Truxton Is In Shaw

448 R Street, NW

Price: $449,000

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 1.5

Fireplace: 1

Parking: Off Street

Basement: none

I can attest that you can walk from the metro from this house, because if I squint my eyes I can sorta see the Shaw Howard University metro stop down 3 blocks. So there is some truth in advertising.

I’ve seen the on again off again work done on the house and I was slightly disappointed in the results of all that busy work. The floors were un-uniform, but that was due to the first floor being opened up. Nothing a bunch of oriental rugs couldn’t cure. This is one of those cute “character” things about the house. One cool character thing is the wood burning fireplace, where one agent was warming herself. Yeah, oriental rugs, wood burning fireplace, and a coupla bottles of wine, good times.

The kitchen is small and acceptable. There really isn’t a lot of counterspace, but there is the obligatory silver fridge, sleek looking stove, and dishwasher. But after having done my own tiny kitchen and squeezing more space out of it, I see what could have been. But what could have been may have added something to the price.

The bedrooms are small. The first one I saw was one of those bedrooms that would work out better as an office, or a baby’s room or a guest room where you don’t want the guests to stick around. You could fit a twin bed in it, but really it is very small. The second bedroom on one end of the house was bigger, but not big. As you can see in the photos there is some exposed brick. Actually there is a lot of exposed brick and it looks wonderful. As I remember on the first floor there was some shiny coating on the brick. Anyway, one of those cool character things.

Back to the bedrooms….

The master bedroom was as wide as the house with lots of light rushing in.

In all the bedrooms the closets small. As in the width of the door plus about 1/2 a foot. Not good if you have someone with a lot of clothes, shoes, ya know closet stuff. But them again, maybe that’s what the small bedroom might be for.

Okay, is the house worth $450K? Well considering what the prices are, yeah, why not. As I said, oriental rugs, fire in the fireplace and a whole lotta wine and you can call it home.

Please excuse my notes as my PDA decided to go on a tizzy and so I stopped taking notes after the umpteenth reboot. Also I don’t have the agenda around so not everyone is being named properly.

First, female representative from Councilman Orange’s office spoke. Orange is pro-baseball. Apparently, baseball will be great for the city, according to Orange. Also Orange is behind making Emancipation Day a holiday. Orange is for youth employment. Orange is on powerful committees. All hail the Orange!

Our dear ever so off topic neighbor (G-d bless him) Vance suggested bringing respect back to the penny to the female representative. Jim Berry, instructed our dear neighbor to write his concerns on a citizen form and he’ll look at it. The representative then departed.

Next was Sgt. Mitchell from the 5th District. There were two shooting incidents. The night of the meeting, some cars were shot up and damaged and Sgt. Mitchell did not have any information for the group on that. The other shooting incident occurred 1/6/05 where a black female sitting in a vehicle was shot several times. The police need witnesses and if you know something that will help explain why she was in the area or anything about the shooting please call (202)727-9099.

There were other things mentioned and emotionally expressed related to the shootings.

Jim and others questioned Sgt. Mitchell about the police van that just sits in the neighborhood. What is it supposed to do again? According to neighbors, nothin’. According to Sgt. Mitchell it is supposed to act as a ministation. Oh, ok.

Somewhere in all this was mentioned writing letters to judges who, in this city, are easy on crime. The US Attorney’s office has court reports listed for the 5th District so you can write the Judge before sentencing, I guess.

Lastly, on cops, if you see a police person asleep in his/her squad car, call 202-727-4495.

This is the point when my PDA died.

There was something about North Capitol Main Streets. If there was more to the meeting I don’t remember.

Anyway Jim wanted a social period in the meeting, and I wound up chatting with my neighbors from down the street.

as seen on Shawdc.comTenants Rights and Gentrification Booksigning Event, 1/21/05

The neighborhood hasn’t completely gentrified. I’ll know that we have finished gentrifying when I can get Pizza Hut and at 1 Sushi restaurant to deliver to my house. So with that in mind I ask, what can you buy for nearly 1/2 a million around here?

435 Rhode Island Avenue.

Price: $640,000

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 3

Fireplace: 1

Basement: none

Parking: Off-Street

Some of y’all know I already hated this house without even walking into it. Well there was an open house. I walked in. I still hate it. Someone else at the open wondered why would you build this when you were able to start from scratch?

The inside was odd. Very odd. First floor was fine, with a fire place and this little warm room off to the side with a low light fixture. Was that supposed to be a dining room? There looked like there was barely enough room for a table.



The master bedroom had two floors to it. There was the floor that lead out to the deck over the carport. The there was this other level that I couldn’t figure out what it was for or what it did (see above photo). According to the Realtor’s description it is a “skylit sitting room”. And on that upper level there was this storage space, that was not tall enough to be a closet. It was just odd.

The house is advertised as being custom built. What does this mean? Well it is not like other houses, other houses might make sense. It just didn’t seem clear who the house was built for. Some corners seemed tight. I overheard someone ask, how on ear are you supposed to get furniture up the stairs and where would one sit the bed? Imagining where furniture would go without blocking a door or a closet was difficult.



The upper deck we noticed some shoddy workmanship, fixed with paint and caulk. My companions also noticed that the floodlights seemed to be at an incorrect height.

It was a rabbit warren of rooms upstairs. Not everything was on the same level. Now I mentioned the master bedroom having two levels. Well even from the hallway one had to go up just a few more stairs to get to the master bedroom.

When it is an older house it is understandable when things are odd. You had to take what fate and chance gave to you and work with it. With a newer home you don’t have that excuse. Yes, the lot was oddly shaped. But even so, what went on with the upper floors just didn’t make any sense to me.. When the house was being built, I and my neighbor would pass it and I mentioned that I thought it was horrid. My neighbor figured someone was building it for himself. Yes, the house would make sense if someone built it to suite their own little quirks. But to sell? Something must have happened because the only thing I can say is that is it all very odd.

Well we also popped by a few other houses, but I don’t want to make this post too long.

Well I’ve been reflecting.

Nora Bombay started me blogging back in March of 2003. However In Shaw existed in 2001 before the blogging. Then I discovered that the blogging tools helped keep the announcement page current. If you look at some of my earlier posts, it is a mix of commentary and announcements. Then I separated the two. I figured I should be opinionated somewhere else.

Thank you to all of you who have read this blog and enjoyed it. I really intended the audience to be about 5 people. ‘Cause really, who wants to hear me bitch about crack heads and what’s going on in the alley? Yet in time I discovered (and the comments part brings it home) there are more than 5 people reading this blog. Through In Shaw I have met other bloggers, like Nathan, Jimbo, John and other neighbors and that’s been neat.

I am a bit conflicted about the extra eyeballs the blog gets. I do like meeting neighbors and finding common ground. But I have been a little bit more self-conscious. I have toned down a bit as one never knows who is reading, and changed names to protect the innocent and non-crack smoking. And recently, around mid 2004 I started blogging almost every day. Will I keep up my current pace of blogging in 2005? I don’t know. Will I continue to complain about crackheads? Well if they stay in the neighborhood, yes. And, given my mood swings, prepare for a string of compost & garden related posts as well. Don’t care for the compost stories? Too bad.

In 2005 I hope to write more about small houses, like mine, businesses in Truxton Circle, the history in Truxton Circle (related to my work), gardening and maybe more open houses so I can see what the heck you get for your $300-$500K. I have accepted the skyrocketing housing prices, so fewer “real estate agents on crack” posts.

Lastly, since I have been blogging a new site has come up recently and will fill your need for news on this side of Shaw, TruxtonCirlce.Org. Started by neighbors Scott & Matt, it looks like what I wanted In Shaw to be initially. It is a neighborhood site about the Bates Street area, and hopefully with a fair number of neighbors chipping in with a story here and there it will serve the needs of Truxton Circle (eastern Shaw) residents.

Last week I raked up some of the fall leaves that settled on my end of the alley. I am wondering if alley cleaning man has forsaken my end of the alley because the opposite end is noticably cleaner. Fine, not like he was getting paid. Anyway, as I raked away my neighbors’ de facto compost heaps I noticed that the concrete from the house under rehabilitation’s patio settled in a little heap in the middle of our semi-brand new alley. This refuse concrete created a little dam hindering water flow.

When they first laid down the concrete and had the refuse and rocks in the alley I took a shovel and threw the fresh concrete and rocks back on to their side and out of the alley. I was angry because of the mess they left and because of allowing the potential for a small lake to settle behind my yard.

So I finding another pile of rocks and concrete, but now too late to remove it, I became angry again. Here we finally get the alley repaired and then this. Can’t. Have. Nothin good. N** keep screwing stuff up. [insert Chris Rock’s routine “Who you calling Racist?“]

So I am debating. My neighbor noticed that the house the leave -your-crap – in -the -alley contractors are working on doesn’t have permits displayed. I wonder, when and if I should call them in. The reason why I haven’t reported them already is because of pure laziness and forgetfulness with a pinch of wanting to wait till they have doors installed.

So when should I report them to DCRA?

…why are you still here after trash pick up?

Well hopefully today DPW, the folks who brought you the snazzy calendars, will pick up the evergreens on the sidewalk.

This is from the DC.GOV site:

Holiday Tree Collection – January 3-7, 2005

Residents who receive DC trash collection service are encouraged to put holiday trees—without ornaments—in curbside tree boxes by January 2, 2005. Trees will be picked up during a special one-week collection from January 3–7. Residents who wish to keep their trees longer should put them out at their normal point of trash collection (curbside or alley) after January 7. DPW trucks will then collect the trees with the regular trash, as space in trucks permit, over the following weeks.

If not, then I can take my time clipping pine needles for my compost bin to up the acid in it.

I’m not going to do this periodically, because y’all know how lazy I’ve been with “house of the week/fortnight/month/quarter”.

There are several houses up for sale in Truxton Circle and there is one in particular that isn’t but it’s so fugly I’m gonna talk trash about it.

224 P St. NW @ $465K. Lists itself has being steps away from the NYAFAGU (New York Ave) metro station. Steps….. Is it me or do people who don’t walk to the metro write this stuff up? Yeah, steps and crossing the road of DEATH known as New York Avenue. Anyway apparently new fixtures and what not have been done to this 3 bedroom home.

not far is

216 P Street NW renovated with 3bdms 1.5 baths @ $499K. Smart enough not to mention any metro stations and has an alarm system.

137 P St NW @$389K for this 3 bedroom 1.5 bath. Also claims being close to metro.

316 P St NW a 3bdrm 1 bath @ $345K is decently priced given that the seller claims everything that needs fixin’ is cosmetic. Get some friends, buy some beer and pizza, believe me the inside will be painted in no time.

203 R St NW @ $499K for a 3 bedroom 3 bath, seems like a good deal, and I await to see what happens to the house next door. If you see the agent’s picture there is a house next door undergoing renovation, it has cool iron work. Recently the workers have been going at a pretty good clip.

208 Q St NW $430K 4bdrm 2 bath. 2 units in one.

33 N St NW @ $400K. This 3 bed 1.5 bath “as-is” claims it is “convenient to metro bus & rail, grocery stores,restaurants, [and] new mci building”. Define ‘convenient’. Maybe bus and the unit block of N St is convenient to NYAFAGU, however the grocery store is 8 blocks up, the restaurants there are 2 in total, and the MCI center is in a totally different neighborhood.

1611 New Jersey Avenue @ $675K is a little bit overpriced for this renovated 3 brd, 2.5 bath with basement. Just a little.

1341 1st St NW @ $370K for a 3 bed 1 bath townhome.

1726 4th St. NW @ $440K for a 2 level (no basement as far as I can tell) 2 bedroom in my eyes is wrong. For one such sale will unreasonably jack up my property taxes. I don’t doubt the goodness of it’s features but something in the $350K range might be better. Also not too keen about the corner it is near.

1522 3rd St NW @ $600K is not only ugly but over priced. Yes it has 4 bedrooms & 2 baths and has been renovated. But note the 3rd floor addition. It doesn’t work with the surrounding houses. For crimes against decent architecture the house should only sell for $350K-$400K. I don’t doubt the work that has gone into the house, but no. I’ve talked trash about this house before so some of you know my pet peeve with this property is nothing new.

1406 3rd St NW,@$475K 3brdm 1.5 bath a stones throw from Dunbar.

1430 3rd St NW @ $350K 3brdm 1.5 bath. Cheaper. Smaller. Different.

234 N St NW *condo* @ $325K is the cheapest thing house or condo right now with 1 bedroom and 1.5 baths.

Not in Truxton Circle but so ugly I gotta say something is 435 Rhode Island Ave NW priced at $640K. It is totally new construction built from the ground up so one would think that something nice would get built on the lot. Well they would be wrong. Logically this house SHOULD be lovely with it’s large windows and open space interior. It just doesn’t fit. That and it’s bent at an angle. Not a crime against architecture like the 3rd St house, but should be priced at just 1/2 a mil because it just looks wrong to me.

The citizens of Wards 8 & 7 have sent a message that they want the good that has been happening to the rest of the city to come to them. Well I got a question for them, do they REALLY want what has happened and is happening to Shaw, LeDroit, Eckington, and other north of the river neighborhoods to happen to them? I know they want the good, but what of the bad? What of the growing pains?

The growing pains I’m thinking about is gentrification. I think the citizens of Ward 8 are mistaken to believe the development/gentrification genie that has been working it’s magic in NW parts of DC can be controlled. Never, ever, underestimate the power of market forces. If an area is made attractive enough for enough urban pioneers with the financial power to jack up housing prices, private developers will get wind of it, fix up some places and start a snowball effect that will only help homeowners planning to sell. Twenty one percent of Ward 8’s homes are owner occupied. Would the 79% of renters be able to ride the higher rents and deal with owners cashing in on better prices? I think some would, but there are plenty who would not.

The solution I have heard floated around is to have developers build affordable housing, or set aside units for low and moderate income families. Listening to what has been going on with Arlington, VA it seems easier said than done. Then there are the developers who work on a smaller scale, one house at a time or a small number of units, who have little incentive to sell at lower prices.

Maybe if the real estate values weren’t so crazy and there wasn’t this housing pressure that forces people to live all the way out in BFE not-even Northern Virginia gentrification wouldn’t be an issue. But then again, it is the crazy housing pressures and gentrification that is making places like Shaw more attractive.

Neighbors,

In a previous email sent to you concerning the postponement of this

month’s meeting of the Bates Area Civic Association, the rescheduled date was

incorrectly listed as Monday, 1/8/2005. However, the meeting will be

held on Monday, January 10, 2005, between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 9:00

p.m., at Mount Sinai Baptist Church, 3rd and Q Streets, N.W.

Please take due notice of this correction and govern yourselves

accordingly.

Best,

Jim Berry

ANC 5C