As discussed ad naseum, much of Georgetown’s land was once owned by a Scotsman named Ninian Beall. Because of him, just about every other thing in this neighborhood is named after a huge rock in the River Clyde in Scotland. So it’s fair to say that Georgetown has Scottish roots, as far as those things go. So why not celebrate those roots this weekend and hold your own Burns Supper?
As discussed here, WMATA is considering changes to the D Series. After a series of meetings the consultants have come up with some initial recommendations. Some of them are quite radical and quite different than GM expected. Find out what they are after the jump:
Filed under Transit
On Tuesday at the inaugural parade, our new president and vice-president walked by the new sign by the Wilson Building tabulating the total federal taxes paid by District residents without representation. On top of this (likely futile) attempt to educate the country, the Council proposed last year to change the name of South Capitol St. to Taxation Without Representation St.
So long as we’re making a political issue out of our street names, why not address the representation issue head on?
One argument sometimes put forward to deny the District statehood is that with two senators and our small population, we’d be “over-representated” in the Senate. But aren’t we already extending a lot of the states a similar overrepresentation? Not in the legislative sense of the word, but in the geographic sense? In other words, what states get more asphalt on our streets than their populations deserve? Find out after the jump:
Filed under Around Town
Courtesy of Shorpy.com
The Georgetown Current has a bit more detail on the shocking possibility that gun stores could open in Georgetown. Two things are clearer now: Where they could be and how little the neighborhood can do to stop them. Read more after the jump:
Filed under Development
So after all that Sturm und Drang over the late hours at the restaurants and bars around town, the inaugural fest is over. According to DCist, crime was actually relatively low for the weekend. 4 AM is way past GM’s bedtime, so he didn’t get to verify whether those establishments identified as night owls would take advantage of the relaxed rules or whether M St. was turned into a all-night noise machine. So did anyone stay up till 4 pounding beers at Clyde’s, martinis at Bodega, and, err, baguettes at Le Pain Quotidien? What was M St. like?
Just no one try to claim they won a beefcake contest at Modern. We know you’re lying.
Filed under Around Town
It was exactly 48 years ago tonight that the resident of 2720 Dumbarton Ave. heard a knock at his door and opened it to find John F. Kennedy standing there in the falling snow, less than 14 hours after being inaugurated President. That resident was journalist and socialite Joe Alsop and his was the only private residence Kennedy visited that evening. Some stories claim that Kennedy stayed there till dawn smoking cigars and talking with his friend Alsop. More stories, however, state that Kennedy stayed only for a few hours, had a bowl of terrapin soup, and headed back to the White House around 3:00 AM. (Although, yet another line of stories state that he stayed long enough for a brief liaison with Angie Dickinson, or some other young starlet).
Some in Georgetown may insist that the neighborhood is still at the center of the DC political universe; but there will be no doors in Georgetown knocked upon by Obama tonight. Maybe that shows how far Georgetown has fallen, or maybe it just shows how special that night was 48 years ago.
Filed under History
According to the 2000 Census, Georgetown’s population is only 3% Black. However, this was not always the case. Through the 19th century and into the first half of the 20th century, Georgetown had a substantial African American population (reaching around 50% of the population at the turn of the century). The majority of these residents were descendants of slaves that lived in Georgetown or emigrated there shortly after the Civil War.
This day being Martin Luther King’s birthday, GM suggests you take a stroll through our neighborhood and visit some of the landmarks of Black Georgetown. Some suggestions are listed below.
Last week we asked why not switch back to the old Georgetown street names; this week GM stays on the nostalgic side of our streets and asks: Why not allow some of the smaller and quieter streets in Georgetown to replace their asphalt streets with cobblestone or brick? There are many benefits to cobblestone or brick streets beyond aesthetics. Find out after the jump:
Filed under Why Not
Calvin Coolidge's Inaugural Ball 1925 - Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Most of us are probably sick and tired of all the inaugural festivities before they even begin. But if you still have the energy, the lack of plans, and a desire to keep local, what are you to do? Well GM has identified three Georgetown balls (well, two Georgetown balls and one “Georgetown” ball) that you might be interested in. Find out more after the jump:
Filed under Events
The Georgetown Current this week chimes in on the late night bar issue (which, by the way, GM covered extensively already). Doing the things that real journalists do, Carol Buckley dug a bit deeper into the issue and discovered that some of the bars that have voluntary agreements will nonetheless be able to stay open late since the agreements say nothing about hours. That apparently includes Le Pain Quotidien, Neyla, and Modern.
Buckley found another priceless nugget. For whatever reason, the ANC didn’t think to insist on setting hours for Modern’s voluntary agreement. But what did they ban in the agreement?
Wet tee-shirt contests and “beefcake” competitions.
Seriously.
It truly bares repeating that at some point our elected officials apparently expressed a concern that M St. was turning into Venice Beach. Not mentioned in the article, but Rhino Bar’s voluntary agreement bans “kicking sand in our faces” and/or “breaking our nerdy glasses and stealing our girlfriend”.
Filed under ANC, Around Town
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
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