RSS FeedHeard In The ‘Hood: DC Link Roundup
Downtown – The next Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting is on Tuesday, October 13. DC Attorney General Peter Nickles has been invited to speak. [Downtown Neighborhood Association]
Downtown – Black Pearl Sings, a story about discovering musical treasures in the African tradition in America, is running at Ford’s Theatre until October 18. [Ford’s Theatre]
National Mall – The Hirshhorn Museum is hosting After Hours on October 23. Remember that tickets aren’t sold at the door…you have to get them online. [Hirshhorn Museum (Smithsonian)]
Mount Vernon Triangle – Construction of the Taylor Gourmet II in CityVista (485 K Street, NW) is making serious progress. We think it will open in October! [The (Mount Vernon) Triangle]
Shaw – Shaw Main Streets development forum brings added news about Shaw’s planned evolution in the next few years. We had dinner on 9th Street last night and the progress on that corridor becomes more evident every week. [Renew Shaw]
Ward 1 – What exactly does Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham “deserve” now that the scuttlebutt is out? [Prince of Petworth]
Downtown – The DC Circulator gets its own iPhone App. Will Penn Quarter Living be next? [GreaterGreaterWashington]
Where Green Meets Road
This is something that you’d never see happen with DC’s bike lanes today. Not only are bike lanes green in NYC, but there are also ZERO cars parked in the lanes!
On a recent trip to NYC, this blogger noticed how that city is making life a bit more civilized for bicyclists. While they are designating bike lanes on several streets, as is DC, they are taking one additional step: painting the lanes green.
Any DC bicyclist will tell you that one major problem with our bike lanes is that they are more often than not occupied by a double-parked car (note 7th St and 14th St). Even on Q and R Streets, where there may not be enough room to comfortably double-park, some cars will generally ignore the bike lane.
Would painting DC bike lanes a different color make a mental impression on car drivers to respect the bicycling space? We really can’t say for sure, but we can site many examples of this around the world and add NYC’s green bike lanes to the mix. It might make the lanes more comfortable for segway users as well!
Thanks to mcbrooklyn for use of the photo!
Ford’s Theatre Opens New Gift Shop
Walking down 10th Street yesterday we noticed a new retail store between the Peterson House (the house where Lincoln died) and the Lincoln House Restaurant (the new Waffle Shop). We’re saying new retail, but really the location had always been a souvenir shop; only now there is a sign on the door which reads “Ford’s Theatre Gift Shop.”
We contacted the Ford’s press office and they confirmed that on September 17th they opened that location as a gift shop after the previous tenant had not renewed their lease. This new gift shop is run by the same entity (Event Network) who handles the store inside the theatre. The space certainly looked nice, very clean and bright. We love that more and more of the 500 block of 10th Street is becoming Ford’s focused.
DC Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Here’s what we were reading last week about neighborhood news in DC. Follow PQ Living via Facebook here and Twitter here.
Columbia Heights – An amusing take on how a Columbia Heights CVS markets Snuggies in-store. [New Columbia Heights]
Anacostia – The new Anacostia Public Library is making construction progress. [And Now, Anacostia]
Ward 1 – Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham always makes for a lively discussion especially when his Chief of Staff gets into hot water. [Park View, D.C.]
Mount Vernon Triangle – A look at updated renderings for the Mount Vernon Place master plan, the K Street NW area surrounding the Madrigal Lofts and Sonata condos at 3rd and 4th Streets NW. [The (Mount Vernon) Triangle 1] & [The (Mount Vernon) Triangle 2] & [The (Mount Vernon) Triangle 3]
H Street NE – A new gallery is opening on H Street NE. Excellent! [Frozen Tropics]
All Over DC – The vacant tax rate is deleted and replaced with a “blight” tax rate. We’re not so sure this is an improvement. [Renew Shaw]