Posts by John Muller — Contributor
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Should east of the river Circulator go to Shipley or Teeter?
DDOT is considering two options for its Circulator east of the river, one serving more of Ward 8 and ending at Lower Barracks Row, and the other reaching the Potomac Avenue Metro and Harris Teeter. Keep reading…
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Should Barry be worried about next year’s Ward 8 primary?
Have Ward 8 voters grown tired of Marion Barry or is his reelection in 2012 a foregone conclusion? Will a challenger emerge that can mount an effective opposition campaign fueled by an alliance of newer residents and those long disgruntled with Barry’s leadership? A number of Ward 8 leaders agree that under Barry, the ward has languished and there has been little progress… Keep reading…
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Gentrification a matter of economics, not ethnicity
Is gentrification black and white? Or economic? Last week, at a meeting about the often ominous issue of gentrification, a panel of young black professionals rejected the common idea that gentrification means white people moving into black neighborhoods. Instead, they argued, gentrification is about economics and a product of market forces. The panel, “The Gentrification… Keep reading…
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Preservation League revives Wonder Bread Factory
Last week, the DC Preservation League celebrated its 40th anniversary by throwing a lively party at the long-dormant Wonder Bread Factory at 641 S Street NW in Shaw. The building is located half a block east of 7th Street and the Shaw-Howard University Metro station. It has long been a well-known structure in the neighborhood. According to Streets of Washington, “the… Keep reading…
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The legacy of DC’s 1968 riots
April 8, 1968 marked the end of the riots in DC which began after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. These riots changed many of the city’s commercial corridors and neighborhoods forever. Keep reading…
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Anacostia’s old street names reveal little-known history
The streets of historic Anacostia have a hidden history that reveals insights into its unique character and place in the larger narrative of the city and even the nation. After mortally wounding President Lincoln on the evening of April18 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theatre in downtown Washington, John Wilkes Booth escaped on horseback, crossing the Navy Yard Bridge, now the 11th… Keep reading…
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Despite rich history, no theaters remain east of the river
Before the modern era of corporate-owned multiplexes, the area east of the Anacostia River had independently owned neighborhood movie theaters from Deanwood to Anacostia. However, there are now no open movie theaters in all of Ward 7 or Ward 8. With architectural skeletons of the Strand Theater and the Senator Theater still standing, it has been more than two decades since a… Keep reading…
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Wall at Brookland Metro serves as a canvas for a memorial
While Washington is home to numerous stately memorials to national figures, murdered Redskins player Sean Taylor has his own unofficial memorial in the form of graffiti at the Brookland Metro station. A few days after Taylor was killed in Miami, Florida, a spray-painted memorial mural appeared on the wall of the CSX rail line adjacent to the Brookland Metro station, where it… Keep reading…
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Crime remains high, police understaffed east of the river
The recent murder of Billy Mitchell at the corner of North Capitol and Florida Avenue reminded many of the violence that dominated the DC headlines from the mid-1980’s until just a few years ago. East of the Anacostia River, however, residents don’t need a reminder that violent crime remains a big problem. Homicide rates have stayed high in those parts of DC, and the… Keep reading…