January 4, 2009 · 6:55 pm

MPD No Longer Providing Daily Crime Summaries

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Members of the MPD2d listserv may have noticed that they haven’t received a daily summary of crimes for the last two weeks. For those not receiving this listserv, the daily update of crimes provides a listing and description of each crime that occurred in the Second District separated into each PSA (Georgetown’s is 206). For instance, on December 14th, PSA 206 reported the following crimes:

Assault occurred in the 1300 b/o Wisconsin Ave. NW on 12/13/2008
3am. 2 citizens reported they were approached from the rear by 4
suspects, knocked to the ground and beaten and kicked. One suspect
described as a white male, no further description.

Theft occurred in the 3100 b/o M St. NW on 12/13/2008 2- 250pm.
Citizen reports a wallet, laptop, cash and papers were stolen when
left unattended in a store.

Theft occurred in the 1800 b/o Wisconsin Ave. NW on 12/13/2008 5pm.
Citizen reports the suspect, a black male, 42yoa, 5’11, 240 lbs.
stole property from the display shelf. CASE ClOSED with the arrest
of the suspect.

Theft occurred in the 3100 b/o M St. NW on 12/12/2008 315- 715pm.
Citizen reports the suspect, a black male, 6′, dark complexion stole
watches from the store and fled.

Theft occurred in the 3100 b/o M St. NW on 12/13/2008 235- 305pm.
Citizen reports the suspect, a black female, 5’9, 125lbs., stole
clothing from the store by removing security sensors.

These are valuable pieces of information that keep citizens informed. They are also apparently no more. Find out more after the jump:

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January 4, 2009 · 1:17 am

What’s In Store for Social Safeway?

Social Safeway Mark II

Sometime this year, the Social Safeway at 1855 Wisconsin Ave. will shut its doors and be torn down. The mid-century suburban style grocery store will eventually be replaced by a brand new “lifestyle center” grocery store.

What does that mean? See after the jump:

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January 3, 2009 · 1:17 am

Is it Dumbarton St. or Avenue?

Which is it? Ave or St?

Running between N and O St. is a road that is mostly called Dumbarton St. However, in more than a few places it is called Dumbarton Ave. For instance, Dumbarton United Methodist Church uses the address “3133 Dumbarton Avenue”. Also, several homes are labeled with “Dumbarton Ave.” Hell, as shown above, Google Maps can’t make up its mind and just calls it both.

So what’s the deal? Why the split personality? For the answers, follow GM back through the 18th and 19th centuries after the jump:

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January 2, 2009 · 7:00 am

Smithsonian Head to Speak to CAG

On January 13th, Smithsonian National Museum of American History director (and neighbor of GM) Brent Glass will give a speech for the Citizens Association of Georgetown at the Coldwell Banker auditorium in Washington Harbor.

Mr. Glass has overseen the Museum of American History during a time of great change. It only recently reopened after a multi-year renovation project that modernized the dated interior and features a new centerpiece for the Star Spangled Banner.

But perhaps what this Georgetown resident has received the most attention for recently was for graciously humoring Stephen Colbert in his quest to get his portrait in the Smithsonian:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

RSVP to CAG at 202-337-7313 to reserve space at the meeting.

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January 1, 2009 · 12:48 pm

Happy New Year

 

Montrose Park

Spring is only a few short months away. To help you get through the gray days of winter check out these warm Georgetown photos after the jump:

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December 31, 2008 · 6:27 pm

Greater Georgetown

It is an old real estate trick to use a “desirable” neighborhood name beyond the boundaries of that neighborhood. For instance, every block west of 14th and south of U used to be called “Dupont” until Logan Circle developed its own cache. Now “Dupont” has shrunk as “Logan” advances. Perhaps no neighborhood is subject to more deceptivecreative expansion than Georgetown. Whether through laziness, misunderstanding, or outright subterfuge, the neighborhoods of Burleith, Glover Park, Foxhall Village, Foggy Bottom, and the West End frequently get the name “Georgetown” erroneously attached to them.

Generally this is a completely harmless event and Georgetowners shouldn’t get snobby about it. Nonetheless, the more egregious examples of this creativity need to be called out. And so GM introduces the feature “Greater Georgetown” wherein particularly lazy or deceptive uses of the name “Georgetown” are discussed.

After the jump, the inaugural class:

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December 30, 2008 · 10:29 pm

What Apple’s Proposal May Have Looked Like

Riddle Me This Steve...

As reported by the indispensable Georgetown Current, and then picked up upon by Washington Paper City Desk and Greater Greater Washington (hell even the Wall Street Journal got in on it) Apple has been having a tough time getting design approval for its proposed store at 1229 Wisconsin (where the French Connection UK used to be). Its most recent proposal was rejected at the December ANC 2E meeting (which GM attended but had to leave before they got around to this). Two days later, the Old Georgetown Board (which carries more even greater weight than the “great weight” of the ANC) also rejected the most recent design.

There’s been a lot of talk but no visual plans are readily available (if only GM had stuck around that meeting…) Into that void, GM has fired up Photoshop and tried to come up with a visual approximation of what the most recent plans may look like. Take a look after the jump:

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December 30, 2008 · 2:00 am

Changes Coming to the D Series?

Something similar in the works for the D Series?

Something similar in the works for the D Series?

 

As was announced a while back, WMATA is currently conducting a study on the D Series bus lines. For Georgetowners that most likely means the D1, D2, D3, D5, and D6. We’ve seen similar studies like this before. Just a few years ago, a study like this turned into the new “improved” 30 Series bus lines. Many Georgetowners now know that we got the short end of the stick with those changes. Therefore, Georgetown users of the D Series should be all the more engaged with WMATA during the study to ensure no more “improvement” service cuts.

How did Georgetown get the short end of the stick with the 30 Series and what that might mean for the D Series, after the jump:

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December 29, 2008 · 8:00 am

Oprah – Ever May She Be Rich Enough to Buy a $50 Million Pied-a-Terre

The rumor was first spread by the apocrypha-journalists at the New York Post’s Page Six: Oprah Winfrey was looking at real estate in DC to be near her BFF Barak Obama and she was looking at a $50 million dollar mansion in Georgetown. Well there’s only one $50 million mansion for sale in Georgetown and it’s the estate known as “Evermay” at 1623 28th St.  Everymay is the crown jewel of Georgetown’s family-owned large estates (Dumbarton Oaks is probably the crowniest of crown jewels of Georgetown, but it’s owned by Harvard).

After the jump: Evermay, Halcyon, and Graham, oh my…

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December 26, 2008 · 10:30 am

Georgetown Waterfront – Phase II

In response to the photo of the Green Electric Range, reader Jay Reeder asks:

 

what’s happening to the “old” waterfront park (between the spiffy new one and Washington Harbor)? I was shocked last week when I found the old park completely walled off with that ominous-looking “we’re gonna build something here” chain-link fencing.

So what’s the deal? Is the old park going away?

 

Never let it be said that GM doesn’t take requests. So here it goes:

The Georgetown Waterfront redesign was envisioned as “extending from the Washington Harbour complex to Key Bridge, creating the vital last link in 225 miles of parkland from Mt. Vernon, Virginia, to Cumberland, Maryland…[it] will be the largest park to be created in the Nation’s Capital in 30 years—since the completion of Constitution Gardens on the National Mall in 1976.”

Construction of the revitalized park was planned to happen in two phases. The “spiffy new one” that Jay Reeder mentions is Phase I. It was completed this summer, and improves the waterfront experience immensely. Construction on Phase II has just now begun. It is expected to take about two years to complete. So to answer your question, yes the old park is going away. So what’s replacing it?

 

Courtesy of the National Park Service

Courtesy of the National Park Service

Phase II will be the final link in the chain. It will have a prominent water feature, a large pergola, and steps down to the water to give access to watersports and to serve as seating for regattas.

 

The water feature, sure to be a kid-pleaser - Curtesy of the National Park Service

The water feature, sure to be a kid-pleaser - Courtesy of the National Park Service

Frankly, compared to the current park, it doesn’t look like the final park will be that different. However, the stairs down to the water and the water feature will probably be popular additions. Also, they are trying to “anchor” the whole park with a plaza right below Wisconsin Ave. GM is always a little wary about “plazas” as they tend to be either wind-swept or sun-baked expanses of nothing, but this design combined with the surrounding natural beauty should result in a park we can be proud of.

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