Category: Uncategorized

Yesterday’s comments got me thinking about stuff to read…. not like I don’t have enough to read, but there are books that would look good for some of us living here.

Freakonomics by Steven Leavitt and Stephen Dubner
Soley for the chapter titled “Why crack dealers live with their mothers“. Yeah there is other stuff in there about Real Estate agents not working in the best interest of their clients, but really, you want to read up on your local crack dealer. Investigating this chapter (ie randomly looking around on the net until book order comes through) I found, but can’t seem to find now, a comment that in addition to a 1 in 4 chance of getting shot and low pay, you have to deal with crackheads. That would be such a negative. Day in and out you gotta deal with the dumbest messed up folks on the planet. Anyway, apparently this chapter is based on the work done by Stephen Levitt and sociologist Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh in their article “An Economic Analysis of a Drug Selling Gang’s Finances” (warning PDF file), which I am 1/2 way through, it is a good read.

And ’cause the Fantasia song Baby Momma was stuck in my head I remembered Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage by Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas, which was featured on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show. You can read chapter 2 “WHEN I GOT PREGNANT . . .Mahkiya AND Mike”. I wonder if the book does what the authors did so well on the show, which was explain the motivations of the poor women to a middle and upper middle class audience.

Lastly, a fun book Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones, who won a Pulitzer for The Known World. It is a collection of 14 short stories all taking place in DC, many of them in Shaw. I was partway through the book when I got distracted by my current read of The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz. There is a story about a guy who works for a corner store over by 5th and O NW, another starting at Cardozo High School wandering up to Columbia Heights and down to 9th & P, then Anacostia. It is a joy for those who like to play where in DC is that? Because you think about what those sections of the city look like today, as most of this takes place in the 60s and 70s, and imagine the Shaw or the Columbia Heights or the Dupont Circle of the author’s mind.

Catching a ride back home with a slightly inner beltway suburban friend (sibsf) one late Thursday night I noticed two neighborhood drug dealers out in the drizzling rain. One was sitting in the usual hangout spot, the other was on the other side of the street standing out in the elements.

Me: And there are our friendly neighborhood drug dealers, working hard, weathering the cold, damp and dark to get their customers the products they desire.
SIBSF: (without missing a beat)And bringing hard currency to the area.

Dudes. It is such a shame that they can’t direct that willingness to be cold wet and miserable into a real job that doesn’t involve crack. Unfortunately, the problem (as pointed out by one local official) is drug dealers don’t interview well. Apparently, they can’t stop smoking the weed (failing drug tests) and they dress poorly (pants should not hang off your butt).

I want to thank BL for pointing me towards the rear cover of issue 23 of Stay Free Magazine. I would have shown it here but today Blogger is being tempermental.

1406 3rd St NW
Asking price: $419,000
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 1.5
Basement: Yes
Fireplace: 1
The picture is not of 1406 3rd Street, it is the lovely view from the rear deck of said building. There is no back yard. There really isn’t an alley. There is an undefined portion of land running behind the houses that seems unclaimed by the city and residents, as it is unpaved, worn and green.
The house is being sold as is. From my absolutely unprofessional opinion, and really my professional opinion wouldn’t do you any good ’cause I’m a librarian, but my unprofessional opinion is this house is a bad, bad renovation. Coming up the stairs to the 2nd floor I noticed the back bedroom had a very noticeable tilt. Oh, like 20 degrees. If you set a ball down, it would roll. That is so not good. There was a smaller tilt on the first floor, I noticed coming from the basement. Settling? Ah, maybe, but if you are going to do any sort of rehab work on a house like that, the floors should be leveled. But whadda I know, I’m just a librarian.
The basement really needed a dehumidifier. Really. It smelled of damp and a slight hint of bleach. It was a finished basement with exterior & interior access and the only thing I see it being is a guest bedroom for people you don’t like, a really cold office, or storage space with a window.
Another problem with the house is where it is. From the main bath and the master bedroom, you have an excellent view of Dunbar High School which is just across the street. You can wake to the sound of raging hormones.

1549 4th St NW
Asking price: $524,500
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2.5
Basement: Yes
Fireplaces: 3
Location wise the bad thing about this property is that it is close to the mosque. Which isn’t as bad as it used to be now that they no longer do the 5:30ish AM call to prayer over the loudspeakers. Otherwise it is fine.
I wandered over to this one with B&IT and got their impressions of the place. We liked the master bedroom with the incredibly high ceilings and exposed beams. B liked the skylight, but IT pointed out the open structure that allowed the skylight to shine on the hallway and bathroom, taking away aural privacy. Looked nice anyways.
According to the agents at the house, the place was renovated 3 years ago and rented out. The place seemed to be in pretty good shape. The renters did nothing with the backyard, which was part concrete and part weeds in dirt. Small but usable. The light colored carpet also seemed to hold up fairly well considering.
The basement was also carpeted and could have been made into a guest bedroom area. Maybe 2 bedrooms, but the current residents have made the area storage. It wasn’t particularly cold or anything and we didn’t see any sort of water damage. The funny thing I noticed was there was a fireplace in the basement/storage room. There are fireplaces on all 3 levels, but the bikes and stuff leaning against this fireplace was just funny.

Well the experiment to put bumper stickers on my trash and recycle bins failed. The sticker won’t stay stuck.
Black or any colored marker doesn’t help with the lid. Markings I’ve made with the Sharpie have long faded and washed away.
The paint is slowly peeling off. On some parts of the can the latex paint is just not sticking. Spray paint is an option and it is very durable, but without a decent template, it can make for unclear markings.
But I have discovered some other fun way to identify my recycle and trash bins. Colored chalk. Not very permanent, but extremely easy.
I have a wall I turned into a big chalk board. I typically write notes to remind myself of stuff, like laundry. Anyway, so I had a piece of chalk and tested out how long it would stay on the can. So far, things on the side of the can have survived a good 2 weeks. Things written on top of the can, go away after the first rain.
The temporary nature of the chalk allows for the fun. I can write other things besides my house and street number on the bins. On the recycle bin I’ve written little slogans. On the trash can, on the top, I decided to write “trashier than a soap opera.” Yup, I wouldn’t have painted that on.

I’m seeing flowers on my tomatoes. I’m so thrilled. Once these bad boys actually get blooming and pollinated and fruiting I’m going to be free of Giant and its high priced crappy tomatoes. At least until the first frost of winter. Tomatoes are like $2.99 a pound! That’s too much. Chicken costs less per pound.
Oh, for my local readers, local meaning within 3 blocks of my house (you know who you are) do you want a tomato plant? I got a seedling in a big yogurt cup and no place to plant it. I’ve got about 7 tomato plants growing right now and I don’t think I can find a place for another. Yes, seven. There’s the two plants I bought in the front yard. One grown from seed is over by the peas (which are doing well), which I’ve forgotten which variety it is….(same goes for the give away it’s either a yellow boy hybrid or an heirloom red). In the back I have a tomato in the recycle bin, 2 tomatoes in rolling pots, and 1 in a very small pot that really needs to be transferred to something bigger.
As mentioned the peas are doing well. They produce pretty flowers and sweet tasty peas that I eat raw. Well the ones I planted early do. The ones in the back planted later, have done nothing but grow. They have not flowered or anything. Well now I know when I should plant them for Spring. I will grow more come Fall when the weather cools down.
Also by the peas, I noticed the passion flower is coming back. The passion flower was something I bought from the Garden District last year and put in a pot. Well it produced a heck of a lot of flowers, but no fruit. Bah! Well parts of the flower were edible. Anyway, when Winter came, I went to move the pot and pull out the plant, with no intention to save it. The roots had gone out of the pot and into the ground. I didn’t give it much thought, until seeing the baby passion flower vine attach itself to my peas. Well I guess I’ll have many pretty blue and weird looking flowers this year.

Well yesterday’s comments about Inclusionary Zoning has me looking at DC.GOV’s Office of Planning site looking at a rather lengthy PDF file. So far it looks like a mixed income/ mixed use project. And thus far in my reading I have yet to see what the heck the AMI is for 2005 or 2004. In 2004 the AMI (average median income) was about $58K for a single person. So 80% AMI, which is the highest a person can make and still qualify as affordable is $47K. So an entry level GS-9 (for you Feds) or a newbie non-profit professional underling should qualify.
Looking at the Office of Planning’s map, Truxton Circle is identified as a proposed inclusionary zoning area. Right now in my head I’m trying to think of what could be developed. The only area that pops up in my head is North Capitol. Everything else, I think of as low rise residential housing with very few empty buildable lots. I could be wrong and you’re welcomed to point out parts that are good candidates for major development. And what I see proposed by the city seems to be directed at something larger than something that may fit on a skinny little lot on Bates or New Jersey. Of course one could take a look at the co-op between R and Q, but it isn’t as bad as Sursum Corda.
The thing with Truxton, and what I like about it, which may make it difficult for mixed use development, is that it is quite residential. If there are businesses it is on North Cap, with a few on New Jersey and Florida. The businesses in the triangle of Truxton are small, house sized mom & pops. There is just not the space for the mixing of the use. Well, at least I don’t see it.

…you can see the Washington Monument.
This is what you notice when waiting to pay for a couple of bags of dirt. There are great views from odd parts of the city. You can also get a good view of the DC skyline from the platform of the Rhode Island metro station, the bridge for New York Avenue near the Florida Avenue intersection, and just the top of the monument from the Giant parking lot.
So when the gentrification train rolls in these views are seen as a valuable asset, regardless of the surrounding neighborhood. Those great views might hurt affordable housing in previously neglected areas. It was hinted at in yesterday’s article in the Post about various apartment complexes, such as Sursum Corda, Tyler House, and such where their future may be uncertain due to market forces. Those apartments are close to Union Station and I’m sure several of them have wonderful views of the Capitol dome and the Washington Monument.
I don’t have a clue what is going to happen with Sursum Corda, which is south of Truxton, on the other side of NY Ave. The whole being owned by residents AND being in HUD foreclosure is confusing. What will HUD do? Will HUD kick everyone out and rebuild so that the rich and middle classes get the good views? And place the poor and working classes in the equivalent of steerage? Or will there be a place for the working classes at all?
I don’t know. All I know is if I want a good view of the Capitol is to stand in the middle of New Jersey Ave and try not to get hit by a car.

In a comment posted by a reader:

A Question, to hostess MM and other readers, about partywalls: Do you have them? They seem kinda scarce on my block and recent bathroom work made it obvious we don’t have any. We are new, infill development built in the early 90’s… and I’m suddenly deciding to fret that this will cause many hassles in the future. Any insight from other Shaw owners?

Talk about your party wall.
I have party walls, on the side that separates me from the Ethiopians, it is crap. The side that separates me from B&IT, it is okay, depends on what floor I’m on. I know there is only one layer of crappy brick between me and the Ethiopians, which is why I smell it when they burn toast. Every odd moment I might hear B&IT move things around, but they have wood floors and that may play a part.

…the grass is sort of greener.
I spent some time in Georgetown yesterday. First doing the usual church thing, later returning to Eveningsong and them going to a resident’s house for dinner.
Overheard in the pre-dinner conservation, because I was part of a totally different conversation, was the phrase “all the problems are in the walls where we can’t get to them.” The house where we were having dinner was a recent rehab job where the previous owners fixed up houses and moved on to other live-in projects. Wow, this sound familiar, like conversations I have heard about rehab work done in Shaw and other gentrifying neighborhoods. Except there was no mention of crackheads and the people working on their house sorta did get permits. But were they all the right permits and was the work done well? That’s another thing.
It looked nice. It was an excellent example of small space design with an open floorplan and small spacesaving fixtures and appliances. I loved their half bath where there was a very tiny sink. Just big enough to wash your hands. And the stairs to the basement was open with the door that separates the basement from the living space at the bottom of the stairs, so that the first floor was just open. I want to steal that idea.
Anyway, after dinner we all wandered out for dessert. The good thing about Georgetown is that there are tons of restaurants and about 3 ice cream shops. Our host mentioned that despite all the other businesses in Georgetown there wasn’t a hardware store there. Restoration Hardware doesn’t count. It isn’t a REAL hardware store. I can say proudly that Shaw has 2 hardware stores! We have Logan Hardware, and BHP Hardware on Florida Ave between 7th and 6th. There might be another hardware store in Shaw but I don’t know about it. If you’re in Georgetown and you need a thingamajig for your toilet, you have to go to Dupont Circle True Value hardware store, or up to a hardware store in Glover Park. See Shaw, we’ve got it good here.