If you have any fun or interesting animal/pet photos please shoot me an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say what neighborhood you’re from or upload to the PoPville flickr pool with your pets name and neighborhood. I can’t guarantee I’ll get them all posted but I’ll do my best.

“Scout and Napoleon, from U Street.”

“Scooter just chillin’ on Capitol Hill”

From Park View:

“Blaze relaxing on her lounge chair” (above)

Spot cavorting on Cole’s Point beach” (below)

This rental is located at 1444 Rhode Island Ave NW:

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The Craigslist ad says:

“Available November, Large Studio, No Deposit. Bright, large units in the finest location for convenient apartment living, downtown in the historic Dupont Circle – Logan Park area. Our 10-story high-rise building features a large rooftop swimming pool, indoor parking, laundry on each floor, key-control access, package receiving, up to 20 mbs high-speed Internet access, and INCLUDES ALL UTILITIES. Windsor House is located just a block from Washington’s largest Whole Foods Market, a CVS Drugstore, Caribou coffee shop. Studio Theatre, and restaurants. It’s within walking distance of local bus lines, the Metro and a block from a taxi stand. We are just blocks from everywhere you want to be — Logan Circle, Connecticut Avenue, Dupont Circle, Convention Center, Verizon Center and more.”

This studio is going for $1605. I’m an admitted sucker for roof deck pools…

Photo by PoPville flickr user thisisbossi

Couple transit related questions:

“Dear PoPville,

So I was driving home today and had an errand to run in SE Capitol Hill, so like I (and everyone else who lives in the area) frequently do, I took the “RFK Traffic Only” exit off of the SE freeway (right as it goes under Pennsylvania Avenue). There’s always been a Do Not Enter sign there, but everyone ignores it since it’s by far the most convenient way to get to that corner of Capital Hill. Tonight there were two DC cops stopping every car, lecturing the drivers (including me!) on how it was illegal, threatening tickets, and then waving us on. The cop was actually fairly cool about it, and I’m sure he was just doing his job, so I bare no ill will. But it is the BEST way to get into the area, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why the city would want to prevent it’s use when it’s one good thing in a city of otherwise so often painful traffic! Do you or your readers have any idea what the cities motivation is?”

Anyone know why the RFK Traffic Only lane is restricted?

and another reader is curious about the Green Line skipping stations:

“Dear PoPville,

Every morning I take the Green Line from Georgia Ave to College Park for work. On my commute this morning, we arrived at Fort Totten and the conductor announced that the train would only be servicing the PG Plaza and Greenbelt stations. For service to West Hyattsville and College Park, we were exit the train and board one of the following Green Line trains (which were 1 and 2 minutes behind).

This didn’t really cause me any inconvenience, as there were two more trains arriving in the next two minutes. But I am sort of curious as to why that happened. I’ve lived here for 7 years and take Metro every day and I’ve never experienced a train just skipping stations that weren’t otherwise closed. With two trains immediately following, I wonder if they just got “bunched up” and were trying to run a train off the line to get back on normal schedule.

Anyone ever experience this before? Thoughts?”

Photo by PoPville flickr user ewilfong

“Dear PoPville,

Have you heard about the epidemic of burglaries going on in MtP? It looks like today’s police community meeting will be interesting. Maybe you could help share info about the meeting? see below.

——

An extraordinary surge of neighborhood burglaries that began in the summer has continued in recent weeks despite the implementation by MPD of a burglary action plan. 14 burglaries have occurred in the last month — 3 coming over the weekend.

I would strongly encourage others to raise this issue at the PSA 301 police meeting tonight, details at bottom. (I will try to attend, though I may be prevented by a work deadline.) At the last meeting, there were representatives of the mayor, Councilmember Graham, and several MPD officers, but just two residents, counting Jack. More than one person attending remarked about the absence of neighbors, and I detected a feeling that the lack of attendance correlated to a lack of concerns.

So, first, I think it would be useful for many residents to attend the meeting and to express to city and MPD representatives that security in the neighborhood is our paramount concern. Progress is far more likely if they all recognize our strong view that the current level of burglary and other crime is flat-out unacceptable.

Second, I think it’s appropriate to ask what exactly the MPD is doing to address this problem. The data show that this is an extraordinary wave of burglaries, and that calls for an extraordinary response. We were informed a couple of weeks ago that a burglary action plan of some sort has been put into effect. What does that plan consist of? Given the continuing surge of burglaries, it seems reasonable to conclude that additional steps are required. What are those steps?

Third, I think it would be useful to share with residents more information about how these burglaries are being committed. When I have asked the police for details, they have simply responded that there is no pattern. That may be the case, but I think we could benefit by knowing exactly how the crimes are being committed, as well as any identifying information about the suspects. That could help us anticipate and identify criminal activity. This information should be shared with everyone in the neighborhood — few of whom visit this website. How is that to be done?

Details for tonight’s meeting:
Metropolitan Police Department PSA 301 Community Meeting
Wednesday October 26, 2011
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
La Casa Community Center
3166 Mt. Pleasant Street, NW“

Photo by PoPville flickr user schmiddi

Follow PoPville on twitter here on facebook here and google+ here.

Photo by PoPville flickr user slightlyworn

From a press release:

“Together with the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) SoberRide initiative, AT&T is proud to provide free taxi rides (up to $30) to anyone 21 and over in the Washington, DC area this Saturday night (10/29) from 10pm until 6am.

AT&T customers can call #TAXI to get a safe, free ride home, while others can dial 800-200-TAXI.

WRAP’s SoberRide provides greater Washington, DC residents a safe way home on high-risk holidays, including the December/January holiday season, St. Patrick’s Day, Independence Day and Halloween.”

This home is located at 506 A St, SE:

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The flier says:

“UNSURPASSED GRANDEUR, STYLE & LOCATION! Truly a SIGNATURE PROPERTY on a coveted BEST BLOCK close to everything. Over 5250 square feet of height, light & flexible living spaces. 1550 sq ft main level-dbl LR/sep formal DR, butler’s pantry/pwdrm/ huge country gourmet kit/fam rm. .. incredible master suite. .. soooo much more. Must see to appreciate.”

You can find more info here and photos here.

This 9 bed/5.5 bath is yours for $2,150,000.

Photo by PoPville flickr user KJinDC

From MPD:

“Earlier tonight [Tues.], Third District officers made a series of arrest for robberies throughout the area. First, officers apprehended an adult male after he attempted to rob a complainant of an Apple I-Phone, at 1301 Clifton Street. Second, officers made the arrest of 2 additional males after they attempted to rob a complainant at 7th and Vermont Avenue.…In both cases, I-Phones were taken and recovered….

Additionally, in (2) separate cases, members of the Vice and Crime Suppression Team were able to arrest (2) males for carrying a pistol without a license and took (2) handguns off the street. The locations of those arrests were 8th and Berry and 5200 block of Illinois Avenue.

Anyone with information relating to these or any cases relating to robberies or guns are encouraged to call 202-727-9099.”

A message was also shared on the Shaw listserv from one of the mugging victims:

“Wanted to fill you all in on my experiences last night. I was walking south on Vermont Ave. between S and R St., when I was approached by two black males who demanded my phone and wallet while indicating that they had a gun in their jacket pocket. I gave both up immediately and they ran directly towards our neighborhood. After a few minutes I went in the same direction and called the police with the help of a couple I stopped on the street.

The police arrived before I was done on the phone with 911, and we immediately began driving around the neighborhood attempting to locate them. Since I have an iPhone, one of the officers let me use his iPhone to download the Find My iPhone app, which immediately indicated that my phone was north of the intersection of Florida and Rhode Island NW. We sped over there, tracked my phone into a dead end alley (the 3th/4rd/T St. alley NW), which the police apprehended the two men. They found my phone almost immediately (with a little help from Find My iPhone’s beeping sound), and I ID’d the two men. About an hour later, one of them agreed to show the officers where they’d hidden my wallet – which turned out to be in the 10th St. Alley at French St.

I want to thank Officer L. Garrett and Detective Jose Morales for their great work and courtesy last night. Overall, it went about as well as a mugging can go, but I am a little shaken up that both the crime itself and the wallet’s hiding place were so close to our homes.

One note: the computer in police cruisers appears to run only Internet Explorer 6 (as a digital strategist, we often make the decision not to support this ancient mess of a browser), which cannot run Find My iPhone. If the officers had not had iPhones themselves to track my device, this would not have had a happy ending. I would highly suggest that the Metropolitan Police invest in installing a browser in cruiser computers that can handle modern phone tracking applications.

It’s also worth noting that this is the third such crime I’ve heard about among my friends in the last week. It may be something about the time of year: be safe and alert out there.”

Chix is located just off U Street at 2019 11th St, NW. Their Web site says:

“CHIX is committed to providing natural, healthy, delicious, affordable, quick latin-flavored meals in a casual environment.”

You can see their menu here. Any must order items?

“Dear PoPville,

Who makes the best breakfast burrito in DC? I had a serious craving for one this morning, and while a make a mean one myself, I did not have the time or the ingredients. Are there any spots that make good breakfast burritos in DC? I don’t really see them on brunch menus anywhere. Any place that offers them 7 days a week would be a bonus!”

Eat Chicken (Quincy and Georgia Ave, NW) just announced they have ‘em. Plus I believe Pico Taco (14th and Florida Ave, NW and 16th and Columbia Rd, NW) serves a mean one. Anywhere else?

Photo by PoPville flickr user Takka-San

For those that went to the annual High Heels Race (17th St, NW in Dupont) how was it this year? One reader shares their experience:

“I loved attending last night’s drag heel race near Dupont until about 20 minutes after the race when the police decided that the street needed to be cleared, and did such with a lot of force and rudeness, using motorcycles with loud sirens to push people onto the sidewalks so that we literally could not leave, causing more of a crowd problem than they had before. It seems doubtful to me that many cars would be inconvenienced by another half hour of road closure at 10 PM on a Tuesday, and I’m wondering if anyone else felt these actions were unnecessary, unproductive, and possibly disrespectful. I was shocked that they felt this was the best way to handle the situation. Am I naive to think that common sense and patience should be the norm, especially at an event about tolerance and celebrating all walks of life?”

Photo by PoPville flickr user pablo.raw

Photo by PoPville flickr user Takka-San

Photo by PoPville flickr user pablo.raw

Photo by PoPville flickr user FrenchTwistDC

“Dear PoPville,

My husband and I are seriously considering purchasing a home in Ledroit Park. We love the houses, the neighborhood feel, the new dog park and playground. Last night we looked up crime statistics on the DC gov page and found a significant spike in crime comparing this year to last year, particularly robbery and theft. It seems the new park on Elm street is attracting drug dealers and late night party-ers or loiterers. What a shame for the new neighborhood asset to quickly become a magnet for this activity. (There is interest in putting up a fence, but it does not exist yet.)

I wonder if that’s part of the crime story? Considering the pace of gentrification in this area I was surprised. Do you have any insight or thoughts on this? Is this an upward trend for Ledroit? What is being done to address growing crime?”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Sanjay Suchak

You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. But please no personal attacks. I’ll open this thread every morning at 10am.

Pie Sisters will be located at 3421 M St, NW by the entrance to the Key Bridge. Their Web site simply says coming soon but directs us to OBSweet which says:

“O’B.Sweet was created by us three sisters, Alli, Erin and Cat Blakely from Northern Virginia. Homemade pies are and have always been a staple in our family tradition. We grew up canning peaches and putting up fresh fruit pies. Baking was always something that brought everyone together.We learned from our mother at early ages the art of baking pies, using recipes old and new from family and friends. We also learned that anytime was pie time, morning, noon or night!

After living in different cities and pursuing separate careers, a bit of soul searching brought us all back to doing what we love most, baking. Each of us lends our own distinctive talent and touch making our product truly unique. We pride ourselves on our presentation and delicious pies.”

It’ll be fun to compare them to Dangerously Delicious Pies at 1339 H St, NE.

Photo by PoPville flickr user ken_1001

Last week’s captions will be tough to top but I have a good feeling about this one… Your captions in the comments and winner (free PoP t-shirt) picked Friday.