I think I have gotten over any second thoughts about entertaining guests over at my pile of crumbly bricks I call home. Sadly have a fair number of suburbanite friends with ‘hood issues. But last night I imported three folks from PG County who weren’t family members (having relatives over for holiday meals does not count as entertaining) for an All Saints Day dinner.
It was fun. Curry was cooked, wine was drank, letters were read, and a good time was had by all. No one’s car was stolen. No one was double parked in… like last time. Guests did not hint at anything unsavory being seen on the way to the house. They found parking on the street near the house. Maybe it is now safe enough to invite the Bethesdites.
Parking is the key. Before there was tons of parking. Then the abandoned houses got occupied, by people with cars, sometimes more than 1 car per house. The other problem was directing guests to where NOT to park. There are blocks where I notice the remains of a busted car window more often than others. The northwest corner of my block, bad place. The corner near New Jersey and R, close to the Africare building, also bad. A guess a good host would have guests steer clear of areas where one’s car is more apt to get broken in. Of course, those spots on the street are usually not available as more people (with cars) move into the area. But as more people move in and clean up blocks, there are other safe places for parking.