Month: March 2009

Real Estate TMI

Georgetown Metropolitan said it best, “sort of creepy”. The site is called Block Shopper. On one level it is good to know how many hands a property that’s up for sale went through since 2001. However, when it gets down to Technology Engineer Bob Brown sells Dupont Circle house for $899,088, that’s too much information. Seriously, too much.
Also (I just noticed) they STOLE, STOLE, as in not attributing or crediting, my Flickr pix. A few weeks ago I got on the case about this with the owner of one 4th Street house who used my picture of his house (and the neighboring houses) to advertise it as a rental. Hey-zeus Christie people, I don’t want money but I do want to be asked or acknowledged. Yes, someone’s getting a terse email.

Friday Misc


Not far from the S Street exit of the Shaw/Howard U metro station exit is this event at the New Community Art Space. The graphic I was given has been a bit hard for me to read but there is a web site artspacedc.org.

Well the Bates Area Civic Association (BACA), which covers the northern portion of the Truxton Circle area, has a new blog. Jim Berry, who sent me the notice about it also informed me about a knitting crocheting group forming:

HAVE YOU WANTED TO LEARN TO KNIT OR CROCHET? HERE’S YOUR CHANCE!!! A group is being formed at St. George’s Episcopal Church and you are invited to sign-up. The purpose of this group is to meet and fellowship while learning and sharing the crafts of knitting and crocheting. The group is open to the community; both female and male, adults and children (9 years of age and older) are welcome. The first meeting will be held in St. George’s Parish Hall, 160 U Street, N.W., on Saturday, March 21, 2009, between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 3:00p.m. Bring your needles

And speaking of yarn, last week I wandered into the neatest little yarn store evah! Not in DC but along Route 1, Rhode Island Ave/ Baltimore Ave, across the street from Franklin’s in what I’m generally going to call Hyattsville. It’s called a Tangled Skein. I’ve always passed by it, and after subduing my driver with Franklin’s food I talked him into joining me across the street to check out this place. If you are allergic to wool, do not enter because you will die. They have alpaca wool, cashmere wool, plain old wool, wool blends, and silk yarns. The shop gave me the same thrill as fabric stores as I went around feeling the different yarns. I bought, for my mom, a couple of acrylic wool blend skeins.

Starting a Rumor- Angelina Jolie @ 7th and PA NW

There have been cars blocking one land of traffic since I came into work and many are still there. On my way to Momiji I saw what I guess are catering trucks or vague vendors with snacks and coffee outside the Starbucks. When I asked a friend what was the commotion he said that Angelina Jolie is filming something at the Navy Memorial.
CAN ANYONE CONFIRM?
The only thing I can confirm is there is a film crew, and a big crowd at the Archives Navy Memorial metro station.

SSURA history

SSURA-Shaw Urban Renewal Area
I’ve been tearing up the house trying to find an eyeglass perscription among the piles of paper that litter my house. One of the piles was ‘neighborhood history that I’ll blog about at some point’. As I wait for a bunch of podcasts to download, I’ll type out this find. It is a transcript from the National Capital Planning Commission’s Executive session March 3, 1966, starting around page 42:

Chairman Rowe
Now we get to this review, Mr. Conrad, of the proposed urban renewal area in the Second Precinct around the Shaw School. Would you give us the background.
(Mr. Roberts departed the meeting at 4:55 o’clock p.m.)
ITEM NO. 4- SHAW SCHOOL URBAN RENEWAL AREA
MR. CONRAD: In 1958 the staff prepared a general neighborhood renewal plan in the Second Precinct area which is about the same area as you see encompassed by the red line on the map on the board which was 14th Street to the west, Florida Avenue to the north, North Capitol Street to the east and then down to Massachusetts Avenue and 10th Street on the south.
This is a rather large area. It contains about, oh, I believe nine to 12 projects that were supposed to be done over a period of ten years but were very limited when we went into the study of this area.
We were limited because of the housing tools that were available at that time. We were also restricted because of the high cost of rehabilitation and no write down to the process of urban renewal at that time. We were also restricted because there was very little citizen interest in this area.
As a result the large area was cut down to what the Commission knows as Northwest Number One which is about a 76-acre project which we have approved and which the Redevelopment Land Agency now is carrying out.
Since 1958 there have been quite a few changes. It is possible to get write down on rehabilitation. There is the 221-d-3 moderate cost housing, relocation housing. There are new forms of public housing which we have. The President is coming up with a demonstration city where we should get larger areas in order to be able to stage the development. Also the Shaw School has come into its own as a need and the President has also pointed out the examples where we should take schools and make them examples for other cities and this is a wonderful location to do it.
So last week Mrs. Rowe, three District Commissioners, Walter Washington, the staff and also some citizens from this area got together and now the citizens are asking for public help to do something with their area.
Reverend Fauntroy was there representing the area as well as Mr. and Mrs. — was that Lawson?
CHAIRMAN ROWE: Judge Lawson.
MR. CONRAD: Judge Lawson. They feel that the citizens are ready for this and they are looking for help from the proper public bodies.
We are working with D.C. on this as well as the Redevelopment Land Agency and we propose to come back to the Commission at its next meeting in April with specific boundary lines for approval so that we can go in for planning advances to at least study this area for urban renewal.

There is more but this was long enough and the keys on my keyboard get kind of sticky.

City Websites Compare and Contrast

I was asked for input on something DC related and to attempt to be fair in my expectations I looked at other cities’ and towns’ websites addressing similar issues. Looking at different cities sites on other urban topics of interests there are different things that pop out. Whether a city is good at communicating or addressing one or another thing through their web presence could be related to a whole host of things. Regardless, lets take a look.

DC.Gov
I use DC.GOV for a lot of things, mainly looking up tax assessments. I tend to ignore most of the top and scroll down to “Popular Online Services” and “Online Services”. Why these aren’t closer to the top beats me. It seems the most popular things relate to cars, as in finding the DMV, paying parking tickets and locating a towed car. Those are the things the people want. The only thing near the top that I have any mild interest in is a reminder that the Mayor’s call center number is 311 and the location of free Wi-Fi hotspots.
What is at the top that is useful when I’m not looking at assessments are the tabs “DC Guide”, “Residents”, “Visitors” and such. This s where I go to take the long way to the DC Council, MPD, and other agencies I don’t visit often. There are sections under the umbrella of DC.GOV that I really like, others that have lots of room for improvement, and others that seem pointless. Instead of getting into those I want to move on to other city’s sites.

PHILA,GOV
I have to admire the entrepreneurial spirit of the right hand frame of this site, labeled “Make a Payment”. This is a city that knows it can make money providing its citizens services. You can pay and view police reports and deeds. You can pay your water bill, gas bill, parking tickets, and pay your taxes by clicking a link on their homepage.
Also on the home page on the left hand side is “Help Me” which looks like “Help Us Help You.” Its links let you report a pothole, illegal activity, fraud, etc.

Chicago Egov.cityofchicago.org
I had high expectations but this site has a whole lot of room for improvement, starting with the URL. What it lacks in sophistication it makes up for in simplicity.
Moving on.

NYC.GOV
Who knew the S.I. Ferry Schedule was in such demand? But it is, along with getting birth certificates, and paying your property taxes. Though not at the top, the most popular items don’t require scrolling to get to. Because I’ve been looking at individual NYC departments’ and agencies’ sites, the home page for the city government doesn’t even hint at how great those sites are. Like Chicago, the home page is a little bit of a let down.

Boston CityofBoston.Gov
Here students get their own friggin tab. The Student tab links you to city information you need to know if you’re a student moving to Boston. You can find out about housing, pets, what to do with your car, etc. In some ways the Boston site is simple and requires a good amount of scrolling, but the feeling I get from the site is, “Hi, I’m Bahstan and I’m here to help.”

Seattle.Gov
Taxes don’t seem to be popular as I can’t find on the home page anything about tax assessments or property taxes. But you know what’s popular? The Live 911 Dispatch.

Lastly or this will be too long
Los Angeles www.ci.la.ca.us
Hate it. Slow loading, and once it did load the characters were too small and the home page was too busy. Oh and look at that URL.

So far my favorite is Philly. Something about “Block Party Permit” on the home site that makes me think the city can be fun, and encourages the citizenry to organize a good time.

Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, good neighbor

Shaw has a lot of churches. Many range from the ones housed in rowhouses to storefronts and churches that look like churches. Some churches, as they act in their own interest (nothing wrong with that) have been deaf to the concerns of the residents who they share the neighborhood with, and others have been a bit better at listening. Mt. Sinai has been one of those better churches.
Back when portions of the TC was in the 3rd Police District, Mt. Sinai allowed for PSA (police service area) meetings. This is in addition to the Bates Area Civic Association meetings that are usually held on the 1st Monday of every month, unless it falls near a holiday or there is inclement weather. Provided that you can make arrangements, the church has so far been very willing to provide free meeting space to community groups.
Though the church owns a number of homes along 3rd Street, and unlike some churches I can think of, Mt. Sinai has maintained these properties#, paid their taxes*, and keeps them in use for various ministries and functions. Except for the two properties bookending the 1600 block of 3rd St, the others don’t particularly stick out. One of the reasons I prefer the bus stop at 3rd and Q is that their place on that corner is somewhat populated, not as cut off and isolated as 3rd and R. Yes, the education center at 3rd and R does stick out. But after a while you get used to it.
They also, as do other Shaw churches, engage in community or local charity. Be it with their benevolence fund or the offer of free clothing. I can’t remember if they have a small food bank or not. They might not need to as the Fourth Street 7th Day Adventists, on the other side of the block has a soup kitchen on Sundays.
As they have grown from a storefront** to a full sized church with auxillary buildings, they have not turned themselves into a fortress. They have not fought neighborhood efforts to better itself, nor has it forgotten those left behind. Mt. Sinai, seems to know where it is in the community.

# 1630 3rd is listed as a vacant property and is taxed as such. From pictures of the house, it doesn’t strike me as looking vacant.
*Yes, despite being owned by the church, taxes are paid on almost all the 3rd Street properties, save but one.
** A 1950s NW area church survey classified Mt. Sinai on the 1600 blk of 3rd as a ‘storefront’ chruch.

Property Values

Well like many people I got my tax bill and my assessment. It seems that, according to the city, my house will be worth almost $10K less in 2010, compared to 2009. Oh well.
I’m not too concerned as it is not a jump but a shuffle. When I bought the house, several years ago, I’ve seen the city assessment of the value jump $50-$100K each year. This might be the first sign that the peak is over. It doesn’t however slow the 10% increase cap, which I noticed continues to go up. I bought the house before prices in the neighborhood shot up, and it is that lower value the cap was based on. That lower value has gone up about 10%.
Looking at my neighbors assessments, and really who doesn’t look at the neighbor’s assessments, the increases and decreases have been minimal on my block. Minimal as in a couple hundred dollars, $1K max, if any change.
Oh for anyone planning to fight their assessment, note that the city is placing a greater value on the land, not the house (aka improvements). So it won’t matter too much if the house next door is nicer. For some odd reason your land is worth $200K and your house is worth $100K. Same with the badly maintained rental up the street. See for yourself at the DC Assessment database.

Historic Preservation & Sex: Never underestimate the power of spite

As reported in the Sunday Washington Post, the owner of a hunting and fishing store in Old Town Alexandria wanted to expand, was told by the city he couldn’t, so he rented the space to a shop specializing in lingerie and ‘martial aids’. The then owner of the hunting & fishing shop, Michael Zarlenga, according to the Post did work with city historic preservation staff and a staff member of the Alexandria Board of Architectural Review in developing his plans for expansion of the sporting store. When the plans came up for the Board of Architectural Review to review in 2007, they rejected it The Board staff member Zarlenga was working with decided that the changes would cause an “unreasonable loss of [the] historic fabric.” The Board chairman said that the changes would have changed the roof structure.
What makes me feel badly for Zarlenga is that he was supposedly working with city staff and taking their advice and the city just strung him along. Any way the city of Alexandria was mean and made him cry. He closed his store, and until this year it was vacant. And this is where the spite comes in….
Zarlenga rented his space to an adult store, and is thinking of selling the property to them. The owners of the adult store have several other locations in NoVa and was able to get into Old Town because unlike other landlords, Zarlenga was willing to rent to them. The city of Alexandria has received complaints about the store’s presence. However, in the long run this may be much ado about nothing. The Pleasure Place, a similar establishment, in DC has two locations, both in historic districts. In addition Zarlenga has another Alexandria property, I’m not sure if it is a part of Old Town, that he’s leaving derelict and apparently patching up with duct tape. So with the adult store and the vacant property, that seems like spite.
+++++++
For clarification I am not supporting spite, nor supporting stringing people along.

Farewell to the best IKEA pot ever


IKEA, being IKEA, seems to have discontinued the bestest pot ever, their PS Fejo. A few days ago I noticed that it was not part of their 2009 catalog.
What’s so great about it? It is a self watering pot on wheels. Plastic wheels that don’t rust. Wheels that have rarely given me any problem. As I like to move my plants around in the backyard, the wheels are an important feature.
I usually drill three small holes near the bottom side of the pot, a bit above the reservoir, so I can keep them outside. The little indicator, that pops up when the reservoir is full, sometimes fails after a few seasons, bit the main thing, the wheels and the integrity of the pot is longer lasting.
So I went to IKEA and bought 5 Fejos, seeing that the College Park location had about 100 in stock.