The Georgetown Metropolitan

3500 block of M St.

This week in Old Georgetown in Color, GM returns to one of his favorite photo series: Carl Mydan’s photos of Georgetown children in the 30s.

The above photo is particularly amusing in that the caption reads:

Poor white hallway, Georgetown, D.C. Seldom do these people have even the desire to clear up rubbish, and the broom shown here seems to be out of place

This particular house is 3607 O St. It’s now owned by Georgetown University.

GM always wondered what became of these ragamuffins.

Photo by Byron P.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Jack the Bulldog turns one.
• Way before Jack, there were these awesome GU track suits.

Potomac River

GM was searching for an old black and white photo of Georgetown last night in order to colorize it for his “Old Georgetown in Color” series. He came across the photo above, one of the Georgetown waterfront (as viewed from Virginia [or possibly from what was then called Mason’s Island, now Roosevelt Island]). GM didn’t even begin to try to colorize this shot. It’s just too massively complicated. But he wanted to share it because it is such an amazing shot. Continue reading →

Photo by Tera Brown.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown’s forthcoming Dog Tag Bakery gets a nice shout-out.
• Gut renovations can be done without angering your neighbors, apparently.

3200 block of N St.

The Georgetown ANC has never taken a particularly strong stand for measures meant to calm traffic through Georgetown. In fact, most of its efforts on that front are more about speeding cars through Georgetown with as little traffic as possible. And when another neighborhood like Glover Park decided that it wanted to actually do something to slow cars down, the Georgetown ANC took the unprecedented step of sticking its nose in another neighborhood’s business to interfere with and ultimately undo the project.

But this week’s Current reports on how the ANC has finally found a traffic calming measure it can support. It just happens to be bike traffic that the ANC is concerned about. As the Current reports:

The Georgetown neighborhood commission is urging the city to examine and improve the area’s [below the Whitehurst Freeway] safety. In a June 5 letter to transportation director Matthew Brown, the commission specifically asks the agency to determine ways to calm bike traffic, including possibly raised crosswalks.

The article then goes on to quote Commissioner Bill Starrells and Jack Evans who are convinced that bikers present a clear and present danger whose lawlessness must be stopped. Of course the irony of Jack Evans complaining about bicyclist scofflaws is awfully rich, seeing as he is notorious for driving while talking on his cell phone (a scene GM has seen at least a dozen times). Continue reading →

Photo by bclinesmith.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Cafe La Ruche is closing but will reopen as Chez Billy Sud, a second location of the popular Petworth bistro.
• Moving goodbye letter from Georgetown resident and friend of GM Ken Archer.

2900 block of K St.