Streetcar Tracks Coming Towards the Costia

after many years, the streetcar tracks are finally being installed along Firth Sterling Avenue in Barry Farm ... soon to wind towards the Metro station then into Anacostia.


how exciting are new tracks?! my generation has barely ever seen this happen.

On the left, observe a young professional walking on a dirt sidewalk from the Metro to the Anacostia Naval Station / Bolling Air Force Base. She will pretty definitely be a rider on the new line.

Saturday Morning

this freshly painted house looks fantastic:



love the green and red combo, and the changes really show the life-giving value of sprucing up the facade. porch tiles going on now...

Industrial Bank opening soon!

I haven't covered this story much, but a branch of Industrial Bank is about to open in the Anacostia Gateway building at the corner of MLK and Good Hope. It is the first retailer to open in the building, which is still waiting for one more ground floor tenant.


the sign is now above the ATMs in the front room


the interior is very yellow, but pretty sleek


a few historical images of other Industrial Banks are printed on glass as room dividers


another view of the lobby, facing Good Hope Road


ever wanted to see the guts of an ATM?

Although there are many things besides a bank that we hope to see open in downtown Anacostia, this is a great first step. Having good-looking and established retailers set up shop here shows others that it's an okay place to be.

*goodlinks: expect the unexpected

vacant home on W Street SE - ready for revival

A Class 4 tax rate for blight? via Washington Business Journal
the DC Council recently lowered the vacant property tax rate from $10 per $100 of assessed value to $5. But Ward 4 councilwoman Bowser is fighting to recognize the benefit of a higher tax: property owners are finally acting.

Art Monk and Charles Mann Sell Former City Property for Millions, Bail On Anacostia Job Training Center, via Washington City Paper
for many years the Good Samaritan Foundation has been promising to open a job training center in the old Carver Theater on MLK Ave near the metro station. Now its former-Redskins founders have sold the building to Howard Road Academy. Another school on our main street within a block from Metro?

And We've Got Tracks, via Barry Farm (re)Mixed
the Anacostia Streetcar Line is finally under construction, and tracks are actually being laid on Firth Sterling Avenue now. Nobody yet knows if this will be a boon for the neighborhood, but my fingers are crossed that investors and developers see this exciting new form of transportation as reason to start building.

11th Street Bridge Under Troubled Wires, via DC Mud
it's no secret that overhead wires aren't allowed in the Federal City, but now the National Capital Planning Commission is threatening to disallow wires crossing the new 11th Street Bridges, arguing that they might interrupt important views to the city's monumental core.

Waterfront Precidents, via City Block
following up on a discussion about narrowing the Anacostia River to encourage more urban development on both sides, this blogger explores urban waterfronts around the world and compares their features to our own waterway.

Anacostia Neighborhood Library a'Rising

construction workers at the library's "beacon"

Work on the new Anacostia Neighborhood Library is well underway, with what looks like most of the steel structure already in place. One of my worries was that this was going to seem like a small building for the site and that it might not be big enough for the geographical area it has to serve. Seeing it in person helped change that - its 20,000 SF in two stories is definitely not small.


the view from Good Hope Road - kind of obscured by the fence


from the alley between Good Hope and U Place SE


from U Place SE, looking southwest


another shot, more straight-on, from Good Hope

Taking into consideration the promised-but-stalled buildings projects over here, it's pretty great seeing something really rising. Projected opening is Fall 2010.

Piedmont Blues Tonight @ Honfleur

Come out to the Honfleur Gallery this evening at 7PM to kick off the fall arts season with Piedmont Blues and dedication of a new installation light sculpture on the gallery's cornice. The new neon public art piece by DC light sculptor Craig Kraft is entitled Anacoeti, and was created as a site-specific installation acting as a beacon of light and color for Honfleur. The sculpture, funded by a grant from the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, and will be lit and dedicated during the concert intermission.



Phil Wiggins, a leading exponent of the Piedmont Blues, will perform live at the gallery at 7pm. Joined by blues musician and activist Rick Franklin, under the name of “Wiggins and Friends”, the duo exemplifies this local blues style - specifically the Piedmont-style guitar.

Tickets ($10) are available at the gallery; 1241 Good Hope Road SE, by telephone at 202-580-5972, or on the web. The current exhibit is East of the River, the third annual exhibition hightlighting artists from wards 7 and 8 and will be on view from August 1st to October 15th. For further inquiries, please contact Briony Evans Hynson, Creative Director at 202-536-8994 or arts@archdc.org.

GSA Breaks ground on St. E's Campus!

This morning was the groundbreaking for the new consolidated headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard at the West Campus of St. Elizabeths in Ward 8. In attendance were Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Senator Liberman, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Councilman Barry, and GSA Administrator Paul F. Prouty.

It was raining, but the boarded-up campus was alive with U.S.-manufactured government vehicles and the excitement that this. is. finally. being. built!


local and federal leadership breaks ground on Homeland Security campus


Senator Joseph Lieberman, I - Connecticut


Napolitano and Norton talk with the news media

Overall it was a great event. All the public officials spoke at the podium, each highlighting different benefits and challenges associated with bringing the mega-project to Ward 8:

• Lieberman connected DHS' history with that of the Roosevelt's Pentagon, and noted that this is the largest building project (aside from Eisenhower's highways, I assume) since the Pentagon.


• Napolitano was excited to have a consolidated headquarters - and expressed gratitude for how much simpler holding meetings and bringing connectivity and community to the Department will be.


• CM Barry highlighted the project's importance to Ward 8 and the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the new HQ. He called attention to the hardships associated with living and working in Ward 8, but, citing Psalm 30:5, said that "We could go on and on about the weeping. But this is the morning for Ward 8."

the first building - Coast Guard - viewed from the River

Exciting times. Ward 8 is on the rise.

Paris on the Anacostia - Today on Kojo

the first segment of today's Kojo Nnamdi show is titled Paris on the Anacostia: A Provocative Idea for DC's Waterfront. From the WAMU site:

It's an amazingly ambitious proposal by a set of architects trained to imagine the future as it could be. Join Kojo to explore a newly unveiled plan - more than four years in the making - to NARROW the Anacostia River, and remake Washington's Waterfront, with the goal of bringing in new businesses, training new workers, and completely changing the relationship between folks East and West of the River.

The show airs today at 12:23 PM on NPR, and will be available online Here.

The Banana Tree coming to MLK Ave

the former abandoned car lot at MLK and Maple View is in progress to become The Banana Tree, a fruit and vegetable market by the founder of the Funky Flea Market in Northeast DC.



So far the lot has been cleared and the small building on site painted a bright green and yellow. When I spoke with the owner (a vegan), he said he was inspired by the lack of healthy food options in the neighborhood and plans to source his products from Maryland and Virginia farms.

Opening is projected for March 2010 when the next produce season begins.

(Anacostia's own) BK Adams at CityVista Busboys

Next Saturday our very own artist in residence BK Adams' work will be featured at the 5th and K NW Busboys and Poets.

Click to Enlarge

BK is the guy in the background

FIOS comes here first

the first FIOS box in the District ... 19th Street SE in Fairlawn

This morning Mayor Fenty, Councilwoman Cheh, Verizon officials, and the Chief Technology Officer met in Fairlawn to officially activate the first FIOS cable in the District of Columbia. And it came east of the river first.


the officials lined up to press the button at the same time that somehow fused the necessary cables together


after the button-pressing, Verizon technicians did the real work...


Fenty and Cheh celebrate!

Bringing FIOS to the District is a big deal because it means increased options for cable, phone, and internet. It's fiber-optic broadband, which brings us up to speed with neighboring suburban jurisdictions, and makes DC that much more attractive for those interested in moving in.

The first neighborhoods to get it will be Barry Farm, Brightwood, Columbia Heights, Crestwood, Fairlawn, Fort Stanton, Friendship Heights, Historic Anacostia, Petworth, Shepherd Park, Sheridan, Tenleytown, Van Ness and Woodley Park.

Click Here for Verizon's press release and more info the technology

Ward 8 Bloggers on the Kojo Nnamdi Show

This afternoon myself and two other Ward 8 bloggers (Barry Farm (re)Mixed and Congress Heights on the Rise) had the chance to speak up about our blogs and our neighborhoods on WAMU 88.5 FM's Kojo Nnamdi Show - guest-hosted by the Post's Marc Fisher.

Click Here to go to the site and listen to the segment (one hour, but totally worth it).

*goodlinks: comin round the mountain

afternoon storefronts on the 2200 block of MLK Avenue

GSA Selects St. Elizabeths Team, Groundbreaking to Start via DCMUD
the General Services Administration has finally chosen the development team for the west campus of St. Elizabeths, soon to be the home of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard. Construction has been awarded to Clark Construction, with final design going to HOK. DCMUD reports that groundbreaking could be only weeks away, with actual construction commencing in the new year.

FIOS finally coming to Anacostia via press release
Verizon FIOS internet / cable / phone service is coming east of the river first. Groundbreaking on the new infrastructure will be September 1st at 10:30AM at 1600 19th Street, SE in Fairlawn. The Mayor and Councilwoman Cheh will be in attendence.

River. East. Art. via Fred Joiner's Weblog
Joiner counterpoints renewshaw.com's argument that displaced art galleries relocate to the 9th Street NW corridor, making the case instead that downtown Anacostia with its already awesome art scene or the H Street Corridor would make just as good or better locations.

www.anacostia-thewebseries.com (yes, this is real)
Anacostia: the Web Series debuts online on September 3rd. Tagline? "Every city should have neighbors like these..." From the looks of the promo video, this was not, in fact, filmed in the Anacostia neighborhood.

Streetcar Action: via Barry Farm (re)Mixed

Click Here for original post

Streetcars? Who has them? Seattle, Los Angeles, Charlotte, New Orleans, Portland, San Francisco, Tampa. . . and D.C. Or at least "soon" enough.

Why should Barry Farm be excited about the streetcar? Because studies have shown streetcars stablize communities and promote neighborhood improvements. Development is much more likely to occur in areas containing a fixed transit improvement rather than a bus which can be moved at any time. In other words, a fixed transit improvement represents a long term commitment to broad based connections to other parts of the area.

The most often cited economic development benefit of streetcars is Portland. Portland's service was opened in 2001 and has resulted in a development-to-transit-ratio of 18:1. In other words, every $1 spent on the streetcar resulted in $18 of development in the immediate area. Memphis, Tennessee, implemented a similar streetcar in 1993 and now estimates to-date development activities because of the streetcar at more than $2 billion.

Want to see an example of streetcar success and the surrounding development? Take a Ride on the Seattle Streetcar. It's a short 4-5 minute video that I think you might enjoy. I did (but then again I can be a bit nerdy). And the Seattle Streetcar website is pretty cool too.

But on to more important stuff. The Anacostia Streetcar Project. The problem? I haven't heard much about it. Everyone is talking about Benning Rd and their streetcar developments. And rightly so, check their progress:

I mean, wow. Bada bam, bada boom--yea, I'm impressed. So today I've been dedicated to figuring out what's going on with the Anacostia Streetcar. All I have to say is, if ye seek, ye shall find.

First things first. The Anacostia Streetcar Alignment plan (courtesy of DDOT):

The alignment will begin at the Maintenance Facility running north into Firth Sterling Avenue to Howard Road and the Anacostia Metro Station. Turning north into Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, it will continue through Historic Anacostia and terminate at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Good Hope Road. The tracks will extend across the 11th Street Bridge once the new bridge opens.

What the DC streetcar will look like:

And a nifty little video DDOT put together back in 2006 about the streetcar and why we should have it. It's about 12 minutes long, but interesting. Watch Video: Transit Futures – The Washington Streetcar.

In early August, the Washington Business Journal did a story on the revival of the D.C. Streetcar Plan. You can read that here. In that article they point out that work has started along South Capitol Street. And well you guessed it, they are right on point. Haven't I been commenting on the construction happening along Firth Sterling Avenue? Or rather wondering what was going on? In addition to the confirming images below (Firth Sterling Avenue) and my aimless wandering around trying to make sense of concrete barriers and construction signage, I finally found some helpful information.

The last time I visited DDOT's web page there was not much information on the Anacostia Streetcar Project, but somebody has been updating. More importantly, it appears that DDOT will be providing updates for every week they work on it. If you click here, you will be able to pick a status report going back to March 2009 when the project started.

The latest update is for August 7th and it states that "the installation of electrical manholes and combined system duct-bank on Firth Sterling/South Capitol is nearing completion. Street light foundation installations are progressing well. Installation of new sidewalk along the east side of South Capitol Street has begun and is [also] progressing well. Sub-grade preperations for the new track slab continue along South Capitol Street as well as OCS foundation installations..." What has been happening since then? "Sub-grade preparations for the new track slab along South Capitol Street. Installation of new storm drain lateral piping along with new catch basins/water quality inlets, and grate inlets will continue for the new road work along South Capitol and Firth Sterling Streets as well as the installation of electrical manholes and combined system duct-bank. OCS foundation installations and roadway excavation along the SE side of Firth Sterling to begin . . ."

The report also comments that the orginial contract value is $24,994,526.28 No complaints about the District's investment coming from this peanut gallery commentor.

country roads (of historic Anacostia)

an awesome barn on the alley between Pleasant and Chester Streets


mural on the back wall of Big Chair Coffee

11th Street Bridges Update Tomorrow

talking Anacostia on ReadySetDC.com

Check out my interview with ReadySetDC - a cool site that celebrates the homegrown culture, style, and energy of our fine city. Excerpt:

What made you decide to move to Anacostia?

Anacostia is affordable, has decent redevelopment and creative regeneration potential, and is literally one hop, skip, and jump to Capitol Hill. It is easily accessible to almost everywhere else in the city and region via both private and public transportation. It has art galleries, front porches, and a riverfront within walking distance.

A friend from Auckland stayed with me recently and remarked at how lucky I was to live so close to downtown. I had to smile because I usually find myself on the defensive when talking about the neighborhood and here was someone with no clue what Anacostia’s usually hushed-toned five syllables mean for DC and America and immediately recognized one of its best amenities.

The neighborhood is far from perfect, but it’s making strides toward something a lot cooler than the empty and forgotten status quo. I discovered that at about the same time I decided that I could either rent a basement apartment in an established neighborhood or buy a fixer-upper in a “just starting to reinvest and reinvent” neighborhood like Anacostia for about the same price. I’m the first to admit that there are times I’d rather be someplace else, but right now I’m not looking back.

Where do you see Anacostia in 5 years? 10 years?

5 years from now I see Anacostia as a neighborhood under construction – cranes and orange construction fencing downtown, streetcars finally winding their way up MLK, and the housing stock a little less affordable for the home-buying hopefuls because of the growing collection of neighborhood gathering places and the general sense that things are finally happening.

In 10 years it will be normal to hear about people moving to Anacostia, taking a date here for dinner, or being home to your nine to five. The wildly popular Yes! Organic Market or Anacostia Trader Joe’s (murals of the Big Chair, St. E’s, Frederick Douglass, and activity on the river) will have opened a few years before.

To read the full interview at ReadySetDC.com, Click Here

reminder - I'm on Twitter (@DG_rad)

I posted about it when I first joined the social media platform earlier this year, but since twitter's rise has happened so quickly I thought I'd throw out a quick reminder. My tweets aren't all about Anacostia, but generally focus on DC city living, urban development, and local business love.

www.twitter.com/dg_rad

blue sky afternoon

burst of color in front of a newly remodeled house on V Street SE:


have you checked out BK Adams' house at the top of Maple View Place yet? completely crazy but cool:

Call to Ward 7 & 8 Artists

Deadline: Friday, August 28, 2009 at 5:30pm
Artist Honorarium: $2,500

the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) in collaboration with DC Public Library is seeking East-of-the-River artists, including writers, to submit proposals for four prominent areas inside the new Benning and Anacostia Libraries which are expected to open in the spring of 2010. The proposed artwork sites provide artists and writers the opportunity to display their work in a large-scale format in a public building.

Anacostia Library (18th and Good Hope Road, SE)



1. Transparent Wall: At the entry of the library is a space for a transparent wall that may be rendered in glass or other materials. This art piece welcomes all library visitors and forms the boundary between the main library entrance and the children’s space. The dimensions of the opening are 10’6” x 6’10” and it sits on top of a 1’2” built-in bench. While this wall faces the children’s area on its reverse side, the piece should relate to everyone who enters the library, not just children. In addition, the artwork should supplement the strong architectural language of the building.



2. Adult Area Mural: This wall, 26’0” (wide) by 10’0” (height), runs parallel to the main circulation path of the building and faces the adult book stack and reading areas. The art should be strong and powerful and supplement the strong architectural language of the building. The artwork at this location could be a singular image or a group of images that forms a singular unified composition or concept.

Click Here to download the full Call to Artists

Questions? contact Rachel Dickerson at rachel.dickerson@dc.gov

playground sprouting at Savoy

For the past couple days teams have been hard at work constructing the new playground outside the school (the school is looking amazing, by the way). Kids from the summer jobs program, Americorps volunteers, park rangers, Screaming Eagles, and others are putting together what looks to be a really great playground made out of composite decking. Slides, monkey bars, towers, and sliding poles a'plenty!


nailing in the finishing touches on a colorful window


some of the smiling Americorps volunteers


it takes three to hoist up the green monkey bars



I can't wait for this project to be finished. For a long time a banner hung on the school calling it "the pride of Anacostia" - which it most definitely was not. But that's exactly what it's turning into! This is the kind of school (building, at least) people will be extatic to send their kids to.

repointing at the new EDC HQ!

it takes a special kind of person to get excited about repointing, but the significance is more in the fact that - awesome - Environmental Design & Construction's headquarters project is starting to move again.


It also means that this great unpainted brick will likely remain natural


check out the great brickwork. we're (usually) too lazy nowadays to do things like that.

Hopefully this rather minor work means that the project is full steam ahead. Probably one of the cooler redevelopments to hit Anacostia in a while.

REEL Summer Chill: August 20

Mark your calendars for the REEL (River East Emerging Leaders) summer event and membership drive!