Posts by Topher Mathews — Contributor
-
Georgetowners seek to overturn Glover Park traffic calming
Upset Georgetown residents are challenging a 2012 traffic calming project in Glover Park. They say it has lengthened their car commutes through that adjacent neighborhood. Monday, these residents will air their frustrations at an extraordinary Georgetown ANC meeting with Councilmembers Jack Evans and Mary Cheh and DDOT Director Terry Bellamy. The idea for traffic… Keep reading…
-
How transient is Washington?
With a talented new quarterback and a baseball team in the major league playoffs for the first time since 1933, Washington sports are getting a lot of attention recently. In commenting on the state of Washington sports culture, a lot of writers assert that DC is apathetic towards its team because the population is so transient. But how transient is DC? TheCensus Census Bureau’s… Keep reading…
-
Students: Don’t listen to the Hoya, vote in DC
Yesterday, the Georgetown Hoya student newspaper published a provocative editorial calling on students to not vote in DC, and rather vote absentee in their home states. That’s terrible advice. The reasoning behind the piece was that with DC disenfranchised in Congress and its 3 electoral votes guaranteed for Obama, students would “get more bang from their ballot”… Keep reading…
-
Where will Georgetown get 100 acres?
The agreement on the Georgetown University campus plan says that so long as relations go well, the parties will start discussing in 2018 some long-term goals, including one to “identify and develop next 100 acres.” The agreement doesn’t give context for this goal. Given the timing, I’d guess the purpose of this new 100 acres is to relocate the hospital… Keep reading…
-
Don’t waste public money to woo Bloomingdale’s
Both Mayor Vincent Gray and Council Chair Kwame Brown may want to use tax increment financing to lure a high-end tenant like Bloomingdale’s to the Georgetown Park mall, the Current reported. That’s a foolish policy. In tax increment financing (“TIF”), the city issues bonds for a particular project and gives the money to a private developer. A portion… Keep reading…
-
Citywide historic review is not the answer to ugly pop-ups
Ugly home additions or new construction often lead to calls to expand historic preservation citywide, but our current historic review process is far too cumbersome and limiting. Instead, less stringent design review or neighborhood-specific zoning could help shape development effectively. Last week, Richard Layman provocatively suggested applying design… Keep reading…
-
Georgetown liquor moratorium brings both good and bad
A group of U Street residents and business recently formed to fight a possible liquor license moratorium along the newly bustling corridor. The reaction has been swift and strong. Georgetown’s experience with a similar one shows some benefits for a moratorium, but also bears out some of the concerns that moratorium opponents raise. Eric Fidler weighed in yesterday with… Keep reading…
-
Nonpartisan DC primary would give winners more legitimacy
Since the 2010 general election, DC has had 3 council elections where the winning candidate gained less than 50% of the vote. Our current system too often hands a victory to someone who most voters vote against, in elections that too few voters participate in. “The way District residents elect a mayor and Council members needs to change,” Chuck Thies noted this week. … Keep reading…
-
Old survey maps show Georgetown around 1903
The Library of Congress has a fascinating resource called “Researching Historic Washington, DC Buildings,” which includes dozens of links to databases and collections with reams of information on old DC buildings. One collection is a digitized version of Baist’s Real Estate Atlas of Surveys for Washington, DC. It’s a highly detailed map… Keep reading…
-
Give DC residents access to Roosevelt Island with a ferry
Roosevelt Island is a DC recreational asset and it’s tantalizingly close to Georgetown. But far from easy to access for most DC residents. A ferry from Georgetown could solve that problem. Last weekend, as I was taking in the newly-completed Georgetown waterfront park, my eyes (as well as many of the eyes of my fellow layabouts) were drawn to Roosevelt Island. It sits so… Keep reading…