Went to the Mondie meeting. Mondie poposed suitable changes. Face brick on the front and side with the vynl on the rear. The front will look like other Richardson Place buildings with flat roofs except these will be much taller. There were some parking changes and I think I heard blah-blah 3.5 ft easement so cars can get in and out of the alley and park. Some were concerned about the pre-fab (manufactured housing) bit, but really no big deal, remember Sears Craftman houses were pre-fab. Instead of split townhouses where there are two separate condo units in each building unit, each building will be one single family dwelling. There will still be a basement of sorts, but technically they will be “cellars”. This means they will not be legal living units. I have a cellar but I call it a “short people basement.” The cellars also mean that there will not be an entrance on the front to get to them, only the back. Mondie is hoping that it will take 3 months to get the townhomes built with the manuafactured housing stuff and hopes to sell each unit for well over 1/2 a mill (which doesn’t make me happy ’cause my taxes go up). It is still necessary to continue to pay special attention to how all this goes down. I believe I’ll still be attending the Zoning hearing.
Now for something else.
From Richard Layman’s Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space I came across the 16 Squares Most Dramatically in Need of Improvement and they had Dupont Circle at #13. Who the hell makes this list? Dupont is fine, but here is what they say:
Many think DuPont Circle is the best destination in Washington. We think it is performing at 30% of its potential. The city has undergone a metamorphosis in the past ten years, with many areas gradually becoming more vital. However, there seems to be a limit to this improvement: a rigid adherence to a master plan that keeps many areas from coalescing into real destinations. DuPont Circle needs to be freed from that mold. There are active parts of the Circle, but they are not connected. The Farmers Market is separate from the inner circle and from the active part of Massachusetts Avenue. The road around the Circle is two lanes too wide, and the connections from the interior park to the edges could be dramatically improved. With Connecticut Avenue running underneath the circle, there is no need to cater to heavy traffic. In fact, DuPont Circle could become a traffic-calmed, pedestrian friendly destination and quite possibly the core of a great urban district. Fulfilling this tremendous opportunity is essential if Washington is to become a world class city.
One, the Farmer’s Market is fine where it is. A portion is on the street and the other is in the bank parking lot. I like the easygoing nature of the market, I don’t know if it would have the same feel if it were thrust on to a typically busy road.
Two, “with Connecticut Avenue running underneath the circle, there is no need to cater to heavy traffic” ignores the fact that people also go east-west and not just north-south. Not everyone lives in Chevy Chase, some of us gotta get back to Shaw going on P Street.