“Dear PoP,

I was walking down park road and noticed some guys nailing wooden stops to the brick on a storefront. Above them was a sign that said something about the Park Road Facade Improvement Project. It’s on the East side of the strip between 14th and Hiatt, near Pho 14.

Maybe someone more familiar with this type of construction knows more. Do you know anything about this project and what it entails?”

There was just a groundbreaking on this project yesterday. Sounds like it’s gonna be a serious improvement ($700,000).

Following is a press release about the groundbreaking from Mayor Fenty:

“Today, [Wed. July 21]Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, Department of Housing and Community Development Director Leila Edmonds, and Development Corporation of Columbia Heights (DCCH) CEO Robert Moore joined Ward 1 business leaders to begin façade improvements on 13 businesses on the 1400 block of Park Road, NW.

“Supporting small, local businesses has always been important to my administration,” said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “The renovations to the businesses on Park Road will continue to make Columbia Heights a great business corridor for District residents to find the goods and services they want.”

“We are happy to support the façade improvements on Park Road,” said DHCD Director Leila Edmonds. “The improvements to the businesses on Park Road will not only enhance the image of Columbia Heights but can also continue the economic growth in Ward 1.”

DHCD awarded DCCH a grant of $618,000 for the project, which is expected to cost approximately $700,000 in total. DCCH is overseeing the façade renovations with Keystone Plus Construction as the general contractor and Architecture by Tono as the architects. All property owners of the 13 businesses are members of the Coalition of Park Road Businesses, which was founded in 2006. The store front renovations are expected to be complete fall of 2010.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user clintonbphotography

Thanks to a reader for sending this fascinating report from the Office of Planning/State Data Center, titled ‘District Population Trends 1800 to 2009.’ For full report please click below:

June 2010 Briefing Report

Population in 1950
Total: 802,178
White: 517,865
Black: 280,803
Hispanic: N/A

Population in 2000
Total: 572,059
White: 197,168
Black: 349,390
Hispanic: 44,953

Population in 2009
Total: 599,657
White: 243,617
Black: 323,931
Hispanic: 53,025

When do you think DC will hit 1,000,000?

Photo above of Sauca Food truck

According to their twitter page @CapMac describes itself as:

“Introducing The District’s newest food truck specializing in the best fresh pasta dishes in The Nation’s Capitol”

Do you like the idea of a fresh pasta dishes truck?

I’m still waiting for the Lobster Roll truck.

Do you have a current favorite food truck? What food truck would you like to see next? I’ve heard folks pining for a melted cheese truck…

I think I’ve mentioned before that these signs signify anything but a safe place to me. With the eyes painted on this one, it’s straight terrifying! Of course I’ve been drinking as I write this…

Every year or so a reader will ask about this building located at 770 Park Road NW. We’ve learned that the building is home to:

“NationHouse was founded in July 1974 in Washington, D. C. NationHouse grew out of the student activism of Howard University community in the late 1960s. We are one of the oldest independent Afrikan centered schools in the United States and in the DC metropolitan area serving the specific needs of children of Afrikan heritage from pre-school to twelfth grade.”

Not sure if this means NationHouse is moving or closing or if the owner of the building is just testing the waters. More info as it becomes available.

I love when vacant corners like this are fixed up by the community. Props to the Truxton Circle group that is putting this together. It’s from the corner of 1st and N St, NW.

I like finding ones that look like they’re 100 years old.

Another perennial favorite of mine from Petworth.

Like carriage houses, I can’t stay away from bungalows for too long. This colorful one is a bit north of Grant Circle.

Photo by PoPville flickr user mediaslave

I love the expression on her face, seems ripe for a good contest. Your caption in the comments and winner picked Friday.

I’ve been watching this pop up from the 3000 block of Sherman Ave, NW go up for many many months. Looks like it’s finally finished. So…thumbs up or down. Does seem that they got a roof deck too:

Ed. Note: Entries accepted through Friday, July 23rd. Remember if you have a favorite please let me know. If you emailed a photo of your pet I promise all photos will be posted, patience please, there are tons of pets in PoPville!

A little clarification on voting – these are the preliminary rounds. Your comments help me a lot in selecting semifinalists for Dog, Cat, Other and Group. At this round of the selection process it is still a bit arbitrary. Though I may enlist the winners from last year to help out a bit. There will be semifinal voting (in a poll format) for every group then the winners of each category will face off for the ultimate winner. Stay tuned!

Mimi Mayhem

“This is Mimi Mayhem. She rules”

Glenfarclas

Tater

“Tater says “plbthhhh” to last year’s winner.”

More great entries after the jump. (more…)

This rental is located at 6th and T Streets, NW:

View Larger Map

The Craigslist ad says:

“- Full-sized windows in the living room and bedroom for plenty of natural light
- All new appliances including refrigerator, washer, dryer, electric cooktop and built-in microwave
- Bathroom includes soaking tub with jets
- Decorative fireplace
- Central heating and air-conditioning with zoned thermostat
- Private entrance
- Approx. 400 sq feet
- Shared rear patio
- Street parking (with permit)

Location: We are located by the corner of 6th and T NW, steps from the Shaw/Howard stop on the green line, and close to many bus lines. The neighborhood is fantastic – coffee shop, yoga studio, farmers market, new public library and corner stores nearby. We are a short walk from Howard University and U Street.

Utilities: A flat rate of $75 per month will cover all utilities including wireless internet.

Pets: small pets considered.”

This is pretty cool, this happened to be a house of the day that I featured earlier this week that the owner saw and sent in the rental. Awesome.

So does $1195 sound reasonable for this 1 bed/1 bath English basement?

Photo by PoPville flickr user BrennaLM

“Dear PoP,

I recently moved out of a rental that I had lived in for two years. It wasn’t in the best condition (i.e. mold on the walls) and getting anything fixed was a prolonged battle (for example, it took about two weeks for my heat to get fixed last winter). I have a feeling my landlord is going to try to keep my security deposit (she’s just that wonderful of a person).

I’m fully ready to sue her for it (as I had to with my two previous landlords), but I was wondering about something else. I’m pretty sure that she never got the proper permits/licenses to rent the place. It didn’t show up on DCRA’s online database, plus the condition of the house would indicate that an inspection never took place (it was a really good location/price). I’ve heard that if she does not have everything in order that I could get my rent for the past two years returned to me. Is this true?”

Hmm, I’d be surprised if you could get your rent returned, that seems unrealistic. Has anyone else dealt with a situation like this?

Photo by PoPville flickr user p.bjork

Great shot of the “the portrait gallery’s attic” above. And below is an interesting shot of “Trinidad’s Edge”.

Submit your photos to the PoPville flickr pool here. Follow PoPville on twitter here.

Photo by PoPville flickr user AWard Tour