Support Local Businesses in Mt. Pleasant

This announcement comes from the Mt. Pleasant Main Street association:

Come celebrate Mt. Pleasant and Local Businesses at Haydee's
Tuesday, July 22
6 - 11 pm

Haydee's (at 3102 Mt. Pleasant Street NW) is generously donating a
percent of all proceeds to support Mt Pleasant Main Street. So come
eat and drink and bring all your friends and neighbors. No cover
charge.

For more information visit www.mtpmainstreet.org. Mount Pleasant Main
Street is a volunteer-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Park Triangle Dust Bowl to Continue for at least Another Year

On Wednesday, Mayor Adrian Fenty held a press conference in gravel pitch in front of the Park Triangle apartment building announcing the start of the Columbia Heights Public Realm Plan. This plan has been in the works for quite some time and is a frequently topic of debate on the neighborhood listservs.

While it is great to hear that a planning process has finally been implemented, and the vision for the project sounds great. Are we ready for another round of construction and road work at an already busy intersection? For the dust bowl that is the triangle of land in front of Rita’s, Julia’s Empanadas, ect. to be that way for another year is ridiculous. Same goes for the road work involved in the project. New sidewalks for Park Road, overall improvements for 14th between Columbia Rd. and Newton St., among others will be not be seen until mid-2010.

No matter what field you are in, large-scale projects take time to plan, but is this a sensible time line? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Firetrucks at DC USA

BREAKING.

The Heights Patio--Fire trucks arrive at DC USA this evening and those in the retail complex were told to leave. Situation is developing.

Quick Thoughts

-         Went to Five Guys last week and it was good, obviously.

-         Construction on The Children's Place at DC USA has started. The kids clothing store is located next to Staples.

-         The paper is off the windows at Kenyon Cleaners and a sewing machine is set up.

-         Red Rocks celebrated its one-year anniversary over the weekend.

-         Columbia Heights chicken?!

Reflections on the Fourth

On Friday evening, I continued my Fourth of July tradition of cringing at the cheesiness of "A Capitol Fourth" on WETA, watching the official fireworks from afar, and then seeing the neighborhood show from the Wonderland's beer garden. This year, I watched the Mall fireworks from Cardozo High School, a first, and there was a much bigger crowd than I expected. Like myself, the amount of people seemed to surprise MPD, too, as they did little to stop traffic on 13^th or Clifton streets until after the fireworks ended. However, any driver who thought taking 13^th Street north- or south-bound would be a good idea during the fireworks clearly does not know the area. The neighborhood fireworks were not as plentiful as previous years, but I think the rain played a role in that. However, there were still "oohs and aahs" late into the evening. So much that at one point I couldn't see across the Kenyon and 11^th intersection for a good 5 minutes. 

Five Guys is Alive? Is it?

Rumor has it Five Guys should be open right about now. Any initial reports?