It’s in the past, so it counts as history. 1994. Bladgen Alley. Zoning Case ZC 94-14. The idea was to change the zoning for the alley facing buildings from R-4 to C-1 or C-2-A. A look at the current zoning map and the proposed zoning for back then, it appears the effort failed. But what is interesting, and something a researcher (not me, somebody else) may want to explore are the signed petitions, the form and original letters from residents, businesses and workers in and around Bladgen Alley about the conditions of the alley. One interesting piece submitted was a statement, I gather to be read at a Zoning meeting, describing the conditions of the alley as a place of illegal dumping and tranny tricking. There are other zoning cases, in other neighborhoods where testimony is given describing neighborhoods that’s just interesting.
I’m sure a more complete story of ZC 94-14 can be found at the DC Archives. The part I encountered is from the National Archives, RG 328 Entry A1-27, boxes 89 & 90, as an FYI to the National Capital Planning Commission.
Month: April 2008
Lunchtime Research: A bust
Inspired by this map I thought it would be fun to go down to the library and see if any Truxton Circle area businesses disappeared because the riots.
Well.
I got nothing. I thought I had something but then realized, I had nothing. Comparing the 1967 city directory with the 1969 directory didn’t provide any glaringly interesting. A beauty parlor on the corner of R and New Jersey (where a fantasy French Bistro sits in my dreams) remained in business in both years.
I traced my finger down New Jersey and thought I found a huge gap. There were two commercial buildings, the Washington Building and the Evans Building, listed in the 1967 directory as being at 1434 and 1420 New Jersey. They were absent from the 1969 directory and I got excited and thought I had a find. Nope. Apparently the 1967 listing was a typo for both buildings as business and associations listed in 1967 were located in same named, same numbered buildings on New York Avenue in 1969. Then lunch was over.
The other problem was the fact that businesses go out of business for other reasons than a riot. Maybe if I had more time I could look at the 1965 directory as a base, track businesses that are shown in 1967 then see where they are (if they still were) in 1969. However that depends on a business being open for 5 years.
Screw the children
I dedicate this posting to B. who gleefully gave me this title.
B. and I just stepped out of this month’s BACA meeting. He was happily recounting part of the meeting where a woman claimed that there really weren’t that many children in the community. Recounting this, as we watched about 3 kids from our street horsing around on the other side of the street.
A couple of things were brought up in the meeting that I’m going to touch on, community, and community services.
Community. Who are we talking about? I live here am I part of the community? When we, city employees, politicians talk about the community, are they talking about the community as a whole, certain parts, what? This is important because the city wants to (trys to) serve the community.
Which brings me to city services. It may have been the same woman who said there weren’t any children around needing services, who pointed out that no one in the room at the meeting needed drug councilling, or job training, or shelter, or housing services, mental health services, or any of the ‘community services’ that the young mayor’s rep was mentioning. The problem is the city will never offer me any direct services I will ever use in my neighborhood. Of the neighbors I associate most with, neither will they. They probably won’t put their kids in city aftercare, or send their kids to existing rec centers, and they sure as heck don’t go to the regular public schools. The only housing help I’ll take from the city (that I haven’t gotten already with the 1st time homebuyer prgs) is the homestead exemption.
Indirectly, the services are to benefit me by supposedly taking care of problem people , and if the people with problems are served then crime would go down, which serves me. The problem is that the people who use those services aren’t represented at the meetings. Most who attend meetings have little firsthand knowledge of the programs, which then makes me wonder about adequate feedback for the city. Also since there is no direct participation, I wonder how hard would those of us in the community who are more politically involved (the letter writers, meeting attenders, etc) will fight for these community programs/ dollars, as compared to areas of the city.
Lastly, I want to write about what I’m not saying in this. I’m not saying there aren’t any city services that can’t help me and others in my neighborhood. Good functional libraries with active reading/ storybook programs, popular books available, comfortable reading areas, and available internet terminals would be nice. I know I ain’t gonna get it, but it would be nice. And there are things the city and some local politicians do beyond regular services and problem targeting, that positivity impact my quality of life, such as business promotion, providing mulch, and co-sponsoring events.
I’d guess I’d be more gung ho for programs for children if I actually believed the kids on my street and the other neighborhood kids I know would actually use them.
Mayor Fenty may show up at tonight’s BACA mtg
Got an email from Jim Berry:
Neighbors,
I have recently been informed that Mayor Fenty has placed tonight’s BACA meeting on his schedule for the evening and, if possible, he intends to stop by. As you know, we will be talking about the Focused Improvement Area Program that he initiated in parts of Ward Five (including our neighborhood) and we will present a modest award to Ms. Alice Thompson, Outreach and Services Specialist for Ward Five, Executive Office of the Mayor. Finally, we will be receiving community feedback from residents about the future re-uses of the JF Cook Elementary School and MM Washington Career High School buildings to pass along to our neighbor and Advisory Neighborhood Commission Chairperson Anita Bonds as well as the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education.
Hope to see you there!
Best,
Jim Berry
Bates Area Civic Association, Inc.
Do your own d@mned taxes
Once upon a time I had a conversation with my young college aged cousin and I told her, do your own damned taxes. She was waiting for her daddy, my uncle, to do them. I had been filing my own taxes since I was 17 and didn’t see what her excuse was. She her most sophisticated investment might have been a savings account, any money she made herself was from a dinky student job, and she wasn’t being claimed by her parents. If this describes you, do your own damned 1040EZ.
Also regardless of if you do a 1040EZ or 1040, you can file your individual DC taxes electronically for FREE, as I did this weekend. I had filed my Federal taxes a good while ago using one of those tax software programs. So I had that file open as I went step by step with the Individual Income Tax On-Line page. You will have needed to have filed a 2006 DC income tax return for it to work. A lot of it is just copying from your Federal tax form (they say what line you should look at) and plugging it into the on-line page. So don’t pay extra to file your ‘state’ taxes.
The remains of the day
I only glanced at the Sunday paper and some other articles relating to the anniversary of the 1968 riots and noticed something. Furniture stores, drug stores, and liquor stores were looted and burned. It seems the only thing to bounce back from the riots quickly were the liquor stores. Correct me if I am wrong, but between 1970 and 2000 wasn’t the easiest thing to buy in Shaw was something, anything, that could get you smashed quickly?
When I first moved to Shaw (after bouncing around the metro area), beer and wine, or read 40ozs and MD 20/20, was available every two blocks. Now, sorta yes, sorta no. The Bates market, has been shuttered for a while, but it is no longer selling anything. The liquor store on 4th and Florida is transitioning and sells a selection of wines you can cook with.** G&G on New Jersey sells no alcohol. But there are still several old style liquor stores in the hood with the scratched up Plexiglas and 90-100% of the merchandise behind it.
So 10-20-30 and 40 years after the riots, you still have liquor stores. I can’t remember if it was DC or some other post riot city where a black businessman was interviewed. To bring business back to the black community he…. opened a liquor store. I could only shake my head. So though very flammable, liquor is what remains when the fire has died down.
**I don’t believe you can cook with Boone’s Farm. Actually, I don’t think anyone in their right mind should drink Boone’s Farm.
BACA meeting 4/7/08 and empty schools
There will be a BACA meeting tonight and the following will be one of the topics:
From Jim Berry…
Discussion of Future Re-uses JF Cook Elementary School and MM Washington Career High School:
At our upcoming meeting, we will set some time aside to engage in a community discussion about future uses of the buildings that now house JF Cook and MM Washington. As you may know, these two schools are slated to be closed at the end of this school year and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education is currently soliciting input from community residents as to how they would like to see these buildings re-used after the schools close for good. At a recent meeting on the subject, a number of ideas were offered to DC Government officials, including the placement of an MPD Substation in the JF Cook School building along with space for community meetings and other activities, as well as the conversion of MM Washington into a facility that has an “arts” focus – such as a community theater, a local art gallery, and the like. Other ideas involved housing opportunities for senior citizens, a public library, and the possibility of retaining MM Washington as a Career High School while substantially expanding the number occupational specialties in which its students could be trained for entry level positions in the DC workforce. Also, there was a strong expression of interest in preserving the memory of the historical figures in whose honor these buildings were named. As you know, any one or a combination of these ideas could find their way into the final plans for this important economic development but, perhaps needless to say, we must express a point of view on this topic in order to have our input factored into this decision-making. The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education is hosting a follow-up meeting at which residents and other stakeholders will be permitted to make recommendations about the future re-use of these buildings on the evening of Thursday, April 10, 2008 at McKinley Technology High School . And, we believe that this will be the final meeting called to hear our views concerning these buildings before a decision is made with regard to their respective dispositions. So, if interested, please come to our meeting on Monday to share your thoughts and recommendations regarding the two buildings. When these schools actually close, we cannot allow the two buildings to remain abandoned for the next 20 years – as has been the case with the former John Mercer Langston Elementary School building, also located near the intersection of North Capitol and P Streets, N.W.
Art @ the Bear
See this message from Pat Mitchell, President, North Capitol Main Street, Inc.:
“Art at the Bear” – Big Bear Café, that is . .
Saturday, May 10, 2008
7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Yes, the venue is a little smaller, but the fun is as big as ever . . .
Come celebrate with neighbors, bid on or buy beautiful artwork donated/ consigned from DC-area Galleries, local artists or private collections; take a chance on great raffle items, enjoy great food, good wine and have a fun-filled night out in the community without the drive home . . .
All for the price of just $20 bucks!
NCMS’ Annual Fundraiser to Support Small Business
in Bloomingdale, Eckington and Truxton Circle
Art for the Bear
See this message from Pat Mitchell, President, North Capitol Main Street, Inc.
Calling All Local Artists and Artisans . . . Customers await.
Looking for a great local venue to show off your artistic talents; do you want more face-time with a wider audience, potential customers? Well, look no further, because “Art at the Bear” – North Capitol Main Street’s Annual Fundraising event to benefit small business in Bloomingdale, Eckington and Truxton Circle – is the perfect space to do just that.
If you’re a local artist and interested in getting your artwork in front of more local residents and potential customers, here’s an opportunity to sell/show your art, get the exposure you’re looking for, and benefit a great cause at the same time!
Interested? Call NCMS at (202) 460-4864 and leave your contact information.
Thursday-Friday Grab Bag
Warning for some of you car owners, traffic enforncement is now in tow. I’ve been seeing cars get moved by the city on a regular basis. Today I saw a truck taking away a car on New Jersey Avenue. The day before it was moving a car on R St. You’ve asked for city services, and well you got one.
With the housing problem we are surprised why? Remember oh, back to 2004, 2005, and 2006 when I said real estate agents were on crack and the houses were overpriced? So, what happened? We discovered the houses were overpriced. The bubble deflated. I can’t say burst because it’s not like the houses are worthless, just worth less. We knew people were taking out loans too large for them to handle. We knew this day would come. We knew a few years back that there would be a lot of foreclosures, and guess what? 2008, there are a lot of foreclosures. Who knew? Yes, there are people who are losing their homes, but where I am, so are a lot of developers and flippers and speculators who came into Shaw, looking for a quick buck. Some of them got out in time. A good number didn’t and so we are stuck, until the next housing uptick, with vacant, 1/2 done, or crapily done houses, and cut-up townhomes created into funny looking condos.
Central Union Mission is going downtown. And there was great rejoicing in Pentworth and some other NW neighborhoods. For lo, they moveth the men’s shelter to 65 Mass Ave NW, where they are not far from other homeless services. And someone remind me, wasn’t the Gales School (65 Mass Ave) used as a shelter before?
I’d support more harpsichord players. Because they are artists, performing artists. And tearooms? Since I don’t drink coffee, I’m stuck with loving Teaism, so if the landed gentry come in and put in tearooms, I’m all for it. Besides I spent most of my undergrad years studying the rise and fall of the British aristocracy, I’d be pleased to observe them up close.