This site will be changing very shortly to what I don’t exactly know.  I have enjoyed blogging about our beloved U Street, but I will no longer be directly developing or responsible for this site’s focus.  All of the posts for Why Gentrify?! concerning U Street will still be available here http://whygentrify.wordpress.com/ on a clean, ad-free Wordpress blog.  Please update your links!  It’s been fun…but a little tiring!  Thanks to everyone all readers, commentors, and subject matter–you have all been great.

I was victim to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) bogus assessment of my home as a vacant property, resulting in me receiving a horrendous property tax bill of 3 times what I really owed.  The situation was corrected, but it involved a lot of hassles on my part.  The worst part is that my stupid mortgage company went ahead and paid the crazy bill, even after I had called them and notified them of the problem AND they claimed that they would research the matter.  But, that too is fixed, and my escrow account is happy again.  I was happy to put all of this behind me, but I came across a City Paper article that talks about DC residents who had the same drama that I did when their properties were wrongly listed as vacant.  Thank God I didn’t have quite the mortgage company drama the people in the story had, such as their monthly payments increasing.

The American Dream and the Racial Divide of the 1920s and Today

Wednesday May 21, 2008 7:00PM

Location: Thurgood Marshall Center, 1816 12th St NW

Hurston/Wright and the IKG Cultural Resource Center host a solution discussion led by Black historians, authors and cultural activists to review and compare Black literature and the social conditions of Black people during the roaring twenties and today. For information, call Ph. 301-683-2134.

The Big Read - D.C. is presented by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Visit www.wdchumanities.or/bigread or call 202-387-8391.

In March, I wrote a post about the DC area’s pedestrian safety awareness campaign, which used the attention-getting image above. According to the WaPo, the U Street Corridor has two dangerous intersections. The second most dangerous intersection in DC is 14th and U Streets NW, with 12 injuries from 2004 to 2006. Coming thirteenth on the list is 13th and U Streets NW with seven injuries having occurred in that intersection. The most dangerous intersection in DC is at Benning Road and Minnesota Ave in NE. As a pedestrian, I can say that many intersections, including the two from U Street, can be dangerous. Many motorists will zip around corners without regard for crossing pedestrians, and many pedestrians simply risk their lives simply to make it across the street a little sooner. Please, everyone, be careful and more aware. Remember, DC is supposed to be the most walkable city, so let’s keep things safe for pedestrians and motorists alike.

To see the list of dangerous intersections click here.

It’s that time of year again for the Shakespeare Theatre’s free Shakespeare for All performances at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre in Rock Creek Park. You get to see “Hamlet” (click here to read the synopsis just in case you weren’t paying attention in 12th grade) this time. The free event runs from May 22 - June 1, excluding May 26. Tickets can be picked up on the day of the performance at the Washington Post, Shakepeare Theatre Company, or the Carter Barron Amphitheatre box office.

FREE FOR ALL 2008

Hamlet by William Shakespeare, directed by Alexander Burns, original direction by Michael Kahn

May 22 - June 1, 2008

No performance Monday, May 26
Carter Barron Amphitheatre
16th St. and Colorado Ave. NW

Read below for more information (more…)

I enjoyed the Great Gatsby in 11th grade. I never thought several events could be created based on it, though.

Fitzgerald in Hollywood
Tuesday May 13, 2008 7:00 pm
David Kipen, Director of Literature at the National Endowment for the Arts, talks about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s adventures in Hollywood.
This program is presented with Barnes & Noble Booksellers as part of The Big Read - D.C.

Caroline Preston, author of GATSBY’s GIRL
Wednesday May 14, 2008 6:30 pm
National Press Club (Zenger Room)
549 14th Street, NW

PARTY! GATSBY: Prosperity, Excess, Pleasure hosted by J&K Productions
Thursday May 15, 2008 7:00 pm
R and R Bar and Lounge
717 6th Street NW

The Power of Style with Robin Givhan, A’Lelia Bundles, and Maureen Orth
Friday May 16, 2008 7:00 pm
Barnes & Noble Georgetown
3040 M Street, NW (more…)

I want to get you prepared and psyched up for Friday’s Bike to Work Day. Now, I fully intend to still use the Metro (hey, isn’t that green enough? wow, an unintended pun), but you should really think about donning your Prada suit top with some nice bike shorts, a huge helmet, and awesome sneakers. Don’t worry if you don’t have a bike, there is a great, FREE alternative. Read up and get excited:

Bike to Work Day 2008

Join thousands of area commuters for a celebration of bicycling as a clean, fun and healthy way to get to work! Meet up with your neighbors at one of 26 pit stops all over the region, ride into the city with experienced commuter convoys and meet your colleagues at Freedom Plaza. Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Commuter Connections invite you to try bicycling to work as an alternative to solo driving. Help the Washington region become a better place to ride. Bike to Work Day is a FREE event and open to all area commuters. Free Bike to Work Day t-shirts will available to the first 7,000 registrants who attend the pit stop they registered for (DC’s pit stop is Freedom Plaza). Companies can also win a bike rack valued at $1,050 (for 6 bikes)!

Don’t have a Bike?
Bike and Roll will be offering free bike rentals for Bike To Work Day. Rentals can be picked up 5pm to 7pm the day before. For more information visit Bike and Roll or contact them directly at 202.842.2453. No excuses, then (unless you are me and are afraid of riding on the street with vehicles)!

Click below to learn how to register your bike in the National Bike Registry in the unfortunate event of a theft. (more…)

Call or Text the MPD’s 24/7 Anonymous Crime Tip Lines

Call 919-CRIME
The Metropolitan Police Department now has a toll free crime tip line -1-888-919-CRIME. The tip line will be staffed by detectives 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Anyone who has information concerning a homicide, gangs, guns, or other violent offenses can call the anonymous tip line, and a detective will report all information. The toll-free number will also be displayed on L.E.D. boards in patrol cars throughout the District. (more…)

There is a really interesting WaPo article on how DC could remake its image from simply the seat of the government, the city with all the monuments, etc. into a real cosmopolitan city. Here’s an excerpt from Paul Schwartzman’s article:

If the city has purged much of the blight that helped make it a symbol of urban dysfunction, what is it aspiring to now?
The answer, voiced by a wide range of District officials, planners and developers, is nothing less than transcending Washington’s primary identity as the nation’s capital and ever-proper home to the federal government.
The Washington that they envision is far more cosmopolitan, in the spirit of Paris or London, national capitals better known for a wide variety of attractions: vibrant neighborhoods, scenic riverfronts, pedestrian-jammed sidewalks, art museums, shopping and fine cuisine.

In the future Washington, they say, newly created waterfront neighborhoods, long established areas such as U Street and Georgetown, and a 24-hour downtown would be as defining as the White House and Capitol are today.

I would like to see hipness spread throughout DC and overtake its political, powerbroking, big government image, although that is a tough task, seeing as that realy is what DC is about for the most part. But, when all of DC is as cool as U Street, we will all rejoice. Glad to see that Anacostia, Deanwood, and Congress Heights might one day get to show their real potential, of course, I guess the po’ folk will have to go bye-bye, which is sad. Any thoughts on DC becoming more cosmopolitan?

Yes, our beloved Green and Yellow, as well as the Orange lines will be undergoing track maintenance, resulting in delays this weekend for Metro riders. Just what we needed. Read below for details. (more…)