RSS FeedMetro To Hold Fare Hike Hearings This Week
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced a series of six public hearings to discuss recently proposed fare hikes for the area’s public Metro bus and subway systems. The hearings will take place this Tuesday through Thursday at a variety of locations.
The closest hearing to the PQ will be on Wednesday, November 14, at Metro headquarters (the Jackson Graham Building), 600 5th Street, NW, starting with an open house at 6:30 pm followed by the hearings at 7 pm.
Details on how these public consultations will run can be found on Metro’s web site. Analysis of the fare hikes can be found in WaPo.
Chinatown And Developers, So Happy Together
The WaBizJo has an article which contains an interview of the current head of the Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs. The gist of the story is that OAPIA wants to create economic incentives for Chinese stores and restaurants that want to open up in Chinatown (boundaries are not mentioned). This Chinatown Cultural Development Strategy is reportedly being initiated by DC Council Chairman Vincent Gray.
One can start to read between the lines of the story quickly. Most of the talk is around negotiating with developers and figuring out what incentives they would like. There was a promising suggestion that there be a Chinatown Week (similar to Restaurant Week) where a block is closed so that street vendors can set up shop. Then the head of OAPIA shoots down the idea for not being an economic development type of strategy.
It does beg the question: How do other Chinatowns thrive (like San Francisco’s) while DC’s withers?
FCC Says No To Cable
By a unanimous vote, the FCC recently voted to ban exclusivity contracts for cable television in multi-dwelling apartment buildings. Many downtowners subscribe to cable TV and their condo boards or landlords have been held captive because of the original deal struck between the developer and the cable TV provider to wire the building’s cable infrastructure. In exchange, the cable provider was given all the cable TV business for a number of years. The FCC ruling changes the situation instantly as it applies to both future and existing contracts. I still can’t get my FIOS TV but now the landlord has more options including saying no to cable systems.
Waffle Shop To Be Reincarnated
Per WaPo, it looks like Jemal is saving the Waffle Shop, likely in the Mount Vernon or southern Shaw area. Will it be the same as it was on 10th Street?
WaPo – Diner’s Neon Might Glow Again