November 15, 2011 · 10:00 am

Head West, Young Man

Photo by Marion Doss.

This coming weekend, GM is going to be pulling up stakes and moving into a new place. It’s still in Georgetown, so publication of the Georgetown Metropolitan will continue under current management.

While GM is only moving a handful of blocks to the west, it means he’s moving from the East Village to the West Village. GM weighed in on the differences between the sub-neighborhoods a while ago. Not surprisingly, as a East Village resident at the time, GM came down on the side that living on the east side was better. But GM looks forward to settling into his new immediate neighborhood and learning the charms of the west side.

So in the interim, GM will try to keep up the daily feed, but apologizes in advance if the moving process causes any bit of radio silence.

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November 15, 2011 · 8:00 am

The Morning Metropolitan

Photo by Random Duck.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

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November 14, 2011 · 2:00 pm

The Georgetown Metropolis

3000 block of R St.

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November 14, 2011 · 10:00 am

Not So Long Ago: Wisconsin and S

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This week for Not So Long Ago, GM moves back up to the top of Wisconsin Ave between R and S Streets.

Nowadays, from left to right this block hosts Gill & Sons realtor, First Cash pawn shop, P.O. Boxes Etc., an office building, Shanghai Lounge, and Bistro Lepic.

In some ways, very little has changed about this strip. Gill & Sons is still in the same place and P.O. Boxes Etc. also hasn’t moved or changed its name (despite the obvious trademark issue with Mailboxes Etc.). But some of the other stores have seen quite a bit of turnover over the years.

In 1993, next to Gill & Sons was Companions pet and grooming. There also appears to be a sign at that address for Hair International of Georgetown. So apparently you could bring your dog and both of you could get a cut.

By 2004, this space held District Fine Arts, which later moved down Wisconsin Ave. before closing last year. At the same time, Spiral Flight Yoga occupied the upstairs. It later moved up the street before it too closed last year.

A few years ago Carrine’s Bridal and Anthony occupied this space before moving out about a year ago. First Cash was across the street next to the Duron paint store before it was kicked out so that Safeway could knock down its building. It’s like musical chairs up there.

On the right of P.O. Boxes Etc., it appears that in 1993 the space was empty. At some point the Indian restaurant Curry Club opened up there. This restaurant stayed open until a few years ago. In its place a Korean restaurant called Arisu opened up. GM passed Arisu a million times without going in. Finally he stopped by, somewhat out of pity for the apparently struggling restaurant. And it was very, very good food. GM was resolved to stop by more often, but sadly they closed a few weeks later. The space sat empty for a long time until Shanghai Lounge moved in earlier this year. What GM would love to see would be a restaurant that fused all three of those styles, Indian, Korean and Chinese. Mmmmm…..

Beyond that space, you can’t quite see it in the 1993 photo, but as we’ll see in a later edition, Bistro Lepic’s space was occupied by Greek Port, a Greek restaurant. The French favorite moved in in 1995 and has obviously been there ever since. Continue reading →

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November 14, 2011 · 8:00 am

The Morning Metropolitan

Photo by Cody WMS.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

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November 11, 2011 · 2:00 pm

The Georgetown Metropolis

1600 block of 31st St.

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November 11, 2011 · 10:00 am

GBA Holds Forum on Economic Development

Wednesday night the Georgetown Business Association held a forum on economic development in Georgetown. It’s a topic that is much on the minds of business owners and residents alike.

The panel included representatives from across the Georgetown business spectrum and also Councilmembers Jack Evans and Vincent Orange. When asked what the city can do for Georgetown, Evans highlighted three things: keeping crime low, transportation, and taxes. Typically when Evans talks about taxes, he talks about keeping income taxes low in order to attract and keep high income residents, but on this occasion he focused on the effect of higher taxes on small businesses. He stated that 25-30% of the new top income tax rate for DC will hit small businesses (for what it’s worth GM’s never heard that stat before, and it doesn’t sound quite right to him).

Vincent Orange emphasized a DC law that requires DC agencies to spend 50% of their procurement budget on small businesses. He stated that right now 31 agencies are out of compliance. Orange also highlighted the DC Streetscape Relief Fund, which offers interest free loans to businesses affected by disruptive street construction, like that seen on H St. NE. Good initiatives both of them, but they’re not really going to help out Georgetown small retail shops much (although Karen Ohri of Georgetown Flooring pointed out that a lot of their business is for institutional clients, so stores like hers could benefit from the procurement law). Continue reading →

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November 11, 2011 · 8:00 am

The Morning Metropolitan

Photo by Jim Malone.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

  • GM missed this yesterday, but last night Rhino Bar hosted the fifth annual Mustaches for Kids event. Instead of, say, doing a fun run, this charity challenges men to grow a mustache. Last night was the shave-in. In five weeks, the ‘staches reconvene at RFD downtown.
  • Oak Hill Cemetery is Fullalove.
  • This day goes to eleven!

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November 10, 2011 · 2:00 pm

The Georgetown Metropolis

1600 block of Avon Pl.

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November 10, 2011 · 10:00 am

The ANC Responds to GU’s Recent Charm Offensive

Over the last couple months, Georgetown University has been rolling out a series of efforts aimed to address the quality of life complaints that were aired at the spring’s campus plan Zoning Commission hearings. GM is personally convinced that GU has its eye on the upcoming hearings on the campus plan as it introduces these initiatives (which doesn’t mean they’re not good initiative, just that they’re not motivated by neighborly kindness). The idea being that it will argue that it is being proactive to address the neighbor’s concerns and thus the Zoning Commission shouldn’t take the draconian step of demanding GU either build on-campus housing or obtain housing outside 20007 for all undergrads by 2015, as the Office of Planning requested.

To undercut this argument, the ANC just issued a supplemental submission to the Zoning Commission. The ANC writes:

GU’s grudging, small-scale responses to community concerns throughout this case have been  disappointing. Instead of responding meaningfully to Chairman Hood‟s suggestion to the  University that it propose truly new, large, and effective approaches to the neighborhood issues, GU has instead come back with small-scale tweaks to existing off campus student programs.

The ANC takes a particularly cynical view of GU’s quality of life measures:

GU reserves the right to modify any and all of its student conduct measures at any time… And GU certainly cannot expect us to believe that any 11th-hour clamp-down it may have attempted over the past several months – in the spotlight of an impending Zoning Commission decision – will or could be sustained by GU over the long run. Continue reading →

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