“Dear PoP,

We live in a row house as many DCers do and the people in the row house next door are, as I understand, Section 8 tenants. Not to pass judgment on these individuals but I’ve certainly had cleaner, more courteous neighbors. The biggest problem is that they have not bothered to get (or perhaps keep) a trashcan and instead just throw their trash out in bags into the alley behind our house which immediately get torn into by rats. The back of our house has thus developed a pretty nasty rat and garbage problem. Anyways I guess my question is, first and foremost, is there anything we can do about this? Is there some sort of venue to file a complaint? Are there certain requirements that they must meet (besides income) to maintain residence in their subsidized house, such as not turning it and the adjacent properties into complete filth-holes?”

This is a very uncool situation. Ed. Note: I’m sure Section 8, “regular” renters and owners could all be guilty of this unhealthy behavior. Let’s try not to focus on that though and rather address the question itself. What should the reader do? Contact DCRA? Council Member? Call 311? Can they request a trashcan for the neighbor?

And I know it can be awkward an conversation but have you asked the neighbor if they are getting a trashcan or if they want your help in getting them a trashcan?

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

Photo by PoPville flickr user JosephLeonardo

“Dear PoP,

Yesterday my wife and I decided to enjoy the great weather and went for a jog late in the afternoon. We live just west of Ft. Totten Park and were run/walking up the hill by the cemeteries on Ft Totten Drive when four adolescent youths started yelling at my wife “Shake that ass, Shake that ass, Shake that ass.” My wife, who has continuously been a victim of such taunts became furious and started yelling back and even started after them before I stopped her. After the first encounter we continued into Rock Creek Church Cemetery where they followed us. Fearing for our safety and being somewhat cornered I confronted them. At that time a MDP cruiser pulled up and the two officers attempted to question the youths. At that time they took off running through the cemetery.

Not only was our day ruined, but my wife has had it with this kind of behavior and intimidation and wants to leave the city ASAP.

This and an attempted mugging a month ago has led me to wonder if folks are seeing an uptick in this kind of behavior from kids in the city. It is particularly troubling. Our experience have not been violent, but they have been terrifying and have me worried that they eventually will.”

I’m very sorry to hear about this terrible behavior. We have previously discussed street harassment here and here. But the reader asks a very specific question – does this behavior increase in the Spring with warm weather? I used to believe that this behavior absolutely increased with the warmer weather but I seem to recall a friend citing some statistics (at least on muggings) to the contrary. Did anyone notice street harassment increase last weekend when the weather was nice?

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

Photo by PoPville flickr user JessJ

“What is the law pertaining to noise? Next door, a band practices often and it often shakes my walls. It doesn’t help that I’m trying to get a 1 year old and 2 year old asleep.

So what is the law? I had the police come out and the essentially told me, they are good kids and you should let them play. They said we can’t issue a citation until 9:30PM. Until 9:30 they can play at any level.

Is that true?

It seems unfair that anyone would be legal be able to shake my walls until 9:30. What about people who work a late shift and sleep before 9:30PM? Any advice?”

We spoke about sound proofing options here. Have you tried speaking with the neighbors? Explaining your situation could go a long way. What would you guys suggest the reader do?

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

This has just got to make you smile. I think I saw this on South Carolina in Capitol Hill but it might have been another State…

The best part though is what time they’d like you to pick up the doll (before they crossed it out):

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

Eastern Market was hopping. As were all the parks and restaurants I passed.

How’d you take advantage of the amazing weather?

More photos after the jump. Read Full Post

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

Thanks to a reader for sending the news from NBC Washington:

“I don’t think this is a termination offense,” [MPD Chief] Lanier said.

She was more critical in December, calling the detective’s actions “totally inappropriate” and saying the incident tarnished the department’s otherwise excellent handling of the storm. That prompted the D.C. police union to question whether Baylor would get a fair investigation.

Fair enough, it seems.

“As soon as this whole process wraps up, he’ll be put back to duty,” Lanier said.

You can find MPD’s original response here.

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

Thanks to all the readers for sending the word about tonight’s second meeting.

Please join DPR
Wednesday, March 3rd at 7:00 p.m. to discuss improvement for the 11th and Monroe Streets Park
Metropolitan Police Department Substation
750 Park Road, NW

After the jump you can see the meeting notes from the previous meeting in Feb. Read Full Post

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

Continuing on with the Asian theme (see post below) I spotted these gigantic prayer flags up in Forest Hills. I’ve seen the little ones on people’s porches before but the ones above were gigantic.

What do you guys think about the size – is it cool or a bit too large for a private residence?

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

“Dear PoP,

I work on public health policy and am seeing a trend across the nation that is especially obvious in DC. It is getting harder to find things to DO. The new development is always focused on condos, bars, and restaurants. Love to live in a home, and am a huge fan of drinking and eating . . . but people need something to do. There is this notion that going to the gym and getting on a machine or lifting heavy items with an ipod on is the only activity that people need. It is not a winning strategy for building a happy healthy society.

Look around– where are the bowling alleys, arcades with skeeball and air hockey and foosball, driving ranges, live music venues with dancing . . . etc.? Where are the racquetball courts? Nobody works 9-5 anymore . . . and when people get home at 7, there are no lights in the parks (or they are just scary). There are gyms with basketball/volleyball courts in every school in DC, but they are chained up at night. Once-a-year street fairs are nice, but having places where people can consistently go to find a band and a dancing mass is better. (Love Madam’s Organ and Wonderland for that but such places are oddly few and far between)

We need to make sure there are fun things to do in every community– things that lure people out away from their TVs and computers, that bring them together to meet each other, and use their bodies in some way besides eating and drinking. People seem to be yearning for it. Look at the popularity of H St. Country Club and Comet Ping Pong– goofy fun. Look how much people are willing to pay to bowl at that crappy place in Chinatown. How can there not be a reasonable bowling alley in a city this size? I know we can find a spot for one in the GaP. The good DC tennis courts (like Howard/Banneker) are packed all day until the dusk . . . why not put in some lights, and maybe with a pay-meter to defray the costs?”

What do you guys think – are there enough “things” to do in our neighborhoods (especially at night)?

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

Ward 4

“Dear PoP,

When I was out walking yesterday, I saw the most lovely sight—a city employee hanging an “Adopt a Block” signs on the corner of 11th Street and Irving. I checked into it and this is part of the Clean City Initiative. As I told you before a group of my neighbors and I have been cleaning our block (400 block Kenyon and Irving) for about 6 months, so this initiative is welcome news. Any ideas on local businesses/groups would be interested in adopting blocks in our neighborhoods? According to the website, very few blocks have been adopted in our area.

As residents, we need to ban together to keep our neighborhoods clean!”

Ward 1

“To be a part of the clean&greenDC: Adopt-A-Block Program, a group:

* Adopts a minimum of 2 square blocks of a residential or commercial area.
* Agrees to conduct a quarterly, clean-up day and weekly litter pickup in the adopted area.
* Maintains this agreement for 2 years.”

You can learn more about the program here.

I’ll be happy to spread the word on anyone/group who takes the initiative.

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

A recent Rental Option post provoked a lot of discussion about the Woodner, located at 3636 16th St, NW. A resident wrote in asking to share his experiences (both good and bad). The history is quite interesting. Tony writes:

“I hear people get raped and mugged in that building all the time.”

“I hear the entire place has bedbugs.”

“Aren’t you afraid for your safety there?”

I’ve heard all of the above when I talk about life in the Woodner, a massive apartment complex with its own bar, grocery store, dry cleaner, and hair salon. People look at me with a strange mix of pity and bemusement. They usually following those questions with this one: How did you end up there?

I was in the process of moving back to the District from the suburbs and had seen at least fifteen apartments already. I was short on time. One of the sales consultants at the Woodner, a fresh faced kid with Dixie in his voice, must have sensed this and after viewing a few units, I settled on a carpeted unit on the 12th floor. One of the other sales associates later told me over a drink at the downstairs bar that he (along with the entire sales staff) got shuttled in and out of town in six week intervals. Oh, the things I learn in that bar.

The Woodner was built as an apartment and hotel in 1952. The sales staff here is fond of saying that it was the largest air conditioned building in the world when it was constructed. The lobby looks like it hasn’t been renovated since. Cracked marble floors spread out in odd curves and patterns. The first floor has pictures of this place in all of its former splendor. Black and white photos of Bob Hope and Duke Ellington and Jayne Mansfield. My favorite one is that of a guy with a pervy smile on his face getting shot with fake pistols by a gaggle of women crowded around him dressed as cowboys. I swear to God, when I move from here, that picture’s coming with me. Everything, the hall of pictures, the cracked marble, the spiral staircases, the swirls of spackle on the ceiling, it all imparts a sense of deep history to the place. Makes you wonder about your surroundings. Who stayed in my apartment? Was it ever anybody famous? What were their lives like? Did they have kids? What were their hopes and dreams and fears as they slept under the same roof that I sleep now?

Odd sirens and alarms wake you out of your reverie. It’s common to come home and see multiple police cars parked in front of the building. We never find out why, except under the most grave of circumstances, like when Nori Amaya, co-owner of Coppi’s Organic Restaurant was strangled to death last November. Management informed everyone with a flyer near the elevator banks on each floor. The crime is still unsolved. It’s a bizarre thought, to think that you could be sharing an elevator with a murderer.

And yet, the residents here are resilient. Given the building’s reputation, you’d expect the residents here to be hard-edged but the thing that amazed and continues to amaze me is how much nicer the people are here than they ever were out in the suburbs. When I first moved in, one of my neighbors helped me move my mattress. We talked for a bit about her job and my job and how long she’d been living in the building. Our conversation lasted three minutes and yet that was two minutes longer than the sum of all of my conversations with all of my neighbors in Fairfax.

Because of the kindness of so many of the residents, It’s hard not to feel a kinship with every resident of the building, one borne out of the sheer exhilaration of so many lives pressed up close to one another. Some of us have just arrived, some of us have been here for years. One night coming home from work, I met a woman on the elevator who’d been living in the building for fifty years now. “This was a nice building back then,” she said, shaking her head. “It still is,” she continued quietly. “But not as nice as it used to be.”

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

View Larger Map

“Dear PoP,

I’m a long-time Arlingtonian who’s got a contract on a house in Brightwood. I assume some of your readers live in that neighborhood, and I’d love to see some discussion of their likes/dislikes, and general quality-of-life issues. Are there any community groups that should I look into joining in order to have some say in the improvement of the neighborhood’s quality of life?”

You can find some info from the Brightwood Community Association here. There was also a bit of discussion about Brightwood back in August here when we discussed a GDoN. Any readers who live in Brightwood want to weigh in here?

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

“Dear PoP,

The plight of the park at 11th and Monroe, NW continues. Despite the mayor’s pledge at a public community meeting that there were funds to renovate the “drunk park”, these funds have disappeared and have been shifted somewhere else. Why does the city continue to turn its back on the citizens of Columbia Heights? Drunks and children don’t mix. It’s just a matter of time before real tragedy happens in that park. Friends of POP: please contact the mayor’s office and let them know “no more drunk park.”

The emails for contacting the mayor’s office are:  sybongile.cook@dc.gov and neil.albert@dc.gov”

We’ve been discussing issues with this park for a few years now. Does anyone think that issues with the park have improved over the past few years?

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

Photo by PoPville flickr user quigley_brown

“Dear PoP,

I want to relate a rather disturbing incident that occurred yesterday evening on the platform at the Union Station Metro. I was waiting for a train when I noticed four teenagers horsing around on the platform. They were pushing and shoving one another, laughing, yelling… generally acting like teenagers. There was a man leaning up against the railing under the escalators also waiting for the train while listening to his iPod. The teens moved closer to him until they were right next to him, two on either side. One of the teens pulled the man’s headphones out of his ears. At first, he thought they were just joking with him and he smiled. Then, another of the teens started pulling on his headphone cord to get his iPod out of his pocket. He pulled back and tried to move away, but the teens surrounded him and continued to try and pull his iPod out of his pocket.

I had been watching this unfold in front of me, and at this point I moved towards the teens and yelled, “hey,” at them. With their attention now on me, the man was able to pull his iPod back and get away from the teens. The four then started to move towards me and one of them said, “hey what?” At this point, another came up behind me and knocked my hat off of my head while another picked it up and ran a few feet away. I said, “what the fuck?” and stood my ground, staring at them.

At this point, the train pulled into the station, and we all got on—me, the iPod man (who mumbled, “thanks,” to me as he passed), and the four kids. I stood in the middle of the car while the teens took seats at the far end. They passed my hat around and laughed, making comments about it and me. I think they expected me to try to get it back, but, instead, I just pulled another hat out of my bag, put it on, and stood smiling at them. I never broke their gaze and they stared back at me. Eventually, they all stood up and walked down the aisle to stand across from me. They continued to stare at me and make comments about the hat, as if daring me to make a move for it. I figured this is what they wanted, so I didn’t say anything.

Finally, when they realized that I wasn’t going to play their game, one of them walked up to me and handed me my hat back. Then they got off at the next station. Now, I was willing to chalk up most of their behavior to just teens being teens. Until they tried to steal the man’s iPod. Here’s the disturbing part, though: not a single person spoke up while all of this was going on. The platform at Union Station was fairly full and I know I wasn’t the only one who saw what they were doing.

And, when we all got on the train, there were plenty of people around to see what was happening. No one said anything to me or to the kids. In fact, I could see some people actively ignoring what was going on. I’m no hero, but I think if I hadn’t said something to those kids, they would have stolen that man’s iPod right there in front of everyone. And, I wonder if I had tried to get my hat back and things had escalated between me and the teens, if anyone would have stepped in to help. All in all, I was pretty disgusted by the whole encounter, both with the behavior of the teenagers and my fellow Metro riders.

What would you have done? Should I expect people to intervene if I’m being robbed and/or harassed in plain sight? Or, is it every man for himself in this city?”

This is a terrible situation that sadly we’ve discussed and heard about far too frequently. I think you have to do with what you are comfortable with doing. Like many things we discuss, one’s action will vary from person to person. I think the best thing to do when possible is to alert an authority, whether a WMATA employee or a member of law enforcement if possible. I wouldn’t hesitate to use the intercoms in each train car. Sadly, one can’t rely on other people to intervene. Some people will for sure, but I’d say they are in the minority. If people don’t intervene directly I’d like to at least think they’d also do what they can to alert the authorities. One also has to be careful in these situations because it is not known whether or not someone has a weapon. What do you guys think are the responsibilities of fellow metro riders in situations like these?

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook

“Dear PoP,

I was reading an article on the Washington Post about the new Silver Line and bathrooms. I was surprised to learn that restrooms were even accessible at other metro stops. I had no idea if you asked the metro Manager that you might be able to use the restroom at the stop. As the article mentions, only some metro stops have restrooms. I did a quick internet search to see if anybody had a list of metro stops with restrooms, but I could not find anything. Do you or your readers know of the metro stops that have restrooms?”

I have requested that info from WMATA public relations but haven’t heard back from them yet. I’ll follow up with them after the snow stops being an issue. But in the meantime do any readers happen to know which Metro stations have restrooms? I’m also curious if anyone has actually used one before. If so are they relatively clean?

We spoke about public restrooms back in April.

Digg it!

Stumble it!

reddit

Del.icio.us

Facebook