Day: June 28, 2004

On a lovely Summer day, not too hot, not too humid, but just right, also known as Spring, I was over at BL, N& Sprog baby’s (mom, dad, 8 wk old baby) house for BBQ and pie at their Eckington(?)/ Bloomingdale home. Eckington and Bloomingdale are just outside the Shaw borders but with the same fun-fun issues as Eastern Shaw.

Of the many topics covered in the deckside conversation we talked about spending time with family and friends in the area. I then remembered a statement made by a young woman on one of the many discussion boards I haunt, about how she wanted an apartment building that would give her that dorm like living style. She wasn’t waxing for small bedrooms with dirty kitchens and stale smelling common rooms, but the community that the dorm provided. Sadly as we grow up and move around we lose that community and are isolated. There aren’t people you can just drop in on like the dorm. Here, now, you have to make travel plans to see friends or family even if they are just a 15 minute drive away. Everyone is so scattered.

Instead, the best thing to do is make community with your neighbors. I’ll have to credit the Internet with the friendship developed with the Sprog family, but they are close enough to drop in on. Then there are the people on my block. We drop in on each other to borrow tools, exchange ideas, pass along information, examine each other’s projects and just shoot the breeze.

I’ve come as close to the dorm experience as I care to go here. I have a roommate, I have neighbors I can talk to, family being in the area is good too, and I have community.

Take that Crystal City !Bppppppppppht!

The next ANC 2C01 Community Forum will be held on Wednesday, June 30, 2004, at 7:00 PM at the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library, 1701 8th Street, NW, Room 1. The focus of the meeting is “Latest Plans for Shaw: Are You For or Against Them?”

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

Are They Going to Tear Down Seaton Elementary to Build Condos?

DC Public Schools is considering a proposal from Shiloh Baptist Church and Clark Realty to demolish Seaton Elementary School and build new residential buildings on Rhode Island Avenue and a new school on P Street, eliminating the playing field behind the school and the environmental laboratory used by the students, located on some of Shaw’s very limited green space. Should they do this? Here’s your chance to hear preliminary plans and let school officials know what you think. Special Guests: Julie Mikuta, District 1 School Board Representative, and officials from DCPS Facilities Management.

Are They Going to Tear Down Watha T. Daniel Library Instead of Renovating It?

The plans were to renovate Shaw’s neighborhood library, but instead, the library administration is considering demolishing the building and replacing it with one that’s 10,000 square feet smaller. The building is now 24,000 square feet, a size that is appropriate to support the increased population that will result from new development in the area. Hear more about the controversy and find out what you can do to help stop this from happening.

What are They Planning for the O Street Market and Giant Store?

A major new $100 million development would transform the two blocks between 7th, 9th, O and P Streets, with a new Giant store incorporating the historic O Street Market, over 400 new apartments and condos, as many as 700 underground parking spaces, and additional retail, to be completed by 2009. Come hear and see the latest plans and provide your input. Special Guests: Alveraze F. Gonsouland and Armond Spikell, principals, Roadside Development.

Please share this notice with friends and neighbors who may be interested. I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Alex

Alexander M. Padro

Commissioner, ANC 2C01

1519 8th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20001-3205

202-518-3794 * Fax: 202-518-0078