House/Condo Sales in Edgewood

Here is the weekly data on homes for sale in Edgewood. I am currently using Redfin because it allows you to search by neighborhood, but if you have any other ideas or ways to get listings or open houses please let me know!

Here is the link to the data in Redfin:

Edgewood DC Real Estate

Edgewood has a very diverse housing stock with a wide range of sizes and prices. Right now the most expensive places listed are the new homes being built in Chancellor's Row listed at $559,900 while the least expensive listing is a 1 bedroom condo listed at $62,900.

I do not currently see any open houses listed for Edgewood. If you know of any please add the information to the comments section.

Free Services for Small Businesses in Edgewood

The Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF) is offering free business services to small businesses in the Edgewood community. They offer seminars as well as training in technical assistance, budgeting, marketing, legal advice and securing financing to name a few items.

Here are the upcoming seminars that they are offering.

Finding your Business a Home
Tips on seeking a small business commercial space,Signing a new lease or renegotiating an old one and more!
Speaker: Cyril Crocker, The Menkiti Group
September 9, 2010
6:00-8:00pm
Location: TBD

Small Business Loan Day
Meet with a panel of community small business lenders to discuss your financing needs.
September 11
11:00-1:00pm
September 25
11:00-1:00pm
Location: 1150 Varnum Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017

Know Thy Financials!
Cash Flow Statement, Balance Sheets, and Income Statements – everything you need
to know!
September 28, 2010
6:30-8:30pm
Location: 1150 Varnum Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017

Please contact them at 202-529-5505 to use their resources and ask questions! We are very lucky to have such a great community resource!

Eckington News: 329 Rhode Island Avenue Development

Across Rhode Island Avenue in Eckington there has been a movement to turn the twice burned out and abandoned building at 329 Rhode Island Avenue into a part of the community. Thanks to all who worked on this project the building is getting renovated into condos and 5 retail spaces that we desperately need in this area. I am hoping for some of them to be food-based!

Here are the articles and postings on the development:

DC MUD

Washington Business Journal

Chancellor's Row Official Groundbreaking on August 31, 2010

I got this email today about the groundbreaking at Chancellor's Row so I am passing along my invitation.

You are cordially invited to the
GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY at Chancellor’s Row on St. Paul’s Campus

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.
650-T Jackson Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017

EYA’s newest townhome community in Washington DC is now under construction. Surrounded by more than 200,000 square feet of planned retail in northeast and perfectly situated just four blocks from Metro and the shops of 12th Street, Chancellor’s Row represents the City’s best in smart growth and green design. Celebrate the area’s transformation and the first of new beginnings in Northeast DC.

Kindly RSVP to Jennifer Hebert 301.634.8667 • jhebert@eya.com

Chancellor's Row Official Groundbreaking on August 31, 2010

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Urban Gardens Webinar

Passing along a message from the Rails-to-Trails group about a webinar on urban gardening thought it was useful to the Edgewood Community since we have community gardens along the Metropolitan Branch Trail and at the Edgewood Recreation Center.

Join Rails-to-Trails Conservancy as we get our hands dirty and dig in to the details of starting and maintaining one of the more popular trail amenities: urban gardens.

The Secrets to Gardens on Urban Pathways
Hosted by RTC's Urban Pathways Initiative
Thursday, August 26, 2010 - 2:00 p.m. EDT

Gardens along trails are great community resources that can not only build a connection to local food and natural systems, but also improve community interaction, break down generational barriers and add a sense of livability to urban areas. Maintaining a community or school garden along a trail requires space, money, expertise, dedication and relationships. Jesse Kurtz-Nicholl of Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future, Urban Tilth executive director Doria Robinson and Park Guthrie of Wildcat Farms have led projects along rail-trails in Richmond, Calif., and Washington, D.C. They will present and take questions on how to foster, start and maintain community gardens along trails in urban areas. Learn more...

After the webinar, a complete trail garden resource center (including webinar playback) will be available on our website. Please invite your friends and colleagues, and get your questions ready. We hope to see you then!

Happy trails,
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Can’t follow the hyperlinks? Use this: http://community.railstotrails.org/blogs/trailblog/archive/2010/08/10/join-us-secrets-of-success-for-gardens-on-urban-pathways.aspx

Free Services for Edgewood Small Businesses

The Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF) is offering free business services to small businesses in the Edgewood community. They offer seminars as well as training in Technical Assistance, budgeting, marketing, legal advice and securing financing to name a few items.

Here is an upcoming seminar that they are offering.

Starting your Small Business
A Legal Perspective
August 25, 2010 6:30pm-8:30pm
1150 Varnum Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017
Call WACIF to RSVP: (202) 529-5505

Please contact them at 202-529-5505 to use their resources and ask questions! We are very lucky to have such a great community resource!

ANC Candidate 5C08: J. Jioni Palmer

Beyond the Lines on a Political Map
By J. Jioni Palmer

It was a much different time in the District of Columbia when Advisory Neighborhood Commissions were established to provide grassroots input from neighborhoods. It was the 70s and times were tough in our neighborhood. The city was in the midst of a decades long slide in population as residents left for the suburbs, and the job of the local commissioner was to help fight crime on the streets and bolster neighborhood efforts to keep the streets clean. Because of all these changes, very little development was going on; we just were trying to hold on to what we had.

Almost 40 years later, population in the District is surging and development abounds everywhere, including Edgewood. All this development will have long-term consequences for our city and region. Because the effects of development are rarely confined to a small area, especially one as small as an ANC Single Member District, we are well into an era where our commissioners cannot solely view development matters or most other matters of importance (crime, youth, recreation, etc.) through the lens of a particular commissioner's SMD.

That’s why as a recently announced candidate for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the Edgewood neighborhood, I have chosen to talk about my agenda within the context of community rather than a Single Member District. The quality of life issues my campaign seeks to address are not confined by lines on a political map. They are broader; they affect not just one block but entire neighborhoods and sometimes our city. We are one community.

The Single Member District I seek to represent (5C08) ends in the middle of the street in front of my house. Yet across the street from my home in another Single Member District are Shaed Elementary School, Edgewood Park, and the Edgewood Recreation Center. Does that mean that the condition and future of those facilities are irrelevant to the people who live on my side of the street? Absolutely not!

Likewise, the shopping center at 4th and Rhode Island is within the Single Member District I'm running to represent, but certainly no one would suggest that the impact of Safeway closing or any potential redevelopment of that plaza will only have consequences for residents of 5C08. And thus, if elected, I see the great need to work with my colleagues in other SMDs to ensure that this shopping area is an asset to the entire community and has the support and energy of all the elected officials.

Yes, this campaign is about improving the basic delivery of services for the people I seek to represent. But it is also about building a movement in our neighborhoods, ward, and city that goes beyond superficial distinctions and focus on substantially improving our collective quality of life. I welcome your partnership, help, support, and suggestions.

web: http://jionipalmer.com/
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/J-Jioni-Palmer/123979307623909?ref=sgm
twitter: http://twitter.com/jjioni

Edgewood is getting a Brewery!!

According to the Chocolate City Beer twitter feed they signed the lease on their new location in Edgewood and now tackle the task of cleaning up the building. The building is a cool one, but I don't envy them having to clean it up. I hope this is a sign of many new local, small businesses moving into Edgewood and occupying empty buildings!

Capital Bikeshare

The website for the new Capital Bikeshare program has launched and if you join today you get $25 off the year membership fees. You find out all about the program and how it works on their website. You can also check out the map of the proposed locations which includes one on 4th Street NE near Rhode Island Ave in Edgewood.

I joined today - could not resist the $25 dollars off and I have been thinking about buying a bike to ride around town since I only have a road bike now. Decided this is a much better solution and I don't have to carry around a lock or worry about it being stolen I can just return it to a different station.

Edgewood: Alley Improvements

The alley between Channing and Bryant NE in Edgewood has been re-paved and looks great. It seems like there have been a few small improvement projects going on around Edgewood lately of sidewalks and alleys being re-done - this alley and sidewalks on Ascot and Hamlin. Has anyone seen any I've missed?

Edgewood: Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) Elections

One only has to look around the neighborhood to know that election season is in full swing and that includes the elections for new ANC commissioners around the city. In the past couple of months ANC 5C has been very visible to the rest of the city and now there is the opportunity to vote on its makeup. I have heard from one candidate for ANC 5C about posting their statement on the blog and have agreed to post a statement from anyone running for ANC 5C in which part of their SMD is in Edgewood.

If you want to run for ANC commissioner for your SMD there is still time - you must pick up your nominating petition from DCBOEE and get at least twenty-five valid signatures from your SMD with your Declaration of Candidacy and Affidavit of Qualifications by September 3, 2010.

Here is how to run for ANC from the DC Board of Elections and Ethics if you are interested:

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) Elections

Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) are neighborhood-based boards that may advise the District’s elected officials and other government with respect to all proposed matters of District government policy, including decisions regarding planning, streets, recreation, social service programs, health, police protection, and sanitation in their neighborhood area. (D.C. Official Code § 1-309.10).

ANCs are subdivided into smaller communities, each consisting of approximately 2,000 residents, called single- member districts (SMDs). There are 37 ANCs and 286 SMDs. ANCs range in size from two single-member districts to twelve single-member districts, depending on the size of the neighborhood.

Each SMD is represented on an ANC by an ANC Commissioner. The ANC Commissioner is an unsalaried official who is nominated and elected in a nonpartisan election by the registered voters who reside in the same SMD as the candidate. The term of office for an elected ANC Commissioner is two years.

The Board provides a variety of materials, including a map of the SMD and a list of registered voters, to make it as easy as possible for ANC candidates to have their names placed on the ballot. Please call our Voter Services Office at 202-727-2525 for details.

Here are the qualifications needed to run:

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners advise the District government on matters of public policy including decisions regarding planning, streets, recreation, social services programs, health, safety, and sanitation in their respective neighborhood commission areas. To hold the office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner from a Single-Member District, an individual must meet the following qualifications (D.C. Official Code § 1-309.05):

1) Be a registered qualified elector in the District actually residing in the Single-Member District from which he or she is elected
2) Have resided in the Single-Member District continuously for the 60-day period immediately preceding the day on which the nominating petition is filed
3) Hold no other elected public office

Edgewood Run/Walk/Bike Group Meeting Tonight

The Edgewood Run/Walk/Bike group is meeting at the Edgewood Recreation Center at 6:30 p.m. tonight to go to the Metropolitan Branch Trail for some exercise. This group meets every Tuesday so feel free to join us every week!

Please remember to bring some water!

House/Condo Sales in Edgewood

Per request I am adding a weekly feature of the current homes for sale in Edgewood and a graph of the recent homes sales in Edgewood. I am currently using Redfin because it allows you to search by neighborhood, but if you have any other ideas or ways to get listings or open houses please let me know!

Here is the link to the data in Redfin:

Edgewood DC Real Estate

Edgewood has a very diverse housing stock with a wide range of sizes and prices. Right now the most expensive places listed are the new homes being built in Chancellor's Row listed at $559,900 while the least expensive listing is a 1 bedroom condo listed at $62,900.

I do not currently see any open houses listed for Edgewood. If you know of any please add the information to the comments section.

Bloomingdale News: Rustik Restaurant Open House August 7th

Bloomingdale may have a new restaurant sooner than we thought with the announcement from Rustik. There will be an open house on August 7th and they are waiting on city inspections to open. I am keeping my fingers crossed because I cannot wait to be able to take a short walk to go out to eat!

Here are the details from the various blogs:

Prince of Petworth

inBloom

Bloomingdale