Chicken Bone PSA

Okay here is my attempt at a flyer for posting near the exits of places that sell chicken wings in the neighborhood. I am going to see if any of the three locations near me will let me post it. If you are more creative then me please feel free to send me your version of a flyer and I will post it. Who knows maybe it could make a difference?

Ahhh...Chicken Bone Season is Here

I would like to create a public service campaign on the danger of throwing your chicken bones on the ground outside. For one thing they attract rats and other pests to the areas you throw them - sometimes right in front of your own home. But the reason that I hate them and detest those who thoughtless discard them in our neighborhood is because of my dogs. Dogs love nothing more then the smell of meat and a bone - but these cooked bones can splinter and tear up the insides of the dog causing death or if you're lucky a very expensive surgery. That is why I spend most of my dog walking this time of year saying "drop it" or "leave it" and if they get one before I can respond I then get to stick my hand in their mouth and remove it.

So, even if you don't care about your neighbors or neighbors' dogs maybe you might care about attracting rats and other vermin to your house.

Pedestrian Bridge from Metro to Trail Planned for 2011

The pedestrian bridge for crossing from the Rhode Island Ave Metro station to the Metropolitan Branch Trail is planned and scheduled for delivery in 2011. This will make accessing the metro much safer for those who cross the railroad tracks. Here's hoping it completes ahead of schedule!

Here is the link:

http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/board_of_directors/board_docs/032520_RIAve.BikeBridgepackage.pdf

New Trees in Edgewood

You may have noticed that they have been planting many new street trees over the past couple of days in Edgewood. They will need your help to survive the first few years especially making sure they stay watered. Below is a link to a site where you can become a "tree steward" for the new tree near your house and they will provide instructions and a watering device to you. Please take the time and sponsor the tree on your block - I did it for two new ones on mine!! Let's help keep the beautiful tree-lined streets of DC alive!!

http://ufa.ddot.dc.gov/ufa/cwp/view,a,1417,q,647237,ufaNav_GID,1631,ufaNav,32697.asp

Rhode Island Station - Metro Parking Lot Closing on May 1st

Looks like a May groundbreaking may actually happen!!!!

Surface Parking Lot at the Rhode Island Avenue Metrorail Station Closing For 18 Months

See this announcement passed along by ANC 5C04 Commissioner John Salatti:

Dear Commissioner:

The purpose of this letter is notify you that the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metrorail surface parking lot will close permanently at 3:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 1, 2010 for approximately 18 months to make way for a joint development project with Urban Atlantic Development and the construction of a new Metro parking garage. As a result of this temporary closure of the surface parking lot, daily parking will not be available at the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood station for approximately 18 months. Due to the unique characteristics of the station site and the urban character of the surrounding neighborhood, it is not possible to maintain or temporarily relocate daily parking at the station during the construction of this project and the new Metro parking garage.Metro and Urban Atlantic Development have entered into a joint development agreement, which calls for the construction of 274 residential units, 65,000 square feet of retail parking on the existing surface parking lot at the station. A new Metro parking garage will be constructed to replace the daily surface parking lot for transit riders. Metro customers will also have the opportunity to share parking spaces in the residential and retail parking garages.Metro apologizes for the inconvenience and the potential impacts it may have on customers. This project will improve the Rhode Island Avenue corridor and generate revenue for the improvement of public transit in the Metropolitan region. Thank you for your patience. If you have questions, please call me at 202- 962-1050 or alawson @ wmata.com.


Sincerely,Art Lawson

District of Columbia Government Relations Officer

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and Metropolitan Branch Trail New Tree Planting

Please see the message below from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy about helping plant trees along the Metropolitan Branch Trail. Maybe we can convince them to plant them all the way up to Edgewood too! :)

Dear friend,
On Thursday, April 1, join Rails-to-Trails Conservancy as we volunteer with Casey Trees to plant trees in Washington, D.C.'s Eckington neighborhood immediately adjacent to the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT). As spring begins to bloom and the trail nears completion, help us bring more green to the neighborhoods along the MBT!
Where: New York Pizza, 2 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C.At the corner of Florida Avenue and North Capitol Street, NE Closest Metro: New York Avenue (Red Line)
When: 8:30 a.m., Thursday, April 1, 2010

REGISTER ONLINE
Questions? Contact Carol Herwig, Casey Trees Volunteer Coordinator (cherwig@caseytrees.org or 202.349.1907)
Rain or shine! Dress for the weather; wear durable, close-toed shoes and bring your own water bottle. Tools and instruction are provided, along with light refreshments. This event will occur rain or shine unless the weather is severe. Cancellations will be posted on the voicemail at 202.833.4010 by 7:30 a.m. the morning of the event.
After planting is done, join us for an informal walking tour of the trail and learn more about what's in store this spring and summer.
Happy trails,Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Metropolitan Branch Trail Update

I walk the trail a couple of times a week and have noticed an increase in work this last week with the nicer weather. I even saw crews working on the fencing, retaining walls and paving the trial simultaneously this past Saturday morning. The above picture shows the progress being made from Rhode Island Ave metro station to the New York Ave metro station.

Here is an update from DDOT:

With the warmer weather, construction of the Met Branch Trail is in full swing again and completion of the section between Franklin Street and New York Avenue is anticipated for May 2010! In addition, the trail has been adopted by its first community group, DC Preparatory Academy's (http://www.dcprep/.org) "Prep Squad", who have started with the commitment of keeping the trail litter free. If you would like to help maintain the trail as well, contact Heather Deutsch at heather.deutsch@dc.gov.For more information about the MBT please visit http://www.metbranchtrail.com/?reload

Rhode Island Station Update - Part II

There are a flurry of updates on the Rhode Island Station development floating around on the Internet. I am going to post the links here for you to enjoy. It looks like all the financing is official and in place, the agreement with WMATA has been signed and a groundbreaking could be happening in May. Other items to note - some posts mention that in addition to apartments, parking garages and retail we may be getting a MVA satellite office!

CoStar Group Update

DC Mud Blog Update

http://www.pitchengine.com/lhbcommunicationsinc/urban-atlantic-and-ar-development-corp-close-on-107-million--transit-oriented-development-in-washington-dc-/53273/

DC Gov News Release

Rhode Island Station Update

Exciting news spread through the Washington Business Journal (thanks Edgewood Listerve!) - the Rhode Island Station project of apartments, parking garages and RETAIL now has the go ahead and funding. They are going to be announcing a ground breaking in a month and plan to be finished in 2012. I cannot wait for this to be finished!

Here is the article:

http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/03/15/daily33.html?surround=etf&ana=e_article

Here is a link to the plan with some nice pictures:

http://www.lessardgroup.com/web/module/portfolio/pid/109/portfolio.html

Here is another link with some more details:

http://www.wdcep.com/dev_record.php?devId=62#

ANC 5A Meeting on the Brookland Small Area Plan and PUDs

This morning I attended the meeting hosted by the ANC5A on the Brookland Small Area Plan and PUDs. I am not sure why I think every meeting that I attend will be different and informative. I thought this meeting was going to be about timelines for the plan and information on what parts are being implemented; however, it seemed to be an anti-plan and anti-development meeting.

This meeting went along the same lines as the other development meetings that I have attended. In fact I am starting to recognize the same loud, opposing people from meeting to meeting and really wish I could come up with some cool nicknames for them (as a group I call them the fearmonging anti-development coalition). The meeting started with a panel brought together by the ANC5A for the meeting - Ms. Hine (president of the Lamond Riggs Civic association), Mr. Houghton (resident, property owner and architect), Mr. Johnson (resident, business owner and architect/planner), Ms. Pearson-West (resident, property owner and former ANC) and Ms. Thomas (resident, property owner and Premier CDC). This group went through introductions and spoke against the plan and development in Ward 5. The group then fielded questions until Harriett Tregoning, Director of DC Office of Planning, joined the meeting to answer questions.

Ms. Tregoning addressed many of the previous items that had been complained about especially about traffic. She explained that they are conducting a traffic study of the area and the statistics on vehicle ownership in the District. I am not going to go into details of all the discussions that took place because while I lost three hours of my life I do not want to subject anyone else to that. There were people there that indicated that they do not want any more residents in Brookland and they do not want development. Some people even brought up other projects in other parts of the Ward which were not relevant to the meeting. Ms. Tregoning did a great job of fielding questions in a hostile environment and promised to answer all others written down.

I think that the plan is good for Brookland and Edgewood (yes part of this small area plan is in Edgewood which is why I went to the meeting). Change is coming to this area and is needed. I think the Office of Planning is conducting a good number of studies to ensure that the issues involving retail, traffic, shuttle services and green spaces are addressed. I also believe that we all need to learn to compromise because everyone in the community is not going to want the same additions to our neighborhood.

Here is a link to the plan:

http://planning.dc.gov/planning/cwp/view,a,1285,q,645935.asp

Here are the projects in the Edgewood area:

Chancellor's Row at Brookland Metro (3015 4th Street NE) - 10-acre residential development on St. Paul's campus with construction to begin Fall 2010

CUA South Campus Development (7th Street and Michigan Ave NE) - mixed use development will include approximately 761 housing units, studio space for artists, retail, and a public square with a ground breaking planned for Winter 2011

Brookland Artspace Lofts (3225 Eighth Street NE) - 41 live/work rental units directly adjacent to Dance Place's HQ and studio space for qualified DC artists making 60% or less of the area median income planned construction to begin Spring 2010

What do others think of the developments coming to Edgewood? I know a lot of people that are excited about them but avoid meetings such as this one because of the way they tend to turnout. Maybe more of us that are in support of the development need to attend so our voices are heard as well.

Good turnout for Edgewood Neighborhood Cleanup

There was a pretty good turnout at the neighborhood cleanup yesterday. The picture above show many of the volunteers and the many bags of trash that we collected. I hope that more people continue to join us next month!

Edgewood Neighborhood Monthly Cleanup TOMORROW

Just wanted to send out a reminder (or a first time notice to some) that tomorrow is the Edgewood Neighborhood monthly cleanup. The group meets in front of the Edgewood Rec Center at the corner of 3rd and Evarts NE at 10:30 a.m.

The cleanup is sponsored by the Friends of Edgewood Recreation Center and occurs the first Saturday of every month same time and location. The group picks up trash around the neighborhood including the rec center. If you cannot attend maybe try to help out by cleaning in front of your house or block.

The Friends of Edgewood Recreation Center is also starting a fundraiser for projects at the center and they are selling oval Edgewood bumper stickers (see above picture). They are five dollars each and 100% of the proceeds go to projects at the center. You can get one at the cleanup or by contacting the group.

Here is the website:

www.friendsofedgewoodrec.org

The Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT)

I decided to enjoy the sun and check out the progress on the MBT yesterday. For those of you that don't know for many years groups have been working on completing a walking/running/bike path that will be next to the red line from Union Station to Silver Spring. It is really starting to come together and you can track the progress/see maps/get more information on these two websites.

http://www.metbranchtrail.com/?reload

http://dashboard.ddot.dc.gov/ward5/MetropolitanBikeTrail/default.aspx

I was excited to see new asphalt and most of the lights installed as I walked past the Rhode Island Ave metro station. It also looked like they have started to add some fencing to that area. I believe I got more than halfway to the NY Ave metro station when I encountered a crew working on the trail. They stated they were working on the retaining wall and would not be finished for four months (which is different from the predictions on the website). There went dreams of spring bike riding and runs, but I am happy to see there is progress.

Chez Hareg Gourmet Bakery

I stopped by Chez Hareg today and saw that they now sell some breads. I bought the banana and it is delicious. For those of you that have not stopped by Chez Hareg yet I highly recommend it and I feel that this is the type of business I would love to see fill the streets in our neighborhood.

She has free wireless Internet and some tables and chairs in the front. I have tried the cookies and cakes and loved them. Some of her foods are vegan, but I honestly could not tell. She also has coffee, muffins, scones and other breakfast pastries although I have not tried them yet. She moved into our neighborhood (2312 Fourth St. N.E) the end of last year. When I talked to her she stated that she would like to make this location a full cafe one day and have an even larger baking area in a second location. I would be happy to see that as well.

Rhode Island Avenue NE/ Great Streets Initiative

I attended the Rhode Island Avenue NE/ Great Streets Initiative meeting tonight and wanted to share my thoughts/see what others' thoughts were on this topic.

Here is a link to the plan on the DC website if you have not read it yet:

http://dcbiz.dc.gov/dmped/cwp/view,A,1365,Q,608751.asp

To clarify this was not actually a meeting but a public hearing - something that I should have taken note of before I decided to attend. There were 16 people on the meeting agenda set to testify and quite a few of them were not there. The testimony that was given was typical of other DC development meetings that I have attended. There was a rather loud group of nay-sayers that seem to think that they are speaking for everyone.

One of the longtime residents testified that he felt that the process had not advertised enough and suggestions from the community had not been solicited. I admit that I chuckled when he stated that he wanted his architects from the neighborhood to look over the plan and then they would get back to them with what should be done. The response from the DC Great Streets crew was that they had advertised thru mailings and email all meetings and this was the 5th meeting to get public opinion. Then there were multiple large property owners who were there to testify mostly about zoning and how it would affect their property. I really wanted to ask them what their properties were now and what they were doing to improve them and the area. The next big group that testified were the ANC commissioner crew. Their opinions were widespread from the people don't want big box and the government should pay for the development to agreeing with the plan and the process and wanting to move forward. A representative from the church testified as well (as he listed all the properties that they own it seems to me to add up to several blocks of real estate) and they also seemed concerned with zoning. From what I gathered it seems that the church wants to expand in all directions and I am not sure how I feel about that since they are already such a dominating presence near the metro stop.

Personally, I am a big fan of the plan and cannot wait until it gets started. I would love more retail and restaurants near the metro and the retail areas that we have now really need the upgrades. I agree that locally owned and green business should be included in this plan, but I am also okay with some known retailers to anchor the developments. I truly think if we could get the Rhode Island Station development going that would be the catalyst for change!

Introduction

After living in the Edgewood neighborhood of DC for almost two years I decided that now was the time for me to give Edgewood a blog. I am sure that unless you live in Edgewood you don't know where it is nor have you heard of it. The neighborhood is sandwiched between more widely known neighborhoods - Brookland, Eckington, Bloomingdale and Woodridge. Technically Edgewood is bounded by Lincoln Road and Glenwood Cemetery to the west; the tracks for the Red Line of the Washington Metro to the east; Rhode Island Avenue NE to the south; and the combination of Irving Street, Michigan Avenue, and Monroe Street to the north.

My hope is this blog can highlight the neighborhood, what's going on and new developments, as well as, provide a place for discussion on these topics.