The Georgetown Metropolitan

There are some people who tear down their Christmas decorations the morning of December 26th. In GM’s household, though, Christmas has much more of a staged withdrawal. GM only just took down the lighted garland last weekend, because frankly he was getting a little self-conscious about it. Walking home the other night, GM was relieved to see that his had not been the last house still lit up. So how do people feel about this? Continue reading →

Photo by Bex Walton.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Chez Billy Sud’s new wine bar, Bar à Vin, opens Feb. 29th.
• Popular bulldog from the Westminster Dog Show is owned by Georgetowner, Ellen Charles.

1600 block of Avon Pl.

Photo by Travis Wise.

Recently Arlington approved funding to contribute to the Georgetown BID-organized effort to study the possibility of constructing an aerial gondola from Rosslyn to Georgetown. Having secured funding for the whole study, the BID has just released an RFP seeking a party to actually conduct the study.

In light of this progress, GM thought it would make sense to re-publish his article from last May arguing why this study is a good idea:

As mentioned earlier, buried in the $13 billion budget adopted by the DC Council was a measure providing $35,000 to contribute to a study proposed by the Georgetown Business Improvement District to analyze the feasibility of constructing an aerial gondola from the Rosslyn Metro stop to M St. in Georgetown and terminating at the Georgetown University campus. This proposal has generated biting contempt from several quarters, but this criticism is misguided and ill-informed. We should absolutely study the possibility of constructing an aerial gondola between Rosslyn and Georgetown.

As documented by the Post, this idea is the brainchild of the BID’s CEO Joe Sternlieb. Having seen an aerial gondola in action in Portland, Oregon, Strenlieb became entranced with the idea of bringing this idea to Washington.

After taking charge at the BID, Sternlieb was quickly able to persuade all the relevant stakeholders that the idea was worth pursuing. It was adopted as a particularly eye-catching action item in the Georgetown 2028 long term planning study produced by the BID with significant community-input two years ago. Funding the study is a significant step towards completing that action item. The BID has raised $130,000 from donors and is seeking an additional $35,000 each from DC and Arlington to fund the anticipated $200,000 study. While Arlington has not officially approved its contribution, a county spokesperson stated that it was working towards it. (Full disclosure: GM served on the steering committee of the Georgetown 2028 study). Continue reading →

Photo by Bex Walton.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Fiola Mare judged to be the best restaurant in DC last year. (Hmmm, GM hasn’t been to Fiola Mare or Rose’s Luxury, but the later’s reputation seems much stronger.)
• Eastbanc’s bandaid for their M and Penn. project could have far reaching implications for development around the city.

1300 block of 30th St.

It does not take very long in reading an article about Georgetown before you’ll inevitably run across a variation on the phrase “cobblestoned streets”. For instance, last October when reporting on the GroupMe texting story, the Washington Post described the neighborhood as a “cobblestoned enclave of tony boutiques and historic rowhouses”.

But as anyone remotely familiar with Georgetown can tell you, we don’t actually have that many cobblestone streets. As the map above shows, we have about three blocks each for O and P St., and then a few small stubs on 35th, 34th, and next to Dean and Deluca. That’s it (outside some alleys).

Sure, this is being somewhat pedantic, but GM is going to be even more pedantic and point out that only the single blocks of 34th and 35th off of M St. are actually cobblestones. O and P St. are covered in Belgian blocks. Continue reading →

Photo by Bex Walton.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Healy Student Center gets the Architect Mag treatment.
• And so does the school’s CES building downtown.

Dumbarton Oaks Park

In what’s becoming an annual tradition, GM forgot to mark his seventh anniversary doing whatever this website is. That’s easily at least five more years than he ever figured he would do this. Maybe he should hire a editor in chief so that he can get fired and finally take a break?

Anyway, GM likes to review his most popular articles from the last year. Here it goes:

#5 – Loads of New Stores on the Horizon

This article was the first to announce the coming of Boulangerie Christoph, Lauderee, and Kit & Ace. The news of Lauderee caught the most attention, although it has yet to be confirmed. We’ll see.

#4 – Why do the Exorcist Steps Exist in the First Place?

In all the excitement over the designation of the Exorcist steps as a historic landmark, GM looked into why they exist at all. He didn’t get a terribly satisfying answer, but then again, they’re just stairs. Not all stairs have a dark secret. Continue reading →