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Monday, March 05, 2007

Weekend in Review

I must say I had an ideal weekend.

Dog-wise, we took the official canine mascot of Remaking Le Slum Historique to experience his very first dog park on Saturday. We went to the Adams Morgan Dog Park, where he frolicked, sniffed, rolled, jumped, tackled, and generally had a lot of fun. The experience made me realize how little we ask for when we ask for a dog park and what an asset to a community a dog park can be. Sunday’s cooler temps kept the pooch inside.

House-wise, I gardened for the first time as a homeowner in Saturday's sunny and warm weather. Although this week's forecast freezing temps might kill all of my newly planted pansies (it’s hard to make those plants masculine . . .), it was fun to add some color to the yard.

Neighborhood-wise, I picked up trash up and down the block (fyi, smokers still enjoy throwing their butts on the ground) and helped Drew take pictures of Shiloh’s vacant properties (we hope to upload them to Shilohdc.blogspot.com today or tomorrow).

Entertainment-wise, the rather low-key weekend culminated in an un-low-key, much fun Scissor Sisters concert at 9:30 Club last night. 9:30 Club doesn’t seem to get the love it needs to get from the city. Do any of those blue way-finding signs direct visitors to it? I don’t think they do, despite the fact that it’s a major anchor on our northern border and draws huge crowds and notable groups/events to our area. The club itself could use some external sprucing up to give it some curb appeal, but some streetscape improvements (like new street lights, brick walkways, etc.) would really give patrons a better view of DC and of our neighborhood. Are there any concrete plans for such improvements?

Blog-wise, here are some highlights worth noting on this Monday morn:
+ Thanks to Fifth and Oh for pointing me to two things:
1. Shaw has been named one of the 20 or so "top emerging gay ghettos" in the country (meaning it’s an increasingly gay enclave like the Dupont of yore) by gayghettos.com. The website characterizes gay ghettos as areas that resultantly realize higher property values, less crime, better schools, ethnic diversity, and growth.
2. Remaking Le Slum’s contributor Drew was quoted in an article in the February 21 issue of the Northwest Current about the same! We haven’t yet seen the article.
+ Dog owners of Shaw are encouraged to attend a Dogs of Greater Shaw (or whatever the organization is to be called; I’m rooting for “Shaw’s Paws”) meeting this Sunday at 2pm at Azi's CafĂ©. Discussion will likely touch on the newly released dog park regulations, organizational needs, plans for proposing a dog park, and so forth.
+ There’s another article about the convention center hotel in today’s Washington Examiner. The article discusses the upcoming competition from the Washington Harbour project in Maryland.
+ The stop work order on 1416 9th Street has been lifted and walls are going up.

2 comments:

Shaw Rez said...

I forgot to mention that the land where the modular library at 10th and Rhode Island is to be located has been fenced off, thus indicating that this monstrosity should arrive soon.

What a terrible move by the DC Library System. Too bad Fenty's 100 day plan, which discussed store front libraries, hasn't changed the projectory of the system.

Anonymous said...

No commercial ventures are allowed to appear on the blue wayfinding signs. That's a citywide standard, and explains why there isn't any listing for the 9:30 Club on the signs in Shaw. You'll notice that the Verizon Center is listed as "Arena" in order to address the proscription.