Author: Mari

A Certain Aesthetic

Riding the G8 to church yesterday I saw a guy working on a building at the corner of 9th and P and the whole layout of it screamed “yuppie coffeehouse”, eventhough it is all up for lease. The “for lease” signed screamed ghetto.

Chatting with a friend I talked about the different looks you can see in rehabbed houses and buildings in Shaw.

Crackhead

You can spot a crackhead rehabb easy. The crackhead aesthetic has a little patch here and a little patch there with no rhyme or reason. It ulitaran, done badly. You’ll find things obviously hiding some sort of mistake, maybe a crack in the walls. You’ll find toilets not set right on/in the floor. The quality of the work is anti-code or substandard.

Workman

The workman’s aesthetic is working class ulitarian of varied quality. It’s like they got a list (put in 1/2 bath, granite, new cabinets, new carpet) and just followed it without any throughout to what might make these features attractive. The carpet is run of the mill. The cabinets are so so. The granite is there. The 1/2 bath was placed based on existing plumbing, not so much as how it looks in relation to the rest of the house. The best example I can think of is an open house I attended. They had the idea, hardwood floors. The floors were fine, the stairs were horrid. For stairs you’re supposed to use solid boards, not the little tongue in groove for the floors, they used the tongue and grove for the stair. Workmen fail in the minor details.

Atlanta Aesthetic

That’s what Nora called it. It’s a style that screams from several blocks away, “WE SPENT MONEY ON THIS HOUSE,” but it doesn’t mean it was money well spent. It’s sorta nouveau rich, sorta workman. The understanding is have something large or a lot of something that says, money. It can be gaudy and out of place. The problem is that you have this one expensive thing not too far or in the same room with something that screams, just as loudly, cheap.

For Yuppies, by Yuppies

This would be the corner of 9th and P. The money is in the details. Money and time were spent on the layout and design of every detail. These are the houses with the $40 interior door knobs, the stained glass, the custom door. They look nice but not overpowering. The owners spent money on correcting and undoing what the crackheads did, or keeping the good historical stuff, rather than ripping it out.

New Neighbors

Giddy with some excitement. I got new neighbors, two African gals. This is a good thing since the house next door basically remained empty for 7 years, then in the last year the guy who owned it, another African, started fixing it up… sorta (in some things the quality of work was good, other things, not so good. So now, there are no more empty/abandoned houses on our side of the street!!!!!!!!!!!

Convention Center Area Strategic Development Plan, 2nd Public

Meeting: 01/10/04

The second public meeting on the development of the Office of Planning’s

Convention Center Area Strategic Development Plan, focusing on housing,

retail, and public space issues in the area bounded by New York Avenue,

Massachusetts Avenue, 12th Street, Vermont Avenue, U Street, Florida Avenue,

and New Jersey Avenue, NW, will be held on Saturday, January 10, 2004, from

9:30 AM to 12:30 PM at the Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon

Place, NW, in Meeting Room 102.

At this workshop, the public will be asked to review three conceptual

designs developed by the project consultants following the compilation of a

variety of types of information on current conditions in the neighborhood.

Each conceptual vision will be described by a physical plan, a financial

feasibility model, and analyses of development costs, traffic generation,

costs for needed infrastructure improvements, public versus nonpublic

financial contribution, regulatory relief, taxable revenue projections, and

other factors to assist in the selection of the final plan. These options

will be refined into one preferred option. This planning initiative does not

include the old convention center site.

More information, including the PowerPoint presentation from the first

public meeting to discuss the future of the area around the new convention

center on October 14, 2003, can be found at the following URL:

http://planning.dc.gov/planning/cwp/view.asp?a=1283&q=581409&planningNav_GID

=1604

To RSVP or for more information, contact Ward 2 Neighborhood Planner Chris

Shaheen of the DC Office of Planning at 202-442-7631 or

chris.shaheen@dc.gov. RSVPs are recommended but not required.

kitchen and house

Kitchen & house

Been doing the kitchen. Well the contractor has been doing the kitchen. The only thing that needs to be done is the countertop, the sink instillation and the DW hookup. Right now I’m discovering the joys of microwave cooking (4 years without a microwave can you believe it?), the heated floor and a room that looks like it wasn’t designed by crack heads.

Which brings me to the house. I’m in the kitchen, enjoying what costs me a butt load of money. It’s modern, it’s sleek, it makes the most of the little space that it is and it has few if any ugly to it. Gone is the boxed in pipe and the non-cabinet. Gone, the odd space between the cabinet and the wall. Gone are the visable pipes. Pure crack head design, ugly and makes no sense. So when I leave my lovely kitchen I move the rest of the house and mutter, “crack heads.”

The dining room has this fake wall that is hiding pipes, but juts out from the wall it is on, looking like it is hiding something…. but you don’t know what. 1/2 bath juts out wierd too. Floor is very uneven, Wall between living room and dining room runs very close to stairs making it difficult to move large things in and out. Top it off with a lot of ugly…. Some is age. But the modern design stuff, makes no sense. It looks as if they really didn’t want it to look nice.

I’m thinking I’m going to have to redo the house. 1st and 2nd levels. As soon as I stop hemmoraging money.

Have a safe holiday

Have a safe holiday

For the 3 people who actually read this blog, happy holidays.

Everyone else…

Be safe. When taking off stop your mail and your newspaper. Stop mail by visiting the US Postal Office’s web site to hold your mail. If you are a subscriber to the Washington Post, go to their subscriber webpage (you may need to register) and get them to stop delivery. The last thing you need to do is alert criminals to the fact that you’re gone with a stack of newspapers and mail.

Shaw_EcoVillage’s_Chain_Reaction_Adult_Bike_Class

Shaw_EcoVillage’s_Chain_Reaction_Adult_Bike_Class/Other_In fo

1. BICYCLE REPAIR CLASSES FOR ADULTS

2. CHAIN REACTION WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE WINTER HOLIDAYS

3. USED BIKES ARE AVAILABLE NOW

4. VOLUNTEER NIGHTS CONTINUE…

5. SPANISH SPEAKING VOLUNTEER NEEDED

1. BICYCLE REPAIR CLASSES FOR ADULTS

This Basic Bike Repair course follows the Park Tool-School curriculum, with

six

sessions:

Jan 6: Tubes and Tires: learn the pro’s tricks for fixing flats.

Jan 13: Drive-train Removal, Cleaning, and Installation.

Jan 20: All About Brakes.

Jan 27: Adjusting Shifters, Derailleurs, and Gears.

Feb 3: Adjusting and Overhauling Ball Bearing Systems.

Feb 10: The Science and Art of Wheel Truing.

Classes run from 7pm to 9pm. The class size is small so students get lots

of individual attention.

The full six week course costs $90 and includes a folding allen tool, patch

kit and tire levers — or you can take just one class for $20.

SPACE IS VERY LIMITED, so sign up now. Email: sev.noelpetrie@verizon.net

Phone: (202) 265-2019.

2. CHAIN REACTION WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE WINTER HOLIDAYS

The shop will be closed from Dec. 21 through Jan. 5, when we will resume our

regular winter hours: W/Th/F 1pm – 6pm and Saturday 10am – 4pm.

3. USED BIKES ARE AVAILABLE NOW

Now we have bicycles available for sale every day! Come check out the

selection. Call David at 202.265.0179 for details.

4. VOLUNTEER NIGHTS CONTINUE…

Wednesday nights, from 6:30 to 9:00 pm, you can find dedicated Chain

Reactions volunteers organizing the shop and refurbishing bikes. Sounds

like fun, right? If it’s your first time, join us at 6:30 for volunteer

orientation. As a bonus, volunteers earn time to work on their own bikes in

our repair stands or take repair classes for free. Call David for more

information 202.265.0179.

5. SPANISH SPEAKING VOLUNTEER NEEDED

Chain Reaction needs a Spanish-speaking person to assist with our

Earn-A-Bike (EAB) program starting Monday, January 26 and ending Monday,

March 1. This person would assist 2 teenage ESL students through Chain

Reaction’s EAB Lessons. No bike skills needed.

The Shaw EcoVillage Project, a community based 501(c)(3), engages young

people in making their neighborhoods cleaner, greener and more livable.

Shaw EcoVillage has two main goals, to develop leadership skills and job

readiness in young people, and foster the growth of expertise in

environmental stewardship, smart growth and equitable development on the

local level. We accomplish this through two programs, the EcoDesign Corps

and Chain Reaction.

In EcoDesign Corps, high-school students, ages 14 – 19, design and implement

projects that make the Shaw and nearby neighborhoods of Washington, DC

cleaner, greener and more livable for all residents. Students participate

in internships and fellowships where they apply their critical thinking

skills to solve real-life community issues. Participants focus on issues of

: Clean Water, Air and Land · Community Pride and Identity · Health and

Wellness · Equitable Development · Public Space · Transportation

Chain Reaction educates young people about the role of the bicycle in

sustainable communities and provides the residents of Shaw with safe,

affordable, and pollution-free transportation. Chain Reaction trains youth,

ages 9-19, in bicycle mechanics and safe riding skills through educational

programs; and provides job training and promotes bikes as affordable,

healthy transportation in its community bike shop. Our programs provide

young people with invaluable professional skills including project research,

problem solving, consensus building, action planning, implementation,

evaluation and presentation.

For more information please contact us at: Shaw EcoVillage, 1701 6th St.,

NW, Washington, DC 20001, phone: 202.265.2019 or 202.265.8899, fax: 202.

265.2842, email: sev.noelpetrie@verizon.net

<mailto:sev.noelpetrie@verizon.net> , web: www.shawecovillage.com

<http://www.shawecovillage.com>

#####

1701 6th Street, NW * Washington, DC 20001 * 202.265.8899 *

www.shawecovillage.com

Contributions are accepted and are tax-deductible.

Contribute through the Combined Federal Campaign, Designate #7606

 

Lucky Kitty

Lucky Kitty

My contractor has run off with the neighbor’s cat. She’s doing much better now he says. I kind of miss her. Lucky is an extremely affectionate cat. Of course she mainly wanted food and tried breaking into my house often. But now she’s in a warm house, the neighbors kept her outside, eating regularly, I used to feed her a little & thought her owners were too, and she doesn’t slobber anymore.

Please join Bloomingdale Civic Association, Inc. for its annual holiday meet and greet.

Bloomingdale Civic Association , Inc.

Holiday Meet and Greet

Monday December 15, 2003

7:00 pm

St. George’s Epeiscopal Church

160 U Street, NW

Come meet new neighbors and old friends. The Bloomingdale Civic Association is asking each guest to bring a wrapped shoebox that includes toilet articles, socks, scarf/hat/ gloves, cologne, comb/brush, underclothes, soap, deodorant, tooth/paste/toothbrush. Mark shoebox male/female.

or

A unwrapped toy for infant/youth no violent toys or toys with small object that can be easily swallowed, stuff or furry toys.

A Holiday Meet and Greet to remember shoebox gifts will be donated to SOME and toys to Childrens Hospital.

Happy Holidays

Cleopatra Jones,

President, Bloomingdale Civic Association, Inc.

Regrets only (202) 234-5399 (202) 387-2497

4 Blocks

4 Blocks

Just to note, my little world is a 4 block radius. That’s as far as I’m willing to walk. Yes, horribly lazy. So any new restaurant or new business venture, has to be 4 blocks away. That and west of me. I’ll go north, south and west. Mainly because there are things if interest past the 4 block zone that interest me. North of me, Howard and U Street and Le Droit. South of me, Chinatown, Union Station, Downtown, the Mall. West of me, Logan, Dupont. East, well I’m travelling by car and rushing to Home Depot, so no, not walking. Maybe if a Tarjay (Target) magically popped up somewhere on North Cap, maybe.

It’s cold, 4 blocks is the point things begin to freeze.