It’s all about the neighborhood
The Riyad market closed due to the efforts by concerned residents in the neighborhood, good work by MPD on busting the Riyad for selling synthetic drugs and the outstanding work of Assistant Attorney General Michael Aniton on partnering with the community and the building owners to turn this from a neighborhood problem into a neighborhood opportunity
Read the full article, after the break:
Read MoreI have a feeling that this Halloween, falling as it does on a Saturday, is going to feature a lot of little people in costumes knocking on doors looking for candy. Don't be the person who gives out nickels and dimes, get the good stuff! See the events (and an awesomely decorated house) after the break...
Read MoreKudos to the Kennedy Street Development Association for their hard work on getting properties owners of vacant and blighted homes to step up and respect the neighborhood.
929-931 Kennedy Street NW is now up for sale after the city was pushed to place a new tax lien on the properties.
Read more, after the break:
Read MoreOrganizer Russ Breckenridge sent out an email that the next Southwest Petworth Lemonade Social was going to meet at Lyman's Tavern (3720 14th St NW, 14th & Randolph Streets) -- so NOT at the corner park between Quincy & Kansas Ave NW. The Social is tomorrow, Wednesday, October 28th at 6:30. CM Brandon Todd will be onhand as well.
Lyman's is kid-friendly, and welcomes pets to the outdoor patio.
ANC 4D’s October meeting was interesting for a number of reasons, least of which, but still important, was how calm it was in comparison to 4C. The two most interesting things that happened that night? 1) The commission delayed a vote on a variance to allow the audience time to review a developer’s plans and then asked for public feedback prior to the vote. And 2) the developer clearly heard the public concerns about parking, and came back with a way to increase available parking.
Read the full notes, after the break...
Read MoreThere's a new program that is slowly getting more attention up in north Petworth called Heights Community Soup. It's a community potluck dinner where neighbors gather, share dinner and ideas to help the neighborhood, and then vote to fund one of four proposals presented that night. Past Soups have raised in the $600-700 range for the chosen community project.
The organizers, the Community Alliance For Upper Fourteenth Street (CAUFS), based their program on the "Detroit Soup" model, through which residents have gathered and voted to micro-fund many creative projects across the city.
CAUFS is looking for people to come out and join their fellow neighbors with a dinner and idea session. If you have an idea for a community activity, mural or something else to fill a gap or lift up the community, please share your idea. Please email any questions and suggestions for ideas by Friday, October 23rd to info.heightscommunitysoup@gmail.com.
They're looking for proposals that benefit communities surrounding the upper 14th St area bounded by Georgia Avenue (East), Rock Creek Park (West), Spring Road (South) and Missouri Avenue (North).
The next Soup is Tuesday, October 27th from 6:30-8:30pm at 4411 14th St.
Doors open at 6pm, presentations start at 6:30 and dinner around 7:30pm. They'll announce the winner of the funding by 8:30.
ANC 1A Chair and Park View blogger Kent Boese wrote a follow-up article about the parking issues around 3701 New Hampshire Avenue. I think it's a good explanation of the current parking situation. Kent walked around the area looking at where people are parking and what options were available.
The article is a good in-depth look at the issue. Ultimately, residents along 7th, Quincy, Rock Creek Church and other nearby streets will feel the stress from any new development, be it a restaurant or an apartment building.
Read more >
Read MoreI've heard from many readers about the events from the October 14th ANC 4C meeting, detailed in the article "This is what dysfunction looks like: Notes from ANC 4C October meeting." The article has been read by more than 2,000 people so far, and there are over 20 comments on the Petworth News Facebook page, and a few here on the blog article. (I always get more comments on FB than on the blog.)
The level of concern among residents is pretty high. People are concerned about belligerence, about arrogance, and about a lack of attention to the issues residents care about. There's confusion as to why there was so much anger at the meeting, and what it means for the effectiveness of the commission.
I thought I'd take some time to go over what happened and why (as best as I can tell), and give the commissioners a chance to weigh in, officially and off the record.
Read more about the events >
Read MoreWhen I attend an ANC meeting and write up my notes, I try to be objective and capture what I can from the night. As this is my blog, I might throw some opinion in here or there, add a useful link or two and offer photos of those who spoke so readers can get a clearer idea of the meeting. After all, if you live in the ANC, you should care about what happens.
I’ve been watching ANC 4C slowly deteriorate over the past 10 months under the chairmanship of Vann-Di Galloway. Wednesday night was just a culmination of all the problems hitting at once.
Read the notes. They're long but there's a lot to say...
Read MoreLocal Petworth neighbor Carrie Johnson-Clark contacted me recently about “Clean to the Curb,” an initiative that encourages people to keep the area around their houses clean. Carrie asked if I’d publish something to get the word out. I offered one better — I offered to publish an article that she wrote. And here it is. I’m happy to offer an article from a Petworth neighbor who cares about how we can all do our part, even a little bit, to help keep the community looking beautiful.
Read MoreWalk around Petworth and you'll see houses being renovated on block after block, dumpsters parked on the street with duct-taped "no parking" signs on the trees. Inside you'll hear tools and men's voices as walls go up, floors are redone, new landscaping put in.
Walk around Petworth, and you'll see many examples of houses that are sitting untouched and empty, slowly falling apart with trash strewn yards and a construction permit on the window -- with no signs of construction.
Neighbors are fed up with developers buying properties and leaving them to rot while waiting for housing prices to rise. The city loses out on taxes, and everyone loses out when those properties attract rats and illegal activity.
But KSDA and ANC 4D Commissioner David Sheon are working to fix it.
Read more about the plan to fix the problem of vacant and blighted properties >
Read MorePetworth resident Wayan Vota, a fan of Cards Against Humanity, teamed up with friends Jessica Heinzelman and Teddy Ruge to create a new card game specific to their careers in international aid and development. They brainstormed on ideas and partnered with another Petworth resident, Maria Mandle, who runs CreativeCouch Designs, to create the card deck and branding. They then reached out to aid workers around the world for ideas. The result is JadedAid, a card game to save humanitarians… from themselves. Read more about JadedAid and see the HuffPost interview, after the break:
Read MoreNeighborhood change comes from active neighbors — clean ups, community gardens, block parties and socials. Some of these events are easy to do and don’t cost much, if anything. However, other projects do have a cost, and often the question is how best to organize and fund them?
Enter ioby. ioby is a non-profit organization that helps communities crowd-source money to fund local-based projects...
Read more about ioby, their upcoming fundraiser on October 8th and see a video:
Read MoreRegen, Regen, geh weg! Komm an einem anderen Tag zurück!
Thanks to Hurricane Joaquin and lots of rain, Oktoberfest at the Armed Forces Retirement Home has been canceled. Feel free to wear your lederhosen at home though (if you do, send pics!).
Read the full article after the break:
Read MorePetworth News, a neighborhood blog on local news, information & events about the Petworth area in Washington DC.
Petworth News is a news site about Petworth area neighborhoods in Washington DC, written by Drew Schneider and other amazing contributing writers. It features facts and objective reporting, as well as an occasional subjective point of view and opinion.
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