The Georgetown Metropolitan

As alluded to in my monthly ANC update, I finally conducted my annual(ish) census of commercial establishments in Georgetown. It’s a survey I’ve been doing since I started this website in 2008, and so the accumulated data reflects the ebbs and flows of the Georgetown retail community. And the overall message from this year is that we are still in a steady flow following the stark ebb that Covid brought us.

But before I get to the numbers, I need to issue my typical disclaimer: First, it’s important to know that my counting is more of an art than a science. The term “establishments” as used here refers to just about all commercial establishments serving the general public: retail stores, restaurants, salons, gyms, etc. I don’t count pure office space. The rule of thumb I use is if you can walk in without an appointment, I count it. But again, sometimes it’s a close call (for instance, I count realtors but not lawyers). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Overall Picture

Last year was the first year I performed a count since before Covid. And the story of last year’s numbers was that it wasn’t as bad as expected! The overall number was down, obviously, but not that bad. In 2019 I counted 509 establishments, which was near a record high. Last year I counted 451. That’s about an 11% drop. Significant, but not catastrophic. This year the numbers inched up further. I counted 464 establishments this year. (And keep in mind that my count is very much a snapshot. Stores may be just days away from opening, but I don’t count them).

That net gain represents about a 3% gain. Behind that net gain I counted 62 openings and 45 closures. I’d call that strong and steady as you can see by comparing to the last ten years:

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The public outreach portion of the highly important Georgetown Circulation and Access Study is underway right now. And a key component of it is the survey, which asks you a variety of questions about how you get to and about Georgetown. The answers will illuminate the decisions that the planners conducting the study will have to make. So please let your voice be heard.

Go here to fill out the survey today!

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU students call for an end to legacy admissions.
• Fascinating article explaining the geological challenges to digging a new metro tunnel under Georgetown.

For reasons I won’t bore you with, I’ve really gotten into the country rock musical genre recently, specifically the style of cosmic American music promoted by the legendary Gram Parsons in the early 1970s. In doing so I’ve learned about how the perfect pairing of Parsons and the great Emmylou Harris came to be on our own M St.

As recounted in a Washington Post article in 2015, in December 1971 Harris had a standing gig singing at Clyde’s. Word of her skill reached those around Parsons (who was looking for a singing partner). While he was on tour on the east coast he reached out to Harris from Baltimore. She agreed to meet him in Georgetown, and the rest is history:

Amused by her gumption, Parsons took the train to D.C. and met Harris at Clyde’s. It was pouring rain, and only five people showed up for her gig, two of them being Gram and his wife, Gretchen. Gram was so enthused, however, that he joined Harris in the basement amid the beer kegs to sing Hank Williams’s “I Saw the Light.” They sang it onstage during the second set, and Harris’s voice wrapped around Parsons’s as if they had rehearsed it for hours.

The duo became legendary for their harmonies. They recorded two critically acclaimed albums. Sadly the second was posthumous for Parsons, as he died of a drug overdose in Joshua Tree National Park just two years later. Harris went on to a highly successful career in her own right, but many still mourn the loss of such a brilliant and short lived partnership.

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Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Fight over Scotch and Soda’s retail build-out bills.
• Photo exhibit on the Key Bridge going on now in Alexandira.

This is your Northwest Georgetown ANC Update for September! I hope you had a wonderful summer! While it was quiet in terms of official ANC news, things continued to percolate all summer long. Here’s what new and coming our way:

Streateries Progress

As I wrote back in June, the future of streateries and expanded sidewalks in Georgetown is in doubt. The BID’s permit covering them expires at the end of this calendar year, and as of this spring it was unclear whether the BID would be able to extend it. At that time, I queried the public about how they feel about the program and I received overwhelming support for it. Similarly the BID surveyed an even wider group and received the same message¹: While improvements and modifications are certainly necessary, the core of the plan is worth keeping.

Over the summer, the BID staff and members of the ANC have been in discussion about how to proceed with the program. Our goal is to keep the best parts of the program and search for solutions for concerns that we’ve heard. First on that list is aesthetics. Namely, can we do better than Jersey barriers and plastic decking? Additionally, looking for a way to better accommodate commercial deliveries without double-parking is crucial. Other concerns include evaluating underused extensions and incorporating the recommendations of the Circulation and Access Study currently underway. (More on that below).

In order to support the BID’s approach to the city for an extension, I plan on proposing a resolution at this week’s ANC meeting stating as much. If, as expected, the BID does submit an application for an extension, the ANC will then engage more specifically on the elements of that application, which will take place at a subsequent meeting. I am optimistic that this process will result in a preservation of the program with a clear goal of making tangible improvements moving forward.

Transportation Study

As mentioned above, the city is current conducting a wide-ranging circulation and access study for Georgetown. This will look at nearly all elements of transportation in Georgetown with the aim of increasing accessibility and safety for all.

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Good morning Georgetown! Hope you had a lovely August. Here’s the latest:

• Save the trolley trestle!
• The history of that one striking Queen Anne on 31st St.
• Museum of Failure now open at Georgetown Park.
• Daniel Chao successfully was selected to replace Elizabeth Miller on the ANC. Welcome Daniel!

I’m off on my now annual August break. Here is my paean to the eight month, see you in September!:

August is here. And it is perhaps the greatest time of year for Georgetown.

Sure, this month is tagged with the “dog days” of summer gibe. And the heat of July is a houseguest with its feet comfortably sprawled on our couch, with its bags not remotely packed upstairs.

And gardens get long in the tooth this month too. Black-eyed Susans wilt. Geraniums burst further out of their pots, knowing the end is near. Petunias get leggy and brown. Even in its overgrown state, an August garden is one succumbing to decay.

And despite the fact that school is still a month away, camps across the city shut down, as if we’re all French and heading off to the Cote D’Azur in our Renaults for four weeks.

But August is still one of the greatest times of year in Georgetown. True, the holiday season fills Georgetown streets with twinkling lights and festive greens. And surely the scent of magnolias and the sight of Yoshinos puts springtime on top. But August is close behind.

Because, in August, Georgetown is empty.

The streets are empty. You can park your car like it’s a suburb in the 60s. The pools are empty because the interns left. The sidewalks are empty because even tourists have better sense than to visit DC in the summer.

Despite the stifling, turgid air, you can breathe. You can walk into a restaurant at 7:00 on a Friday and get a seat. You can even walk on M St. on a weekend.

And like spring, it is great because it is brief. We don’t ultimately love Georgetown because it’s empty, but because it’s decidedly not. That restaurant walking you to a table would be out of business if it were like that year round. Those streets without parking in September mean more people coming and keeping our thriving businesses thriving. Quiet is nice, but too much is boring.

Knowing August is fleeting is the best way to enjoy it. So enjoy it, it’s already later than you think.

Over the past ten years or so, Georgetown has really become a hotspot for sneakerheads, i.e. those looking for high-end street apparel. And another shop is looking to join the party soon. Homecourt is coming to 1363 Wisconsin Ave.

Signage on the wall announces the store, with a call to customer to “Buy Trade or Sell”. So if you want to buy some new kicks or sell off some old (and valuable), then this may be the place for you.

While I’m no sneakerhead myself, it’s great to see Georgetown continue its long tradition (going back to Commander Salamander and earlier) of being a hip shopping district for those with a style a step apart from the straight and narrow. Welcome Homecourt!

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• New Asian-inspired fashion shop opened.
• Lots of ins and outs for the summer.