Living in Shaw – Page 5 – Truxton Is In Shaw

Make your suburban friends jealous – In Shaw – Mari in the Citi

Okay so if you’re young enough or new enough you’re probably spending half, or more than half of your income on a small apartment or tiny townhouse in the city. There is probably a reason why you chose to live in Shaw or Bloomingdale or Mt. Vernon Sq. over Springfield, Beltsville, or Mt. Vernon. For me it is the awesome commute (20 mins from front door to butt at desk) and the ability to live over a decade without owning a car. Maybe for you it’s the 5 minute walk to your favorite bar, or your second favorite bar. Or maybe you see the ridiculousness of driving 10 minutes or more to a gym to spend ½ an hour on a treadmill staring at CNN, when you my citified friend can walk or bike or take a bus to the kickbox-parkour-pilates-power-hot-yoga place…. While on your phone updating your Twitter. Do that in a car and you’ll find yourself wrapped around a pole, or in a ditch.

Our suburban friends, we love them, and I’m sure they love us, but they don’t see why we’d choose less than 1000 sq feet of urban jungle over .25 acres of grass that needs mowing and private parking. Remind them of what they’re missing and why it’s worth it. At least remind yourself.

It helps if your neighborhood is great. I have a bias for Shaw. Even in the bad old days of Shaw, with hot a cold drug dealers and gunshots every other night, it was walkable and close to Downtown with lots of transportation options (bus and metro train). Yes, no one wanted to deliver food to you, or come by and pick you up in their cab, but I had more options in early 00s Shaw than I did in Hyattsville. Now, Shaw is amazing and gets more amazing each day. There is still crime and drug dealing but the good mostly outshines the bad. There are more transportation options, I can start sentences with, “Lets get an Uber …” and have one at my door in less than 4 minutes. There are 2 Capital Bikeshare stations within a 3 minute walk from my house. And there are those little Car2Go things all over the place. I can walk to church, to either the Giant or the Safeway, to the metro, and to more than 50 bars, restaurants, and other eateries. There are a handful of places that want to deliver food to me from more than 100 restaurants.

When we had that big snowstorm (yes, I know it is summery now… finally) and the streets were blocked and folks who lived in less dense areas were stuck in their houses. We, were able to trudge to the restaurants and businesses that were open because some business owners were local. That was one little perk of living in town.

So enjoy the life you live, in the city.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on May 25, 2016 11:06 PM.

Losing Good Neighbors – In Shaw – Mari in the Citi

I found out this weekend that some long term neighbors are moving to the wilds of Maryland after 33 years of living on the block. A week before, I saw another neighbor with a known Realtor guy, who we knew was going to move, but just seeing that guy made it more real.

Our block is losing two good neighbors. They aren’t good neighbors because they are nice people, which they are. They are good neighbors because the old timers and the somewhat new-timer actively tried, with their own style, to make our block a better place. The old timers are a couple and I’ve mentioned Lem once or twice on the blog. In winter Lem gets his Bobcat and shovels the sidewalk after a big snow. He’s also been the neighborhood handyman for small things that come up. His wife and another long-time person (moved away now) greeted me when I first moved here, providing me with a welcome packet. The other neighbor has been active with animal/pet issues that have arisen and addressed the possibility of a hate group protesting outside of the mosque.

We’ve lost other good neighbors in the past too, who have left their imprint. They have been replaced by nice people who have yet to make their own mark. Sometimes it takes a while to figure how you can use your talents, connections, and knowledge to make the block a better place. But when they do, watch out, something wonderful happens.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on May 9, 2016 10:46 PM.

12/24/2023 side note- Former neighbor Lem died November 23, 2023

People Who Show Up at Your Door – In Shaw – Mari in the Citi

I’ve been talking with someone who lives in Baltimore and works in DC, and we have been comparing DC and Baltimore. We got on the topic of Jehovah Witnesses which led to talking about other people who show up at my door. However, it seems the other people I get beyond JWs are a DC thing, and others, I’m guessing a Shaw thing.

1. Religious People– These are your Jehovah Witnesses and more rarely Mormons. Everyone gets them, and everyone has their own opinion on the topic, so moving along.

2. Political/ Advocacy– They want you to sign to allow such and such on the ballot and they will come door to door to get those signatures because standing outside the metro and accosting people apparently wasn’t working. Lately, I had someone from Save the Children show up on my door. I believe they wanted donations. So, no.

3. Utilities– No I do not want to change from Pepco or switch to a cable company.

4. Wrong door or Alica don’t live here no ‘mo– This happens less these days but in the early days when I arrived and the neighborhood was truly gentrifying with lots of subsidized homes and transition and change, you’d have people showing up at the wrong door. In a row of townhouses they all look alike and it doesn’t help that the colors of the house changed and the fences changed when someone was looking for an old friend. Or when a house that used to have subsidized renters or so-in-so who was living with grandma has now been replaced by random white people. I got someone who was looking for someone three doors over who moved a while ago. I’d heard stories from other people who had people at their doorstep looking for people who moved several years ago.
I’m hearing fewer of these stories and I take it as a sign that Shaw is no longer ‘gentrifying’ it is gentrified. The middle-class and typically white people are no longer replacing poor black families, they are replacing middle class white people. There are still subsidized houses being replaced by market rate renters and owners, but not to the level it was in the 90s and 00s.

5. Sales– The door to door salesperson still lives. I think Capital Meats may have changed their name, but they do come around every so often. Typically, I say no. There have also been people hawking subscriptions for the Washington Post and other publications. Um, no.

6. Handouts/ Cons– This is seems special to neighborhoods like Shaw. I put handouts with cons because sometimes until later, until after you think about it or write about it on the neighborhood email list, you may discover it was a con. This winter we got a homeless couple at our door asking for whatever we could give. It was a cold night so we gave them a new hat and scarf I’d gotten as a present. I was planning to give those items to charity anyway, so I honestly don’t care if it were a con.
Many years ago I got a woman at my door claiming to live around the corner, saying a relative was in the hospital, her car won’t start or she needed gas because the hospital was in outer Mongolia Maryland, and she just needed something to help. I gave her a Smart-Trip card I found days earlier on the sidewalk.
Several months ago on one of the neighborhood forums there was mention of a white male going to doors claiming that he locked himself out of his house and had extra keys at work and needed money for a cab to pick up his keys. Like my lady with the relative in the hospital, he made a vague claim of being a neighbor. People who move to neighborhoods like Shaw tend not to know who their neighbors are, and con artists can use that ignorance.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on April 30, 2016 9:01 AM.

Still Annoyed with #NSS2016 – In Shaw – Mari in the Citi

Okay now I’m annoyed about my church being surrounded by security fencing.
Before I was just pissed about the militarization of the civilian commercial and residential space during the conference.
Now the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit is over with and things that were supposed to get back to normal after 12 noon, are not. There is this big heavy metal security fencing in the parking spaces on 8th Street NW, taking up several parking spaces. The security fences are surrounding Immaculate Conception, so that you have to walk half a block to get in. The fences also were still up on 7th Street when I walked by a little after 5PM on Saturday.
Seriously. Next time. Pick the boonies of Virginia or Maryland if you need so much security.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on April 3, 2016 6:02 PM.

Nuclear Summit Neighborhood Mess – In Shaw – Mari in the Citi

Dear Organizers of the Nuclear Security Summit,

Next time consider the Dulles Expo Center. No it isn’t in DC but that’s never stopped some organizers of other events from calling their thing the DC Whatever.

Yes, nuclear security is important. But your importance seems to require shutting down major thoroughfares (Route 1), MPD man hours not spent on addressing the terror of crime on DC streets, and a dozen or so humvees with a bunch of National Guardsmen from the Mall to the Shaw metro, f’ing up traffic.
I’ve lived in DC for well over a decade and I understand that “security” however you define it and however it is expressed is a big thing around here. However I find this expression offensive. I hate the militarization of civilian spaces. I’d understand if some of my fellow residents had rioted, burned down a bunch of buildings and were looting. If that’s going on, yes, send out the National Guard, the sooner the better. However, in the past decade the National Guard has been lingering around Shaw for special occasions, with heavy equipment at least 3-4 times. The past 2 inaugurations and this summit. I know not just Shaw, but Mt. Vernon Square and Downtown get a bit of this too.

I find it unsettling to walk to the metro in my neighborhood and see a tan humvee at the 7-11 on Rhode Island Avenue. I found even more offensive to my sight a humvee parked on the wide pedestrian sidewalk, at 7th and P next to Beau Thai. It appeared that even my church was blocked off by the National Guard, strangely I’m not that upset about that as I am the commercial corridors.

I guess the part I find most offensive is that someone thought it was okay to to do this to my neighborhood, a place where people live, a neighborhood of residences and churches and schools and daycares. Is security in the hands of a bunch of Virginians who think, “OMG that place has a bunch of black people, send out the National Guard!”

If security is so frigging important why the heck did someone or some group decide to pick one of the busiest places in the metro region. Surely Camp David is available. It just doesn’t seem to make sense to have an event in a highly populated commercial and residential area if security is a concern. Heavens knows you’re not taking advantage of the metro since Mt. Vernon Square Metro was closed down for this event and Metro buses were rerouted. I feel badly for the 9th St restaurants several of who have had to warn diners on their twitter feeds of the traffic mess, so I wonder, did you come for our fine dining? I sort of doubt it. But if you needed hotels and restaurants, maybe next time have it at the National Harbor and ferry participants safely along the Potomac.

Yes, I know it is only for a couple of days once every so many years, but someone seems to be making a habit of injecting the military into civilian neighborhoods. Pope Frankie’s visit had some crazy security and closings but with fewer firearms and heavy equipment. So next time, please pick another venue because your presence is a PITA.

Thanks.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on April 1, 2016 6:14 PM.

The Last Roommate

The Last Roommate By Mari on August 30, 2010 1:45 PM

Well this weekend my last roommate moved in. After the Help and I get hitched (when he actually has a legal right to all that equity I’ve built up) he’ll move in and I’ll no longer be renting out the extra room. This house is way too small for 3 adults. So in thinking about 9 years worth of roommates and the whole renting your room out, here’s what I’ve learned:

Let the market determine the rent- not your mortgage

I think I charged by first roommate Belinda $500 in 2001. I can’t remember if I included utilities. I probably did. My mortgage was a little below $600. This was pre-renovation. I had the kitchen counter-space of a Ouija board and crappy cheap carpet. I also had active drug traffic on my corner and back then Cindy the Crackho was actively working (now it seems she’s retired) so I couldn’t really demand a high rent. But neither was I going to charge ½ of my mortgage, I had to make it worth my privacy. Then came the kitchen renovation and the whole house renovations and the second mortgages that followed. The kitchen renovation had no impact on what I was charging for rent as it had no impact on having drug dealers on the corner. Strangely, neither does having a new kitchen reduce gunfire heard at night, which really allowed for raising the rent. (more after the jump)

I did increase the rent from the $500-$550 range to $700 and above after the huge renovation in 2007 when my mortgage total went into the land of $1600 a month. I was charging less than ½ my mortgage and including utilities. In 2007-08 a renovation at that time made sense. The drug dealers were decreasing their hours. Other houses on the street were getting renovated so I wouldn’t be overbuilding, and I was finally making enough money to support a bigger second mortgage. After the renovation, I checked Craigslist and the City Paper to get a sense of what to charge for a room. Then I would post an ad for a certain amount and depending on if I got any real bites, I found out if I was asking too much.

Do a thorough interview and follow up on references

One reason I hear people say no to roommates is that they’ve had a bad experience with a past roommate. Of my worst roommates since leaving my parents home they’ve been people I didn’t choose (dorm situations) . It helps to pick people based on something in addition to their ability to pay rent on time. I’ve always required references and I interview those references, over the phone, before offering the room. I demand an in-person interview with the applicant. In the beginning it was to make sure the person was ok with the neighborhood. It was also to make sure they were the kind of person I could get on well enough with for the next 3 to 6 months. Yes, even though I do short term rentals I did the big interview, check your references, confirm employment dance.

The questions I would ask references were roommate, temperament questions. How are they about cleaning up behind themselves? Does So-in-So smoke? How does s/he handle conflict when a problem arises? Would you describe So-in-So as dependable/responsible? And general descriptions of the person. These interviews have been helpful in adjusting how I related to the roommate and made me aware of things I’d have to be sensitive to as well. And I made sure they were not all email references and I called the employer (or former employer in some cases.)

Know your market, know yourself

As I mentioned, I do short term rentals. Mainly because I get bored with people and sometimes I just want my house back. That was the know yourself part. So, who would I rent to? Well in the summer there are interns. I’ve had a law firm intern, and international org intern, and some educational non-profit intern. Because of all the non-profit think tanks and other research institutions there are also fellows, who are like interns, but older and definitely paid better. Some fellows I got from friends who were searching for housing for their research fellows who were going to be in DC for 4-6 months. Other types of people who needed the short term stays were people who were hired on a trial basis, a commuter and someone here for a short detail at the home agency.

My preferred roommate was someone with a life elsewhere. My commuter, lived with her partner on weekends. The person on detail had an apartment back on the west coast she was returning to. The law intern was a homeowner in Philly. And to accommodate them I would provide a furnished room, and provide kitchen wares so all they had to bring was their suitcase.

Ect

Sometime this year I contacted DCRA about the legality of renting out my extra bedroom and was told by Michael Rupert, Communications Manager, that I could have up to 5 unrelated people living together in a home – as long as they share kitchen and living spaces – without having to get any license and it’s perfectly ok in terms of zoning regulations.

I also reported the income on my taxes taking out the expenses associated (utilities, the odd time I paid the WP for an ad) and it has been good income. If you pick the right roommate (lives elsewhere on weekends, workaholic, never cooks) it can be the easiest $600-$700 bucks a month.

Do a thorough interview and follow up on references

Know your market, know yourself

Ect

Screw you Sears and your sorry Blue Service Crew

A few days ago my washer went into a coma. The thingy that tells the machine the the lid is on so the tub will spin and drain kinda broke. So I went on-line and made an appointment with Sears to fix it after a few tries at fixing it myself. The appointment was for today between the hours of 1-5. Ah, the joys of home-ownership. As a homeowner I get to take off work, use my precious annual leave, and sit around the house, waiting for the ‘guy’, as opposed to being a renter who’d be arguing with management about a broken washer.
I had called at 8AM to confirm and to provide more info about my washer’s model and serial numbers. The operator tried to sell me on a service plan, no dice. Then I took off work, and stayed near the phone and the front door. Five PM came and went and at 5:05 I called wondering where was the technician. I was told he must have gotten held up and they’ll have someone call in 15-20 minutes to say when he should arrive. I let 30 minutes pass, no call from Sears, so I call again. I’m unhappy but calm. Okay maybe full of sarcasm, but still calm. First call goes to dead air. Second call I get Bombay (or wherever the call center is) and get a nice but accented fellow, who puts me on hold for 8-10 minutes to get a hold of ‘dispatch’. The connection with ‘dispatch’ was splotchy but I managed to figure out that a) no one was coming today b) no one can come in the next week and a half, maybe and c) they are really sorry, blah, blah, blah.
After I got off the phone I got angry, angry enough to try to fix the damned thing myself. The broken do-hicky is in a hard to reach area and the connecting short grounding wire was in a spot I couldn’t get pliers into. But after a few tugs I managed to pull the part out where I could see it, figure out what exactly broke and find a temporary fix with a rubber band. I plugged that puppy back in and it sprung alive and began to drain and spin.
I felt so empowered. I mean a real surge of feeling that nothing could stop me. It was a I could fight ninjas and crush things with my bare hands kind of feeling. Boo-YAH!

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on July 21, 2010 6:34 PM.

Fears about front yard gardening

You can learn a lot from the kinds of questions people ask. As some of you know I have an edible front yard. It has tomatoes (that are dying), herbs, a few edible flowers, arugula (lots and lots of arugula), Swiss chard, purslane and beets. One of the questions I get often is “Aren’t you worried someone’s going to steal your tomatoes/ herbs/ whatever?” No. The only thieves I worry about are furry, bushy tailed and have a recipe for them in the Joy of Cooking, I’m talking about the g*d2#mned squirrels. The two legged thieves only go for the identifiable stuff and most people only know parsley when it’s garnishing their plate or in the supermarket labeled “PARSLEY”. Also their only value is as an edible and people can be really funny about that wondering if that’s really a tomato or is it a large poisonous red berry that just looks like a tomato? So no, I don’t have a problem with people stealing my edibles.

The other frequent question is about rats. Before and after the garden I’ve never had a problem with rats. Field mice, lots of problems, but not rats. The field mice are more interested in getting into my kitchen for warmth in the winter. The only thing interested in my lettuces are slugs and bugs. The tomatoes tend to be up high, and the only rodent bothering them are bushy tailed.

Right now my biggest problems in the garden appear to be blight, crowding and slugs.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on July 20, 2010 8:43 AM.

Argh rain

I like rain but last night’s rain got into the house via the cooling and power lines of the A/C unit on the roof. I called my contractor David and he’s going to look into it. I checked with my next door neighbor whose house was also gutted and completely redone new. Well new isn’t always perfect and he had a stream of water coming down the side. My thing I think is a small fix and my biggest problem is that I don’t have easy roof access. I need to buy a decent ladder so I can get on my roof because I’ve been experiencing all sorts of issues related to lousy roof access. That, and next year I want to get on the roof for the 4th of July fireworks.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on July 14, 2010 8:01 AM.

Flower Power Nominees and Winners

Note- I’m leaving off backyards and the winners are in bold. If you have a chance walk by these properties when you’re out walking the dog or the baby or both.

Large yards
Though most yardspace in the northern half of Truxton is small, there are corner lots and the large front yards of New Jersey Avenue.
401 R St
1705 New Jersey Ave
1725 New Jersey Ave

Medium Yards
Whats the difference between medium and small? One looks a tad bigger. Also in this category are two neighbors who joined their yard to create something lovely.
314 P St
1612 3rd St
1419/1421 3rd St
1618 4th St
1533 3rd St (write-in)

Small Yards
112 Q St (previous year’s winner)
1532 1st St
1542 1st St

Postage Stamp Yards
These are yards so tiny there are area rugs bigger than the amount of dirt that sits outside the door. Note they are all on Bates.
64 Bates
72 Bates
74 Bates
94 Bates

Blocks
100 block of P St
1500 Block of 1st
1500 Block of 3rd

There were plenty of fine yards not nominated so these are the best of the ‘hood. Please take a look at them and steal some ideas.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on July 13, 2010 8:12 AM.