Citizens Association of Georgetown on the Transportation and Parking working group.)

The committees work well. By bringing the neighbors into the discussion, they can feel that their voice is being heard, while at the same time learning more directly from the school about challenges they face in accomplishing various shared goals. Continue reading →

Photo by Lauren Rauk.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• How the Georgetown gondola fits in with a wider movement.
• Can a renovation of an already renovated house really double the price?

1300 block of Wisconsin Ave.

Photo by Jon Hayes Photography.

It’s that time of year again when GM harangues you about caring for our precious street trees. So here is goes:

Water your street trees!

We’ve had an unusually wet spring. And you do not need to start watering street trees immediately. But it will become necessary sooner than you think. So if you have a young tree on the sidewalk in front of your house or apartment, please, please keep it in mind this summer and water it. The basic goal you should have is to water young trees at least once a week (although on weeks like this, it’s probably ok to skip it), so long as you get a good 20-25 gallons of water.

If you have a gator (the green bags, which aren’t preferred anymore since they can hurt the bark if they’re not taken off when not in use) or the ooze tube (the brown bags, which are preferred now since you can leave them on without harming the tree) you should just fill it up and let it run. Continue reading →

Photo by Lauren Rauk.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The New York Times offers more advice to Georgetown in its quest to make amends for its sale of slaves in 1838.
• 16th century herb garden recreated at Dumbarton Oaks.

1800 block of Wisconsin Ave.