The Georgetown Metropolitan

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• First public meeting of the Georgetown Transportation study next Monday. (I will be echoing this later!)
• This is a time as old as time, but yet another example of a faraway building claiming “Georgetown” status.

I was working on another article idea that fell through, but was reminded of this old article from 2018. I thought I would repost it:

A little over two years ago, GM came across an image in the archives of the Library of Congress that was a bit alarming. It was a map of a proposed “Francis Scott Key Boulevard” which would run from the Key Bridge down M St. to Pennsylvania Ave. This is the image:

As you can see, this plan would call for a large traffic circle where Key Bridge meets M St. M St. would be replaced by a grand boulevard interspersed with three different medians. All of Georgetown from N St. south would, apparently, be destroyed.

There have been a variety of plans floated that would call for the construction of highways through downtown DC. Thankfully most of them were stopped. But none of those plans called for anything like this for Georgetown. (Most simply used the Whitehurst Freeway, which would have been attached to an expressway to the west that would cross the Potomac at a new Three Sisters Bridge and link up to the GW Parkway near Spout Run.)

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This week for Georgetown Time Machine, I’m dipping back into the pile of 1993 photos I’ve got. Today I’m visiting the northwest corner of Potomac and M St.

This late 20th century building has an odd layout, which remains to this day. Every other door goes to the basement level. And at this corner, the two street-level doors enter into one large space. This has been through a bunch of different tenants recently, from Moreso to Cafe Prague to a mini-food court with Subway, District Pizza and an Acai place. But in 1993 it hosted Fettoosh, with a takeout version called Fettoosh Express to the left. Fettoosh, not surprisingly, sold Middle Easter food. It lasted quite a long time, only closing around 2008.

Next door to Fettoosh was the legendary record shop, Smash Records. It was opened in 1984 and only moved out of Georgetown in 2006. It’s been in Adams Morgan ever since.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Small fire at the Potomac Boat Club, which luckily did not lead to major damage.
• New ice cream shop on Prospect opening May 11th.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• What are the BID’s priorities this year?
• As part of a long tradition, the clock hands of Healy Hall were stolen (and already returned).

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The first public meeting for the transportation and access study will be May 15th.
• Not a Georgetown-specific story, but one that impacts us regardless: The Post highlights the huge problem stemming from a small number of extremely dangerous drivers and how the city is failing to focus on it.

The relative newcomer Fountain Inn is already well known for its high end cocktails in a historic space. Well, now the bar is adding daytime cafe service.

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Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Capitol Fringe is coming back to Georgetown this summer.
• Councilmembers Frumin and Allen are proposing to budget money to save the Foundry Branch Trolley Trestle. YAY!!

It’s time for the monthly update for neighbors of Hyde Addison Elementary School! 

Enrollment

The time to enroll at Hyde for the 23/24 school year is now! The timing matters: starting May 1, if a class is not fully subscribed, the school will start offering spots to the waitlist.  Enrolling now closes the waitlist and keeps class sizes LOW. The average class size at Hyde is 19 students. This compares to an average of ~22 at the neighboring elementary schools.  Smaller class size is directly correlated to higher student achievement! Please message me if you are interested in learning more about Hyde.  We decided to send our children to Hyde instead of Beauvoir and I am happy to explain how we reached that decision.

Hyde Impresses me

This past weekend, I was telling my 4 year old, who was holding a tulip, “be careful, its delicate”—he asked what delicate was. I told him that delicate means fragile (he knows what fragile means) and I mentioned (for the benefit of my 6 yr old standing nearby) “delicate and fragile are synonyms. Do you know what a synonym is?” She said “yes—and I know that an antonym is the opposite.”  “That’s right! Where did you learn that?” She explained (I think rolling her eyes) that she learned it with Ms. Kenagy and iready (iready is part of her kindergarten curriculum at Hyde).  I remember learning the word antonym in 1997 studying for the SATs…

Sip & Shop at Kendra Scott on Wed May 10

Hyde’s next fundraiser is at Kendra Scott (1249 Wisconsin Ave) on Weds May 10 from 430-630pm. 20% of sales revenue goes to Hyde PTA—plus a complimentary glass of champagne! Just in time for mothers day….So that we have an accurate headcount, please RSVP here https://forms.gle/ti1XHZa8y4jjWujZ7

Hyde Addison’s Playground is Open all weekend long!

Yes its true–the playground at Hyde is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays.  Please enjoy!

Here’s your May 2023 Northwest Georgetown ANC update:

Volta Park:

The new field restoration is still proceeding. Remember to send any comments you have to DPR at christopher.dyer@dc.gov. As a further reminder, the work is scheduled to start this fall and will take the field out of commission for most of 2024. This will be challenging, but is a necessary step to ensure the long term health of the field.

Also, a spring storm took out one of the pear trees next to the swimming pool. While the city removed the tree, the fence is still (as of today) half knocked over. I have been working with the Friends of Volta Park to get this repaired by the city as soon as possible to ensure timely opening of the pool for the summer.

Speaking of the Friends of Volta Park, they are hosting their annual cocktail party and fundraiser on June 3rd. I hope to see you there!

Parking Challenges:

As I mentioned in my last update, the ANC is exploring the possibility of asking the city to introduce resident-only parking to some or all of west Georgetown. This would be a big change that would not proceed without rigorous public discussion and debate.

But in the meantime, I wanted to report that the Georgetown Community Partnership, on which I sit, is attempting to tackle this problem as well. People coming to work or study at Georgetown University or the hospital are likely a significant contributor to the parking crunch in west Georgetown. The school is obligated under its campus plan to reduce this impact and the GCP is working collaboratively with the University to come up with ways to reduce illegal parking in the neighborhood. I hope to have more to report on this soon.

Garden Tour:

The annual Georgetown Garden Tour returns May 13th. This year Evermay is on the list of homes. It’s always a real pleasure to explore that estate!

Future Metrobus Changes Possible:

As part of a long term vision plan, WMATA floated a radical new bus network. This would impact bus service through Georgetown. Most notably it would eliminate the G2 route and merge the D2 and D6 routes. No changes are imminent, but be assured that I am keeping close tabs on these proposals and will encourage the ANC to comment on any plan that would degrade bus service for Georgetown. Please let me know your thoughts at 2e02@anc.dc.gov.

Georgetown Visitation:

In response to many complaints from neighbors, my ANC colleagues and I have been working with Georgetown Visitation to limit the impact the school has on parking and congestion in the neighborhood. I would love to hear any relevant experienes you have had. For instance, have you frequently observed students parking on neighborhood streets or parents dropping off/picking up their daughters outside the gates (both of which they are prohibited from doing). Additionally, the school has re-hired an officer to manage the intersection of 35th St. and Volta (as they are required to under a zoning order). Please let me know how your experience in and around that intersection has changed (or not) since the return of the officer.

Longer term, the ANC is working to restore the school-only parking that once ran along the west side of 35th St. between P and Volta. This was removed a few years ago and has contributed to issues with sports bus loading and unloading. Of course, this would likely increase pressure on the parking issues in west Georgetown, which heightens the importance of addressing that issue more globally.

Trash Pick Up Shift and Food Waste Pilot:

Only one trash/recycling shift this month, namely the last week due to Memorial Day.

Speaking of trash pick up, if you’re interested in participating in the city’s new food waste collection pilot, sign up here! Divert some of those pizza crusts from the landfill to the compost bin!

In Person Meetings Coming Soon:

The ANC is planning on hosting its June ANC meeting in person! The date is May 30th and will take place at 6:30 pm, as usual. We have not settled on a location quite yet, but will spread the word once we do. The ANC is hoping to host about two meetings a year in person. Personally I have seen a lot of advantages in holding the meetings virtually in terms of widening the pool of people who can listen in and participate. But there is also something lost in not having it in person. We’re going to try both, for now, and see how it goes.

The May meeting, held Monday night at 6:30 pm, will be by Zoom. Here is a link to the agenda. Some items of interest for this month include an update from the Mayor’s office on the 2024 budget proposal and updates concerning possible changes to bus service through Georgetown (discussed above) and the ongoing transportation and access study.

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