Yesterday the Mayor announced that the long awaited DC Streetcar would begin operation next Saturday, February 27. After years of delays, millions in cost overruns, four mayoral administrations, and loss of much public goodwill, the 2-mile long section of track will finally open for passenger service in Northeast DC.
That's all well and good and you can skip to the end of this post for some details of the operation and whatnot. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't address how the Mayor announced the news.
The flyer created to advertise the opening was simple enough. OK, it did feature a mishmash of font styles, font sizes, and incongruent graphical elements. But, the point was made. Be at 13th St and H NE next Saturday morning.
It also made a discombobulated attempt at a clever hashtag, "#Choo/Choo!7" #Choo/Choo!7 is everything. Mostly due to the fact that it can't technically function as a hashtag, I didn't realize it was a play on words until hours after the announcement. Choo Choo = 22 and that shape next to the streetcar is, in fact, the number seven. Choo choo seven. Two two seven. 2/27. February 27. Opening day. OK, finally, it makes sense.
But, 227 also has another meaning for DC. It was the title of one of the great American sitcoms in the 1980s. 227 was a television adaptation of a 1970s play set in Chicago. But the TV version was set at "227 Lexington Place," in Washington DC. The show centered on the everyday life stories of residents in the 227 building, but mostly Marla Gibb's character, Mary Jenkins. You'd probably also recognize Jackée Harry's character Sandra, and Helen Martin as Pearl.
I got nostalgic and started watching 227 episodes last night. An episode from season 3 is apropos to DC's sometimes cruel real estate landscape. "There Goes the Building" (embedded below) touches on the very timely conflicts around tenant-landlord relations, homelessness, rising rents, and displacement of the poor. 227 was a sitcom, but like a lot of the good ones from the 1970s and 80s, it managed to directly confront real life inner city issues in a competent, adult manner. Enjoy.
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As for the streetcar, the initial rides will be free! For how long...? Unknown. I'm guessing for the first year or so. The hours of operation will be 6:00 AM - 12:00 AM on Mon-Thu, 6:00 AM - 2:00 AM on Fridays, 8:00 AM - 2:00 AM on Saturdays and 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM on holidays. Shockingly, there will be no Sunday service at the outset. That's a decision I don't understand at all. Just... why.
The trains will run along H Street NE and Benning Rd NE from Union Station to Oklahoma Ave. It's quite a short route at 8 stops, it runs in mixed traffic, and the route is redundant with the X series buses. All that being said, I'll see you on the 27th! For all the cynicism and nay-saying, I'll be excited to ride and, I don't know, I feel like I'll be riding it more than I anticipated in the past. Of course I'll give a full report and photos from day one.
This happened last month, but I wanted to make sure I posted it here at some point. This is a very short video of the DC Streetcar being tested on the rails of H Street NE. The District has one of three cars it will use for the inaugural H Street route so far. You can follow the progress of the second car as it makes its way across the country to DC via Twitter hashtag #trackthetrek. The first route will connect Union Station to the corner of Oklahoma Ave and Benning Rd NE. That's only 2.4 miles, but the first wave plan is for a system of 31 miles of track all over the District. We're just getting started! Anyway, here you go. Get excited!
The District's Department of Transportation has submitted a plan to City Council outlining the roll out of the long planned and overdue streetcar system. The all important ETA: spring of 2012. At the outset there will be sections of two separate lines, the H Street NE line and the Anacostia line.
The H Street line will run form a planned maintenance facility at 1st and H, NE to Oklahoma Ave and Benning Rd NE; almost exactly two miles. These cars will serve the H St corridor-Atlas District and Union Station, but will not cross the Anacostia River or connect with the Anacostia streetcar. Both are just portions of what the $200 million will attempt to accomplish; two fully functioning lines linking Union Station and Benning Road Metro station as well as 11th Street Bridge to the Naval Annex on South Capitol Street SE.
The Anacostia line will initially be very short; less than a mile long. It will run from the Anacostia Metro station down Firth Sterling then turn south along South Capitol Street. The southern terminus will be the 2750 South Capitol Street SE.
These two segments will be powered by electrified overhead wires, but additions to the system will be powered by another source; likely to be in-car batteries or an electrically powered underground wire system.
The hours of operation of the streetcars will be 6:00AM-12:00AM on Monday through Thursday, 6:00AM-2:00AM Friday, 8:00AM-2:00AM Saturday and Sunday 8:00AM-10:00PM. The fare has been set at $1.00, identical to Circulator! Free transfers with a SmarTrip card. Pretty amazing.
This is for real! These first two "mini-segments" are all but assured to be completed. Council has set aside the $34 million to kick off construction and was awaiting this report (full PDF) before disbursing the funds to DDOT. As for the rest of the system, including another 40 miles or so of track, touching all wards; there is a plan to assemble the money. The city will re-purpose some existing revenue streams, apply for federal grants and collect revenue from passenger fares.
Ahhhhhh.... I've really enjoyed attending the H Street Festival the last two years. Unfortunately I will have to miss it this year, but the show will go on and you should join in! It's tomorrow, Saturday September 18, noon until 6pm. Here are photos from the 2009 Fest and this year's looks bigger and better.
Included this year are a "hands behind your back" pie eating contest and --an event I'm sad to miss-- a tattoo contest! Got a great looking tattoo? Unique one? Not so great looking one? Show it off and maybe win a prize (actually just bragging rights and a trophy). If you have one of the worst tattoos, you could win tattoo time to "fix" your not-so-favorite piece of work.
Other highlights include:
*Gallery art shows at Studio H and City Gallery
*3 stages of live music (now on par with Adams Morgan Day)
*Fashion show complete with catwalk (this was a blast last year)
*Boxing ring (I guess for boxing?)
*Speed chess challenge
*Bike valet (FREE!)
*Shuttle buses from Eastern Market and Gallery Place (new this year, I believe)
*Of course festival food, local vendors and patio style partying at various restaurants on the strip
Did I mention it's tomorrow! Sorry I can't be there, so take a shuttle, listen to some music and play a game of speed chess for me. To those of you with bad tattoos, don't be scared! Just do it.
Give it up for the Atlas District. Even three to four years ago, I wouldn't have had a reason to stop anywhere on H Street NE. Drive though, yes. On the way to Botanical Gardens, yes. On the way out to some parts of Maryland, yes. I don't have kids, but perhaps if I was on the way to the old Children's Museum, then yes. But now, I find myself working to get down to this part of Northeast several times a month.
The first place which I began to visit on a semi regular basis was the Argonaut. I tried a few happy hours a couple of years ago and really liked the atmosphere. It's not so much a dive bar as it is a pretty solid watering hole with better than average food for a bar. I swear there were a few vegan-ish offerings when I first visited, but at least they kept the skinny-crisp fries and have killer sweet potato fries now, too. You can watch sports there and its the H Street venue that most feels like a really old neighborhood haunt to me.
The most in/famous of the newish venue on H Street has to be the Rock and Roll Hotel. Before attending a new years party there two years ago, I wrote a letter complaining about the prospect of naked sushi, which they had widely advertised before hand. I was a little taken aback by possibly having to eat sushi off of a naked lady. Or watch other people eat sushi off of a naked lady. Anyway, when I showed my ID for admittance, the door guy recognized my name and we had a laugh over me actually writing a letter about naked sushi. Turns out it wasn't really as degrading or unhygienic as I had imagined. Plus the sushi was mostly gone by the time we got there and the ladies just went home I guess. They had bikinis on, too. So, not naked. Great sound system. Books great bands. That's all I have to say about Rock and Roll Hotel.
The place I visit the most, though, is Sticky Rice. It's a Richmond, VA import (my hometown). The DC version is just as fun, if not more so, and I thoroughly enjoy being there whenever I go. Somehow, it's always packed. I mean, I can't get over this fact. There are always people there. Upstairs, downstairs, at the bar, waiting to be seated, on the patio, just everywhere. If one place exists that can pull off sweet decor, awesome, unique, and vegan friendly food, good drinks, over the top staff antics, while mixing in the use of a gong without being cheesy, it's Sticky. And I said it a year ago and I will say it again, the Dirty Vegan is like, the best meal ever invented. The best. Non-vegans, please try it. And the sushi here is inventive (yes, even for the vegans) as anywhere. And fresh. Hands down the crown jewel of H Street eats, in my eyes. And the best spot for partying on H Street in general. If college partying had an older and (only slightly) more mature brother, this place is it.
As for the Red and the Black, Sidamo, Pug and the few others I've been to, I need to visit a couple more times to give a proper write up. However, the Atlas District has matured nicely so far and if most of the places survive the recession/depression, H Street NE will boost itself back into the upper tier of neighborhoods in DC. Another quality neighborhood site, Frozen Tropics, keeps tabs on a daily basis if you want to follow along in real time.
Atlas District: Is it growing on you, too? Not convinced yet? Haven't figured out how to get there/get home? What do you you think?
Not sure how long this fest has been going on, but it was great fun last Saturday! The weather was excellent and all were in a great mood. Not quite as dense as Adam Morgan Day Fest, but that's a good thing! Many restaurants were open and serving lunch or drinks. I rode my bike down and was not alone. There was some pretty good music and even a fashion show starring some younger folks, on a real runway! It was nice to see some of these places in the light of day, I'm usually there after dark... Another great addition to the fall festival scene in DC.
