Michael Rennie Told You So: The Washington DC Metro Area Thread

I like DC, but trying to buy a condo (never mind a house) here is depressing.

Also: it is FUCKING COLD right now!

And it is very cold. Pointless unsolicited anecdote: I usually bike from Metro to my office. Over the weekend, my bicycle seat had gotten wet, then (of course) froze in the 20-degree weather. So it was both very cold (a seatsicle) and very hard. As I rode, it melted a bit, so when I got to work, my butt was a) cold, b) sore, and c) wet.

Washington DC
I love Washington DC
Say something nice about Washington DC

I like the air and space museum.

Don't get me started on the real estate situation. Post ran a story like two weeks ago with the head of Long & Foster saying "we can't sustain this" like whoa.

the reef is sucky unless it's summertime and a weekday and you're on the roof and have a table before it gets way too crowded and they let too many people in and then bitch at them for being in the way.

i liked the wonderland, though i am lame because it's too loud for me to hear anything downstairs. good sausage sandwiches though!

Chez Antoine (crepes + homemade ice cream) in Adams Morgan is awesome, but otherwise.. hmmm.. I like the Ethiopian and West African places there, mostly. Also, go to the Steak & Egg!!! Steak & Egg = tiny 24-hour greasy spoon diner on the left side of Wisconsin Ave right before AU. Awesome. It used to be the one guy there all the time with a hat that said "I don't speak English" and made fun of you if you didn't finish your cheeseburger. Now they've spiffed it up and hired a full staff who all wear "I don't speak English" hats.

The Brickskeller: I enjoy it when I am there (though the nothing on tap thing makes it less than perfect).

Where was it where folks were talking about the old 9:30? I do miss it. But the new Black Cat is an improvement.

Unfortunately, I have to work on Thursday and my office is at 17th & M. Luckily, I walk to work, but I just got an email saying there's no FedEx service that day in my area. No FedEx!

North Bethesda. I ask you.

Why stop at North Bethesda?

Rosslyn shall now be called "South Georgetown."

Anacostia will be "East Capitol Hill."

McLean will be "North Falls Church."

Seconded re: Chief Ike's. I'm a fan.

Rockville is cooler than Bethesda. That's not saying a lot, but it is true nevertheless.

Thirded: Rockville is cooler than Bethesda.

"Rockville"'s commercial core is the stretch of 355 that encompasses Dave & Buster's, Anthropologie, the Vegetable Garden with its fake-meat Chinese food, Timpano with its Sinatra brunch, Guitar Center, an outpost of the absolutely excellent Lebanese Taverna, Niwano Hana, a mildly funky thrift store, the graves of F. Scott, Zelda, and Scottie Fitzgerald; and some other things I'm forgetting.

(Sigh. I miss having a car and working in Rockville, with its myriad lunch possibilities. I'm presently stuck with a bike in Merrifield watching the snow fall.)

The Swansen Apts. fucker stood me up this morning and didn't answer EITHER of his phones. Nice going, asshole! I looked at your building and it was ugly anyway! Ugliest building in the entire neighborhood! Also it's COLD, HOLY SHIT.

Don't forget the guitar center in Rockville. That was like the only reason we ever went there. No guitar center in Bethesda, so fuck that joint.

Where is this Rockville thrift store of which you speak? Oh, and I hear that Joe's Records (on E. Gude) is not bad.

TOMBOT there is a pricey (so I hear) guitar store on Old Georgetown in downtown Bethesda. I know nothing of these things but it looks impressive to my unschooled eye.

Bethesda Music has changed its name but I think it's still small and overpriced.

The Upscale Resale thrift store is, um, just north of whatever country club that is. Opposite, um, Best Buy. It is the upstairs of one of those many many interchangeable shopping centers with a dry cleaner and a deli and not much else.

Bethesda is cooler than Chantilly.

Does anybody else do the Zipcar thing besides me?

mine is GREEN and there are not so many white folks as the other lines typically.

Arlington Cemetery is misspelled.

And I'm an Orange Line guy from way back, rode on it when it was THREE DAYS OLD, boo ya.

I was six years old and the opening of Metro was a Big Deal.

the official map is probably too big
let's see:
http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/images/SysMapC_07.gif

(x-post) Cleveland Park in a heartbeat. For the metro access, good restaurants & bar options, grocery availability, and walkability.

Tenleytown/AU/Cathedral feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the city, by virtue of being on Wisconsin rather than Connecticut. But it does offer a prominent Guapo's.

Bethesda has the Writer's Center, a Guapo's, Thyme Square, and a few other good things, but let's face it: it is mostly for ex-hippies who are now soccer moms.

Chuck Levin's, word is bond, yo. (Whatever happened to Saigonese, one of the better Vietnamese places, in Wheaton?)

Silver Sproing: The AFI thing is way cool, though I haven't yet gotten my act together to go there (I was almost going to see the Joe Strummer movie there but dinner ran late).

My memories of working pasteup at the Suburban Record in Silver Spring in the late 80s are suffused with the smell of doughnuts, food from that silvery diner, wax and newsprint and ink.

Kensington, meh. Great if you're into antiques. Didn't PETA used to be headquartered there?

Tombot: do not listen to quincie. It is the pinnacle of Mexican restaurants if only for its salsa. Brunch there is a hangover cure par excellence.

Silver Spring Search: the Museum at Walter Reed, featuring messed up babies in bottles and a cross section of an elephantitis-ridden testicle.

(And there's no Guapo's in Rockville--could you be thinking of On the Border, which is inferior?)

Seriously, though, if you want a more upscale and authentic non-chain-restaurant Mexican experience, you need to go to Guajillo, in Rosslyn.

xpost to Mookie

last time i was at the brickskellar, the wait staff was so young and nubile that it was awkward being there with my gf--i had to keep staring at my beer.

OTM. Not even a question (unless you have a car and a family and really like prettyish suburbia - then AU-area, but not Tenleytown).

Why does D.C. suffer from a dearth of good Mexican restaurants?

it just seems that way because there are so many good other kinds. there are lots of decent Mexican or Tex-Mex ones.

can anyone explain the popularity of lauriol plaza?

it's big, "trendy"-looking, centrally-located, and serves margaritas on a rooftop. never mind that the place across the street is like 10 times better.

This cannot be true. And I grew up in Rockville, so I should know.

MadPuffin OTM: I live in Glover Park, just up Wisconsin Ave. from Georgetown. A neighboring condo development calls itself "Georgetown North."

Part of the reason why Mexican food is the way it is around here is that the local Hispanic community is predominantly Salvadorean, and this rubs off on local "Mexican" menus. Try Margarita's on Wisconsin Ave., right by the "Georgetown" Whole Foods.

can anyone explain the popularity of lauriol plaza?

It's a hip and relatively inexpensive restaurant in the neighborhood that its target demographic regards as most hip and desirable. I'd rather go to Cactus Cantina (owned by the Lauriol Plaza people), or, if I'm near the Adams Morgan/Dupont Circle/U Street convergence, El Tamarindo.

Salvadorean food--like from Atlacatl on Columbia Pike--is similar but different, like Mexican food in a funhouse mirror.

In response to FWM, though, I will assert that there is a Washington beneath stereotyped Washington, that is rather less dictated to by politics, ambition, etc. Yes, the area churns through bright-eyed young-adult transients at a dizzying pace, but it's not the only thing going on.

I grew up here and it's the place I know best; my allegiance is to this realer city on top of which administrations and such come and go.

Has anyone found a decent record store since the demise of DCCD?

I went to high school mere blocks from that shopping center (Albert Einstein High School, ph34r)! Saigonese was AWESOME. I've never seen a Vietnamese menu that massive (and I live in New Orleans now which has a v large Vietnamese population). Also great is the strip across the street that features not one, not two, but THREE Central American roasted chicken places. El Pollo Rico is the best one.

Three of the perhaps five best Vietnamese restaurants I've ever been to are on the same block in Clarendon.

Also, why are Target and Trader Joe's in such pain-in-the-ass locations?
Don't they understand mass transit?

W i l l: right, because there are no McMansions anywhere else, and Nova doesn't have anything more funky or character-endowed than e.g. Springfield.

My other coworker who just ARRIVED for the start of his shift said he saw a few accidents on the way in. Good times. Anybody in Arlington want to meet me for coffee after 6pm?

Interesting to see that Au Pied du Cochon has become a Five Guys.

When I worked nights at the City Paper that used to be the only place open on my 3 a.m. bike ride home.

The Five Guys on Backlick Road fed me many, many times in high school. I can't believe how many there are now. The one in Bethany Beach nearly caused me to have an accident when I first saw it.

Since Five Guys has been expanding the quality seems to have slipped - I haven't had a burger yet from one of the DC locations that compared to the ones I used to have at the Woodbridge Route 1 location.

Quibble: of those restaurants, only one is in Falls Church (Haandi), and it's nowhere near Wilson Blvd. or the Eden Center.

You'd have to be determined to walk there from the Braddock Road or National Airport Metro stops, but it could be done. A Metro station was supposed to be part of the Potomac Yard development, but I haven't heard anything about that for ages.

The Targets at Wheaton Plaza (or Westfield Shoppingtowne or whatever they call that place now) and Springfield Mall are probably the most Metrorail-accessible.

I miss those things

Meanwhile, what can be done about the City Paper? The staff are doing righteous work and are solidly professional and all, but the paper could use some fun therapy. While other alternative weeklies look like this or this, CP usually seems to run a b&w cover photo of the District Council, or maybe a vacant lot.

This angered me, a lot.

I bear no ill will toward my former employer, but it must be difficult to sustain nothing but contempt and negativity day in day out, and find something new to sneer at each week (usually, The Man). Still, it is kept somewhat fun by syndicated features, e.g. Straight Dope, Savage Love, etc.

Do you think the general depression that seems to afflict arts and humanities people in DC is to blame for this?

As for the rest of it, sadly, it's attained the same stores as a slightly upscale mall: Pottery Barn, Gap, Benneton, Banana Republic. It's like White Flint minus the parking.

As for the movie theater, I applaud Allyzay's courage in praising it. Longtime hipster Washingtonians are all about lamenting the demise of the old indy theaters (Biograph, Key, West End, Macarthur), but this is misplaced sentimentalism in my view. Admit it: lots of choices, passable food, and clean floors are good things.

I will also admit to liking the new Georgetown Theater. I think it's pretty impressive that it's relatively easy to get to, clean, etc, given the insane amount of traffic it gets.

Unlike the Bethesda "arthouse" theater, which is always sold out and offers minimal parking options.

Anyway, while I won't sit here and defend the GAP or Benneton or Banana Republic, H&M, Sephora, Zara, and any number of the shoe stores around there are all places I at least theoretically support (though recently even if I had money I wouldn't buy the things they're selling there--what the hell is up with this year's clothing? God). Pottery Barn isn't so bad either; their sale stuff can basically be purchased with a few rocks you bring into the store half the time. I like Commander Salamander but I fail to see the difference between them and a number of other stores; they're like Urban Outfitters without the completely awful buyer that UO seems to have from what they actually stock in there. There's also an amusing, tiny Western wear shop in the vicinity and a comic book store (it also seems quite tiny). I mean I am all for the smaller stores (I would go into CS before I'd go into UO if I could ever remember exactly which direction things are in) but I'm not going to say I mind the "shopping mall" aspect of the area. It's GOOD to be able to buy a variety of things in one area! Despite what every other neighborhood in DC proper wants you to believe!

Admittedly Gtown is nearly a clone of the neighborhood I used to live in in NYC, right down to the huge Loews, so it might just be nostalgia.

Cleveland Park = save me from young professional hell.

The City Paper hates everything. Whatever is new, they hate it. Whatever is not new, they hate that too. I hate them.

Georgetown - GO TO CHING CHING CHA!!! Chinese teahouse. Most relaxing place in the whole city. It's at the end of Wisconsin Ave, the one block that is across M Street toward the waterfront, on the left. I don't mind Georgetown, I like the H&M and Zara there, and the secret DMV at the bottom of Georgetown Park for getting stuff done without dealing with the hellish central DMV downtown.

I don't know re: Steak and Egg, there didn't used to be one at 9th and U, I used to live off U Street and we knew every diner in the city.. but I would be happy if there was a second Steak and Egg, because the first one is getting taken over by late night club crowds which is just wrong.

My brother is one of those with mega-security-clearance doing supersecret IT work for Unnamed Defense Contractor off the BW Parkway, his company is neighbors with companies like Raytheon as well as the No Such Agency which overlooks it all. DC attitudes make a lot more sense to me now, actually - you give a guy a few tidbits of classified information and he thinks he knows everything.

Silver Spring used to have Big Al's Trading Post. That was the place to go for great used musical gear.

Re: the City Paper: a couple years back, we staff got a pep talk from Christopher Hitchens with the following precepts:

1. Alternative papers shouldn't be indistinguishable from the metro sections of their cities' mainstream papers.

2. Not only are all the rumors true, it's worse than you think.

3. Always keep the powder of your rage and contempt dry.

The problem is, they've taken this too much to heart, and they just plain Hate Fun. They hate me too, of course, because I live in Virginia.

Best thing they ever did was the Jake Tapper "I dated Monica Lewinsky" cover, and now he's all famous 'n shit.

About Commander Salamander vs. Urban Outfitters: the two are quite similar, but CS predates OU by 15 years, and OU is a now-kinda-ubiquitous chain. CS is one of the last things in Georgetown that has always only been in Georgetown and nowhere else. So it gets a medal of some sort.

xpost no I agree with you re: CS, much older, native, etc etc, but really a $40 Chachi t-shirt is a $40 Chachi t-shirt if I buy it there or down the street. I do like their collection of Paul Frank cuties right in the front, and whoever is their buyer has much, much better taste in tacky wear than whoever the hell shops for UO, which is full of nothing I could even imagine wearing if I was going to a Halloween party dressed up as someone from Vice.

I've never had a bad bloody mary at Nathan's.

Yes, go into the teahouse. It is a little pricey, but it rules and the staff are super wonderful, and most people just get tea so you can get one cup of tea and sit there for two hours and nobody will bother you. And there are a couple tables on the floor with cushions, if you can get one. I left my digital camera on the floor there last time I went, and the poor older lady working that afternoon ran - ran - a full block and around the corner of M street to give it back to me! I already loved them but now I am an even bigger fan if that is possible.

Let's have some recommendations for not-too-expensive pre-Unrest-reunion dinner; my girlfriend won't eat at Ben's.

Red's the one that you go around the corner from Five/ESL and go downstairs to get to, right?

Somewhere (maybe here?) I heard that the Dupont movie theater is living on borrowed time--too much competition from Gtown/E Street.

The nightclub above Dupont is Gazuza. It's decorated all from IKEA.

And yes, Red's the underground club below Fuddruckers. It's an absolute treasure.

GU students with credit cards. The university students not only explain Commander Salamander and Smash, but a lot of other things about Georgetown the neighborhood.

Is there a planned ILX outing to this show? (And I probably had better get my ticket now.) The Salvadorean place across 14th street and up a block was okay, the one time I went there.

Hehehehe. Yes, they were by the same architect and the same building contractor, and the same developer owns both buildings. The funny thing is, the last I checked the condos in DC were still selling, though not at the rate hoped--it was the building by same architect/contractor/developer in Miami that got the fuck over from the bad press on the DC projects. That building is sound though!

(FWIW: This is the all new thread about Ally's Stupid Coworkers.)

YES!!!! Although when I went, they were sort of low on freaky babies in jars.

Antiboycott
Antitrust
Drug-free Workplace
EEO/AA
Export Control
Harassment
Insider Trading
Kickbacks & Gratuities
Labor Charging
TINA
Ex Gov Employees
FCPA
Information Protection

Haha government. Haha, tax dollars hahahahaHAHA HA HA HA choke spittle groan hate self

1. Office Space
2. WarGames
3. Goonies
4. Napoleon Dynamite
5. Real Genius

YES!!!! Although when I went, they were sort of low on freaky babies in jars.

-- tokyo rosemary

I've been there too, it's nasty! The diseased smoker's lung is quite the wake-up call. The funniest piece is a carved wood "anatomical" model of the human body (from ancient China I believe). I put "anatomical" in quotes because the model is unbelievably inaccurate as to what is actually inside a person's body. I guess they still had the taboo against cutting people open, but so they relied on guesswork.

Can I get some help with moving companies?
I really want avoid the stupid U-Haul/friend abuse situation I had when I was getting into the Chalfonte.

I hold a grudge against Bistrot du Coin because I went there once for dessert and wine with some friends only to be informed after we were seated by the waiter that you couldn't just order dessert, and that we had to have it at the bar! Keep in mind it was 10:30 pm (and this is DC, people go home at midnight!) and the bar was packed. And we were already seated. That's just not done. I should have told Monsieur to aller se faire foutre, fils de pute bordel. I believe I did go on the WashPost restaurant review site and post an extremely bitchy rant about that one.

No idea on the moving companies, I'm afraid. I have always depended on, uh.. myself, and then a random friend or two who I'll call about four hours before the walk through in a desperate cry for help with the last heavy boxes after I've stayed up all night like an idiot because I didn't plan anything.

I am so pissed because the fact that I had to work on Monday, and my husband did not, means I MISSED THE VISIT BY THE G-MAN TO INTERVIEW US ABOUT OUR FORMER NEIGHBOR! I made the husband relate the entire encounter in excruciating (for him) detail. The dummy DIDN'T ASK WHAT SORT OF POSITION/CLEARANCE THE NEIGHBOR WAS UP FOR WTF? I would have been all over that G-man for details, which of course he wouldn't give me BUT AT LEAST I'D HAVE TRIED!

I want a security clearance--does the fact that I've had some "youthful indiscretions" preclude that?

What are the clearance levels, anyway? Of topic, sort of, but security clearance seem to be a big thing in the DC area, esp. w/respect to employability.

(And it's not necessarily G-men doing the clearing. Some of that interview work is contracted out.)

That is all.

Woman laughs and says that they don't have these things in Houston. THEY DON'T HAVE ELEVATORS IN HOUSTON OMG!

xpost: Anyone seen any films at the Goethe Institut(e)? I'm wondering if they show them in a proper screening room, or if it's just a 70s projection screen w/VCR, zwieback, weltschmerz, etc.

I'd rather have NO snow, but the tradeoff is that it would mean moving out of Indiana a few years earlier than planned, so it all works out.

I had a friend who was doing some of the aforementioned 'mission critical' stuff a couple years ago in the big blizzard and they actually had MPs and such busing folks around in humvees if their cars couldn't handle it.

The worst thing that'll bite you about moving to DC, Tep, is probably the traffic situation. Lucky for you you'll be working out of the home.

The Black Cat's shoveled out, though, and Saint-Ex looks cozy. Expensively cozy, that is.

So here I will ask a question. I will plan my weekend based on the answers.

You have two hours to live. For some reason you decide to spend those two hours at a DC area museum. Which museum do you choose and why?

The National Gallery is like an old friend for me; in high school I used to skip class and go sit in front of a certain Gainsborough. I can imagine spending some of my last moments there in a comforting way, but honestly my attention span is not such that I can spend two hours just looking at paintings.

If I were to do so, I might choose the Phillips or the Corcoran or the Kreeger or the Freer, because I haven't seen everything at those museums a thousand bajillion times.

Natural History is looking great lately (if you haven't been since the new hall of mammals was put in, you must) and could be diverting enough to keep my mind off impending doom. An Imax movie would be a possibility (plus, sex in an Imax theater, whilst wearing 3-D glasses, would be a novelty).

if you're new/a tourist - the Air and Space (though you'll have to deal with crowds) or American History

if you want a serious small exhibit or two plus great architecture - the East Wing of the National Gallery

if you want to do most or all of a great art museum in 2 hours without feeling overwhelmed - the Corcoran (pushing it) for American or the Phillips (never been, but pretty sure it's doable) for European

if you want off the beaten track - the National Building Museum or the Octagon

I may be shortchanging the Freer/Sackler/Hirschorn, as they match my interests less than others

2 hours is not enough for the Holocaust Museum

Then I reconsiderd: it might not be such a bad choice, after all. You're about to die.

But it could be so much worse.

Although there's a bit of residual miffedness at the removal of the triceratops statue from the Mall. I seem to remember it being named Uncle Beasley - can anyone back me up/shoot me down on this?

I'm feeling utterly stoopid because I spent more time in DC museums during my three-day high school US History class trip than in the almost three years I've lived here. Situation must be rectified!

The Mall Air & Space Museum elicits a big [yawn] from me, but maybe that's only because I've seen it a thousand times. I have fond feelings about the aircraft carrier exhibit. Basically, I just think it's overrated, and a bit shopworn.

Haven't seen the new one, but probably will soon.

The zoo is great though! If you include the zoo in your list I think you should go there, and spend a ton of time watching the otters cos they are SO CUTE. Though honestly those highwires they have connecting the various ape/chimp/monkey cages kind of scare the crap out of me, I'm imagining a huge fucking chimp will go insane and leap from the crosswire one day and just ravage all of Woodley Park.

Sometimes when it's cold, more animals will come out. Like the spectacled bears, which are among my fave animals. I also like the otters, the BeaverCam (not what it sounds like), naked mole rats (there is a naked mole rat cam), and the invertebrate exhibit is cool also.

http://www.dcchamber.org/page.jsp?page=Museums

That list may want a bit of updating, as it mentions the City Museum, which is now sadly closed.

Re: zoo. I think actually this would be the perfect time of year because I hate crowds and don't mind bundling up. So I think I will do the zoo! Unless it is absolutely unbearable (no pun intended, really) out, and then I will do Natural History. Will report back.

Re: LOC. Mookie, you evil Dookie, the LOC is near and dear to my heart. After the huband and I got hitched at DC Superior court we headed straight to the LOC to get our reader's cards. Romantic, n'est pas?

Udvar-Hazy (new Air & Space) is just this cavernous hangar filled with flying machines from then and now, it's wonderful. Many are suspended from the ceiling, and there are catwalks of varying height that allow you to view them from different angles. You can get quite close to the cockpit of the Enola Gay, but it is shielded from abuse by a big piece of translucent plastic. Also, they didn't when I visited but now they have a SPACE SHUTTLE in an adjacent hanger (even if it's not a really real one).

I'm not a big zoo fan, and the DC one doesn't do much to change that, though it's not terrible. I liked the panda house, and especially something else I can't quite remember (camels, maybe?). Just walking around in Rock Creek Park is ok-ish. My friend who likes zoos kinda liked it, I think.

I think it would be sort of cool to go to the National Archives and request some documents, for a legitimate reason. If only I had one.

Isn't there a medical oddities museum somewhere in the area? Pickled punks!

The Black Cat?

I think the big important one is at Walter Reed. The GWU medical school also has a collection of preserved oddities, but probably so do most hospitals and medical schools.

yes; i was referred there after first calling AppleHell, or something like that. I think it's in a recessed-entrance glass-ish building on the South side of Eye Street, b/w 21 and 22. Not sure if it's the student center or not. You take the elevator either down four floors, or down to the fourth floor, go left (?) down the hall, through the doors (?), pass the troll, and turn right (?) at the sign that leads to a door/window where they'll help you.

I did go to Colorado Kitchen for brunch yesterday. The fresh hot donut holes were excellent, the rest wasn't worth the trip.

Cheetah cubs for your convenient viewing. ;^}

We caught the 9-10 show on Sunday a.m. and there were only a couple of other folk there. The cubs (why are they not called kittens?) came tearing out into the yard when the zookeeper let them out and proceeded to romp and play in the most adorable fucking way, complete with stalking and pouncing on one another and doing some tres entertaining climbing and tumbles. Mama was gorgeous and just sat and watched after her cubs in a stately way.

Walking back to the car we saw that the 11-noon show was completely mobbed; they actually had a bouncer-type person directing the people traffic in a very assholish manner. Unless you were seven feet tall you could pretty much forget seeing jack shit.

See also: the O-line, a high-wire, completely open orang utan transit system that terrified my husband, even though we didn't see any orangs using it. Someone should post a picture of that craziness.

definitely check on the viewing schedule before heading to the zoo, yo.

I also finally saw the pandas, who were positively lively (if you call pacing around in their cage lively). And for a while I watched the Sulawesi macaques interacting in their enclosure. One of the female macaques totally macked on one of the males--"presenting" her buttocks as close to his face as she could manage, them thoroughly grooming him--and he didn't turn a hair. I feel for you, sister.

2. WTF with the red line still being sardines at 10pm on a Wedensday?

But back to D.C. stuff. . . did the zoo last weekend, so perhaps I'll do Natural History this weekend. I like having D.C. ILXors plan my excursions. Other suggestions? Hopefully not involving panhandlers or the Red Line?

Actually, I think I may actually go to Georgetown to check out a NEW YARN STORE. I am such a dork.

Will we finally turn into a 'real city' and join the aforementioned Big Boys? How long will we sustain tons of jobs without the culture that typically follows suit. Please no 'Mad Puffin' type replies defending DC as a wonderful place; we all know that proportional to the population and money that exists there is hardly anything to do. I do, however, think that the future may be bright, as the area is fast becoming a destination for young people who need job security.

The question is whether or not anything will change, since it's still fundamentally a bureaucratic town, rather than artistic or academic. Even more importantly is how ridiculously spread out everything is, so that whatever cool places pop up are an hour away from wherever you are.

Any thoughts?

i have no problem with things to do, nor with things being spread out--i live in the city. for me the problems are a) horrible local government + no congressional representation; b) crazy local taxes for crappy services; c) i will never be able to afford a residence anywhere near here.

When I see the amount of new urban development happening in DC and NoVA my inner optimist sometimes slips in a thought or two that we might very well soon be a "real" city, bustling and having some contemporary cultural activity instead of just the historical/political significance that comes with the name. Then I think about how the Washington Nationals and the stadium plan strike me as incredibly stupid business ventures and my more rational gears catch, start spinning around again, and voila there's not any more government jobs left to outsource.

One thing about the DC area right now is that there's actually still a MASSIVE shortage of qualified employees. No small part of this is that DC cannot compete, lifestyle wise, with any other city in America. Compare this place to any other major metropolitan area in the country and you either see 1. a vastly wider range of social outlets and cultural/entertainment activity going on 2. a much lower cost of living, not to mention real estate.

Right now the price of housing (not talking about median home prices, because that shit's skewed out of control in places that actually HAVE some cultural cachet (eg there are no $16m penthouses in DC)) is pushing up against places that are seen as being much nicer to live in, and better investments. Nobody is talking about the boom busting in SF or NYC or LA. There's simply too many downsides seen about DC by people who know better.

The short answer is I don't know, and the long answer is maybe. DC has a chance to turn itself into a real urban center but it has to have more smart development by people with a CITY in mind and not more McMansions. Seems to be heading in that direction, I hope the economy can support the flood of capital it's going to take to make it stick. These Penn Quarter condominiums are going to turn into a renter's market and a buyer's nightmare if the pattern of commercial investment and federal outsourcing doesn't continue.

The mission statement of the concert hall at the brand new $100 million Strathmore - "Artistic offerings presented by Strathmore in the Music Center include world-class performances by major national artists of folk, blues, pop, jazz, show tunes, and classical music" certainly doesn't differ much from the performances at The Kennedy Center.

The upcoming expansion of the Corcoran is just going to give us more Corcoran, and their exhibit schedule has been getting worse and worse.

Lots of theaters in the area - Studio, Arena Stage, Wooly Mammoth, are expanding or moving into new venues, but again it will increase the quantity and quality of the area's (excellent) theater scene without broadening it.

There's so much support for large nonprofit arts organizations here, but little of the funding or support through them that will allow smaller venues and organizations to establish a foothold. DC is one of those cities whose residents aren't really able to distinguish between art and craft, and it causes a lot of funding to go toward programs that make people feel like they love art without ever really looking with any sort of critical eye.

Do you think D.C. real estate has gotten to the point that we're just going to have to start thinking like NYCers, i.e. assuming that renting is the normal thing and you expect to do it for life?

X-post to Mookie: fucking feds. There's no snow on the roads up here and this is the burbs!

xp oops!

Yeah, I kind of figure that around here is probably the best place for me job-wise. But I'm not commuting from Sterling/Fredericksburg/Frederick for it, and I'm not spending half a million on a condo.

Don't FUCKING GET ME STARTED on the real estate prices of this SHITTY BURG because this town is SO not worth paying $2300 a month to live in it's not even BULLSHIT, it's like something more bullshit than bullshit itself, this whole town shovels it with both hands, and I feel like it's going to make me snap in about THREE MINUTES but then again I've been feeling like that for two weeks so I guess not.

-- quincie (quinci...), February 24th, 2005 2:16 PM.

i used to do this and it was quite the contrary. if your employer has a program that will cover for part or all of the transportation expense (most workplaces have something like this), then you can ride the MARC train in to union station. it takes almost exactly an hour, and you can catch up on sleep, read, leer at hotties, etc. i kinda miss it sometimes.

Fuck, we'd need to get a second car, though.

http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/marc/

There is a MARC train stop at the Rockville metro station, but that train comes in from West Virginia.

J.Lu -- where was that store with the Japanese tchotkes that you mentioned once?

I like Arlington--is that where you are?

X-post. . . there are a couple of home design-type stores I like in the U St./14th area. Damned if I can remember names, though. . .j.lu knows, I bet.

Try Pop and the surrounding stores on 14th between S and U. Wild Women Wear Red and Carbon on U St have some unique footwear.

Is Now omg ur so fashion still open? April Cornell in Gtown comes to mind, but apparently it's in lots of other places too, and I have a feeling it's not the kind of cute specified.

(xp - Brian's recs sound better than mine)

Home Rule (14th & S) is a great place for all the stuff you want to look nice but can't normally find at design stores - trash cans, shower curtains, etc.

Vastu a few doors down has a few good things, but the prices are surprisingly high for most of the merchandise.

Next to that, Muleh has great furniture to look at.

Great weekend deals on used furniture to be had at Rough & Ready, 14th & T.

On U St, there's Urban Essentials (not so essential), used modern at Millennium, and Good Wood.

Apartment Zero on 7th St has a lot of high-end contemprary housewares and furniture, as does Vesta Home in Clarendon for lower prices.

The best used furniture store in the city is probably Good Eye in Tenleytown.

The entire Cady's Alley development in Georgetown is great to browse through, but most of the shops aren't open on Sunday.

I know I'm missing a bunch of worthwhile places...

Can anyone name an independent DC bookstore better than Politics and Prose?

Lil' Thingamajigs, in Georgetown Park.

Can anyone name an independent DC bookstore better than Politics and Prose?

Possibly Kramerbooks at Dupont Circle, although Politics & Prose is the indy bookstore to beat.

Yep, Ally, I'm here in Mount Vernon. Since you and Tom love NoVa so much, maybe you'd like to come visit? :) I'd love to get together with you, or any of the lovely DC'ers.

i suppose you could MARC/metro as well to Rockville metro, it would be another 20 or so minutes. that's assuming you work near the metro there, Rockville covers a large area.

Oh shit, he's printing off something again.

HOTT

2. I cannot say enough good things about Red. Best place in the whole fucking city. Last night we danced, the ENTIRE CROWD danced, to "Ring My Bell," and all of a sudden I STOPPED being jealous of people born 8-14 years early than me who lived in big cities and went to cool nightclubs. That place is a goddamn revelation in a city like this, I hope they never put up a sign or start serving beer.

Will someone please enlighten me re: the Birchmere. Am thinking of overcoming my anti-social thing and actually going out to a concert.

http://www.birchmere.com

Also, about 1/2 a mile down the road there's the most amazingly large and bright 24-hr laundromat EVER.

My condo has appreciated to nearly three times what I paid for it, according to DC's recent proposed revaluation, which means my real estate taxes will jump even higher. Oh wait, you said "nice."

The 2005 Cherry Blossom Festival will be March 26-April 11.

That's the story. People who bought years ago and are getting forced out by the appraisal value of their homes skyrocketing to the point that the PROPERTY TAXES become unaffordable. It's even worse in Virginia where localities aren't allowed to levy sales taxes, so they charge extra property tax.

Gabbneb OTM.

I HATE this snow. It's more like sleet outside right now, I was walking downtown and it was stinging my face. Not sticking at all, of course.

The snow is actually quite pretty up here in R'ville.

quincie provide links please, I am always appreciative of real estate comedy gems. Go to nytimes and look at the prices there! It'll make you throw up.

Four offers. One (not ours) well above asking price in ALL CASH. Mom buying (in cash, I tell you!) the place for her two twenty-something children. FUCKERS!!! Rent a shithole like the rest of us did straight out of college, you pampered assholes!!!

G'town's really come along. There used to be chain stores there--but nowhere that you would exactly want to shop. Now there is a Kiehls and a plethora of other nice places to waste your money.

I'll freely admit to being a bit of a bore on the topic. But every time I go someplace else, I spend a couple hours, or even a couple days, thinking about whether I could live there, and every time I end up deciding that I couldn't.

This applies equally--though in different ways--to bigger/"realer" cities (NY, SF, London, Boston, Chicago), smaller cities (Baltimore, Richmond, St. Louis), and smallish towns (Fredericksburg, Lancaster, Ashland).

That said, I am way past ready for spring.

Tonight I'm going to Buck's Fishing and Camping for dinner--anyone been?

Goddamn it is cold out there!

The Bethesda YMCA;s year-round outdoor pool PWNZ. I swam during heavy snowfall on monday, and in 34 degree coldness today. Made me feel like Vin Diesel battling evil terrorists. And beating them soundly.

some of my favorite escapes from the city were to house parties my friends threw in not-the-city-but-not-the-burbs.

there were the two separate friends-of-college-friends who i knew or had met who lived on the same block up in Mt Pleasant, West towards the park down that street that 18th (?) dead-ends into past the Raven. The hilly area up there seemed like its streets should be lined by cars from the '30s-'40s. then there was my classmate's big porch-and-lawn group house just below the Cathedral and just East of Wisconsin, with little-unencumbered exposure to the North. and the place that replaced it, between the lesser-known Lincoln Park and the "UnSafeway" (which I always thought was the Soviet Safeway, which I think it was to some) in SE, with the garden and cobbled-alleyway in back. and also my Professor who had us over to a home in a residential-but-wild-ish territory on the Western edge of the park (near Van Ness?). and many others i'm forgetting or don't remember the precise location of. i wonder if it's interesting to walk around such places without a particular destination.

Quincie, is there still snow in Rockville?

well, Glover Park - a few blocks up the hill - is home to a big Dem political strategy firm, but the Safeway is "Social" because it is flirty/undergraduate

My understanding is that this is just called "The Way"--because it's not very Safe.

VA Safeways aren't quite like VA Giants

Although you will be missing out on the UNBELIEVABLE MEAT MARKET that is the 14th St Whole Foods. Good thing you're engaged (and me pretty much too).

Actually, I like the cold okay if it stays sunny like this. But isn't there more snow headed this way? Fucking groundhog.....

I've always wondered why Giants don't get cute nicknames. I ask you: where is the love!?!?

Curious--I think the almost total opposite of this one (which I would call the "Subterranean Safeway"). I've never had problems parking there, and it strikes me as a nice piece of retail/office/residential urban integration.

(I will grant you the hill, but that's an issue of Rosslyn geography.)

You NoVa folks can screw the Safeways--you have WEGMANS which is the best grocery store EVER!!! (though note that I have not visited the NoVa Weggies per se; I've only been to ones in PA and NY)

Mookie: Such fond memories I have of Shrimp and Grits at Crook's! The shrimp and grits at Buck's last night was very good, but just not the same. Perhaps I will make my own shrimp and grits to celebrate the ass-whooping of DOOK on Sunday!

i remember when it was a Bread and Circus (before it was a Fresh Fields) (not that all three aren't owned by the same people)

...and Wegman's doesn't even really belong on the same continuum.

So my wife and I call it "Fresh Whole." Then snicker like the juveniles we secretly are.

Yes. I like going to the Chevy Chase location when I'm in the area to see a movie at the Avalon Theater.

I am now officially scared that ILX has entered my IRL conscience. What next? An actual DC FAP?

Re. DC FAP--Tom? Ally? Other ILXorians?

My wife wants get ripped on vodka & cranberry and sing Sonic Youth.

$2 Allagash at Saint-Ex? I apologize for declaring it "home of the nine-dollar beer".

Mookie had best not mention to them that he hails from DOOK because they are both dyed-in-the-wool Tar Heels!

next evening i go, though, i'll wear mirrored shades and tell everyone that i'm rashad mccants: "love to be hated/dying to be loved" ;)

More (not very courant) Reasons to be DC-ful

- the Smithsonian Kite festival and the lighting of the Japanese lantern to begin the Cherry Blossom festival, the last weekend in March
- crab cakes, opera, politics and guff at c.f. folks
- Small streets in Georgetown and elsewhere: 32nd St, Pomander Walk, Swann St, Church St., C St. NE between 1st and 4th, Volta Pl, Dent Pl, Connecticut below Farragut Square, Indiana Ave, Olive St
- pizza at A.V.
- the Folklife Festival
- coffee cake from Marvelous Market
- the quiet crossroads of 21st and R, esp. at night
- Teddy Roosevelt Island and Thompson's Boat House
- Jose Andres, Todd Gray and Ann Cashion
- white lightnings at Old Glory
- Alexandria at night, from the water
- the architecture of 16th St. between Scott Circle and Columbia Road
- hidden corners around the Capitol - Spring Grotto, the JFK memorial, the flowers and benches in the park between Union Station and the Senate Office Buildings
- the East Garden Court of the National Gallery
- GU's Healy Hall - its courtyard fountain and Gaston Hall
- the Great Train Store in Union Station
- concerts at the Capitol
- Kaz Okochi's "Free Style Japanese Cuisine"
- ridiculously overpriced coffee and liqueur at Kramerbooks
- Pho in Arlington
- Luther Place Memorial Church
- the contemporary and student works upstairs at the Corcoran
- Teaism's ginger limeade and ginger cookies
- West-exposed Foggy Bottom when the sun's going down - the steps behind the Lincoln Memorial, New Hampshire Ave above Juarez Circle, the roof of the Kennedy Center
- the Railroads exhibit at the American History museum
- black-eyed peas at Bukom Cafe
- the Indian Craft Shop at Interior
- the summer farmer's table outside the entrance to the Tombs
- Rawlins Park behind the Corcoran
- the layout and interior design of the Music City Roadhouse
- Burger or Chicken Madness at Wisemiller's in Georgetown
- DC Cafe at 2 AM
- Georgetown belgian bricks and trolley tracks
- Sherrill's
- Mt. Vernon Square
- the garden at Heurich House
- off-the-beaten-path outdoor seating at Herb's near Scott Circle or Cafe La Ruche in Georgetown
- RGC
- upstairs at ESL or Felix
- the Anacostia around Kingman Lake
- the endless houses of Georgetown, Dupont, Logan, Shaw and Capitol Hill

My cousin is getting married in June, probably in VA, so maybe.

Fort Reno
Rodman's
The Red Room (Black Cat)

ooh, Belle and Sebastian played there.

-Bridge Street Books on M Street, G'town (esp. for philosophy/crit theory/cult studies section)
-Crooked Beat on 18th
-and the inexhaustible Video Americain in Takoma Park

Breakfast tacos beforehand are the key, I think.

All my love,

(Can I lose the Sole Defender rep now please?)

i think sean may out-rebounded my entire team. :( maybe someone should have punched him in the nads like chris paul did to julius hodge...

(Quince, to get out of jury duty, just three little words: Star. Trek. Uniform.)

nah, no body paint. but i did camp out two weeks once. (ah, youth.) and travelled to a victorious final four.

i'm sorry that i'll miss the fap.

So all of this is possibly my fault.

Anyhow, if I'm in decent shape deadline-wise (I put it at 80/20 right now) I will strive for an early (7ish?) showing at S-E tomorrow.

x-post

Hi Tombot!

That was M!ke indeed, but the restaurant they were shooting the commercial is was not, in fact, Saint-Ex.

He's opening a new place a couple doors down from Saint-Ex, Bar Pilar, which he said will be "more divey".

Here's a recent article about him that mentions the new place: http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/retailing_restaurants/restaurants/2005/03/07/washington_story8.html

xpost Quince, please lose a sun visor soon.

-- The Mad Puffin

Oops, looks like we're not talking about the same place, then. I suppose it's pretty deceptive of me to talk as if I live in D.C., when really I'm only there for 930club, the occasional restaurant/bar, and the rare job thing. That said, who's going to the FAP? Are semi-lurkers invited??

j.lu are you going to bring your knitting?

J.Lu--Jesus, did you write that post on the train? I just parted ways with you moments ago. Yes, good FAP indeed; let's do it again soon. Maybe in an even dive-y'er joint, with fewer reporters. Although it's hard to avoid the limelight when luminaries such as us gather.....

Ally, I feel like I just met you, considering how much time Tom spent leaping up from the table to text you. Either that, or he has a bladder the size of a cashew, but I assume it's all the love.

The divey-er the bar the better!

I really liked Home Rule. I bought my mom a lemon reamer. Pulp was okay. I got an ice coffee at that Espresso Cafe--that was nice. Unfotrunately, by the time I got to U street, stores were starting to close. At 5! I was going to walk on to Adams Morgan but there was not enough time. I saw a cop car parked outside this pizza and sub shop on 14th so thought it might be a good bet for a slice of pizza. The pizza tasted okay at the time but now I feel sick. I went to the vintage furniture store on U but about everything else on that street was already closed. I'll have to go back and explore more.

Important spring-is-coming question: Where can I get bubble tea?

Anyhow, Dook looked like crap and barely pulled it off. More significantly, how about that picture in today's Post of K and J.J. making out with ardent man-love??? The hell is up with that? I call him doing the same thing with Wojo, whom I also despise. Do you think Wojo is jealous.

There is too much Dook in my life. My husband is a Mizzou grad, so I have to watch Quinn and his hair whenever they're on TV.

On a D.C. note, we got a "Walking Tours of D.C." book put out by the Smithsonian and did the Dupont tour yesterday. Got to see some streets I'd not been on and learned what $355,000 bought you back in the early 20th century (big ass mansion). How about that bizarre monument with the Ukranian poet on the western edge of Dupont, across the street from that church that I can't remember the name of? It's, like, ten times bigger than the Gahndi statue and I can't even recall the dude's name.

haha i actually kind of hate wojo too. he was incredibly overrated, but k seemed to love him--probably because he was also a slow polish kid from chicago. looked like crap?! we were never down 15 to clemson! our point guard has an MCL but we just won our sixth title in seven years! anyway, it was nice to see chris paul's groin punch cost them a #1 seed--and not so nice to see the awful mustard tunic thing he wore to their game with nc state...

Wok and Roll, 604 H St NW

Was the pizza place Manny & Olga's? You were lucky to escape with your life! What that block needs is a general bookstore w/loads of browsable magazines. Especially the ones I like.

My boyfriend at the time came from an old Carolina family with six courtside seats at the Dean Dome. Since then, I've never been able to adjust to non-padded seats. One year boyfriend's pop needed all six seats for friends of his, so pop made a phone call to secure other seats for us. When we got to the dome we went in through some weird side door (as instructed); the boyfriend told the guard: "hi, I'm so and so and we're the people who will be in a couple of Dean's seats." I'm, like, no fucking way are we sitting in Dean Smith's seats!!!

To think my ass has shared the same real estate as Dean's--that is a beautiful thing, my friend. Absolutely worth the otherwise lousy boyfriend.

Any FAP action this week?

what a deeply disturbing sentence. (gulp)

how's about a fap next wednesday (the 23rd)?

(I can't do a FAP this Wed, unless it is on Route 1.)

Can't FAP tonight but later this week or next week is entirely do-able.

The Amazonia exhibit at the NAT L'ZOO is pretty badical-sweet though.

BRANCH AVENUE  3 MINUTES
BRANCH AVENUE 14 MINUTES
______ ______ __ _______

The story apparently is that I am a lucky bastard. Except for living on the Green Line in the first place.

BRANCH AVENUE 23 HOURS
BRANCH AVENUE 23 HOURS 1 MINUTES
BRANCH AVENUE 23 HOURS 4 MINUTES

I mean really it doesn't seem so hard to keep on schedule better than that.

The middle bit's finished, though I don't think I've had a reason to go out that way in a while.

Anyone been to any of the new stations?

I almost went to one of the new stations, the other day, but I didn't. They all look just like the other ones though, I would bet.

I'm divided on the wisdom of extending the Orange line to Tyson's and Dulles. It's already half an hour from downtown to Vienna, to go all the way out to Dulles will take forever. Tyson's is almost the untimate car society already - you nearly have to drive to get across the street. It would almost be a shame to ruin it with public transportation.

"We're better than MARTA!" would be a great Metro slogan. What the fuck.

I just find it appalling to make improvements that increase service to people who don't even live in the city especially when there are underserved areas within the city limits, but OTOH I guess that's what you get when you let some consortium of interested parties take care of your metro instead of having the city itself deal with it in some fashion.

"It's better than Atlanta" is kind of not a good excuse for the system.

I probably wouldn't bother with the Metro, if I lived in/around DC, I'd just get a car.

I'm amazed metro got built at all with three separate governments overseeing it. That hasn't really hurt the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, though.

UHHHHHH

http://www.dcpages.com/Tourist/dc1876.gif

I currently close to the entrance to the Capitol Crescent Trail on Bethesda Ave (across from the B&N) and pass it on more or less a daily basis. Whenever I have to walk by there on a good-weather weekend I am accosted by a bunch of well-heeled "Save the Trail" people who claim to oppose the Purple line because it will mess with the trail (it will not, or at least the trail will still be there, but parts of the metro line will run more or less along side it).

Turns out this "Friends of the Trail" group is sponsored by the gross country club that doesn't want the metro line cutting across its golf greens.

Fuckers.

So this list of "cities like NY and London" would consist of:

1. New York
2. London
3. ?

http://www.bestofrussia.ca/images/moscow-subway-map.gif

I've come up with at least ten cities with pretty c omprehensive metros so far.

I'm actually kind of fond of Metro. We'd be a two-car family (of two) without it. That said, I'm glad we do have a car and I would not recommend living in DC without one.

I love it and all, but you can't say it isn't hilarious.

Soviet-era urban planners didn't have to deal with property rights, or an influential automobile lobby, among other contemporary obstacles.

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/PhotoGallery/Primates/photos/1762-35.jpg

But that's not what DC is. Anyone have examples from countries that use the federal-capital system, like the U.S. does? Any word on Ottawa? Brasilia? Canberra?

There are about 27 NYC ILXors who would tell you this is bullshit actually, dude.

Mary is OTM! And so is crly.

What DC is: a complete shithole that I am going into a deeper and deeper depression over the concept of living there. If DC isn't trying to be something beyond Ottawa, Brasilia and Canberra then maybe it wouldn't be so heartbreaking to see its enormous failures in being a metropolitan, cosmopolitan tourist destination, living spot, and cultural area.

AND THAT ORANGUTAN THING SCARES THE SHIT OUT OF ME!!! Have they ever jumped, onto people???

the baby cheetahs are getting bigger every day. not quite as adorable as they used to be...

speaking of adorable, yesterday, around noon, we saw naptime in the gibbons cage. they pair up and cuddle and drowsily pick through one another's hair. twee monkeys?

Oops Brian beat me to it.

And now tobo, too!

I don't doubt it; all my hipster pals live close to the subway too. But if you have the misfortune to live E of Flushing or in the N. Bronx or, god forbid, Staten Island, there's a good chance you're looking at a bus ride to the station, if that. Fortunately, the bus system's okay.

If those orangutans were jumping down on people I'd be at the zoo every day.

well, over the past year or two, I've been going to the zoo just about every two or three weeks, especially in the warmer months, and have seen an orangutan up on a tower twice. never seen one on the ropes. clearly, the zookeepers need to be putting tasty ape treats up there as a bribe.

DC's biggest public transit issue is, like most American cities, the lack of a tram system to function as a second layer between underground rail and bus service. The last streetcar lines here shut down in the early 60's, and it would be damn difficult to get them back into existing roads.

The existing hub and spoke organization of the metro is never going to provide adequate neighborhood-level coverage in the city, and buses are subject to the flow of traffic. Plans like the proposed K St bus lanes will help turn the buses basically into streetcars, but there aren’t any plans to bring that level of street redevelopment to other major arteries in the city. Even on a good metro day there’s really no way to guarantee the ability to get quickly from one part of the city to another, largely due to the fact that metro is buried so far underground so it can take quite bit of time to get in or out of stations.

I understand they've got some fresh camel on hand.

i propose a FAP to discuss mass transit and DC's flaws at large.

A FAP sounds good; when and where?

Stephen X - Memphis has opened a new streetcar line recently, and here's something from an electric LRT website (from '03):

• Extensions: Projects currently under way in San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Denver, Dallas, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Hudson-Bergen, Newark.

• Upgrade: Project currently under way in Baltimore (double-tracking project).

• New Systems Startups: Projects currently under way in Phoenix, Seattle, Little Rock (heritage streetcar), Charlotte (modern LRT plus extension to existing heritage streetcar)

http://bunker-hill.visit-boston-massachusetts.com/Old-Town-Trolley-Tour.jpg

and that's just not right.

This is a really shitty thing to say about people on ILX, though I wouldn't count those 27 people as my "pals" (not you, Tracer Hand, you are my true love) and most of them quite openly live in not-typically-greatly-served outer borough areas and well uptown in Manhattan. And actually my pals in the Bronx haven't got one single bit of trouble with subways, other than the stations themselves being total sketch shows. Staten Island has the unique quality of being way out in the middle of nowhere making it difficult to connect via subway--elevated line across the bridge, maybe, actually I'm not sure what reasons there are that this doesn't exist thinking about it, but the bus and (FREE) ferry aren't too bad, though yes, everyone I know who lives in Staten Island has a horrible time getting to their job.

I was asking just the other day, Brian, what that trolley was about. It doesn't make sense. I also admit that breezing quickly at that picture, I thought you were posting a photo of Disneyworld. WTF? But yeah streetcar buses--you aren't fooling anyone, it's still a bus!

xpost those are streetcars, Tracer, not streetcar buses. I like the streetcar system in SF, theoretically at least.

but i am mostly a lurker, a civilian here among professional ilxors. if the weather brightens up, i'd suggest l'enfant cafe on 18th on tuesday for half price belgian beer, or something otherwise outside. today is dreadful.

Doesn't come close to Rotterdam's new ones, though.

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/Tram_Rotterdam/2023-05.jpg

Also, didn't someone die of a heart attack a few years ago climbing one of the out of service escalators?

NB: I have never in my life boarded a DC-area bus.

Is anyone seriously proposing streetcars for DC? Given the sheer amount of traffic on the streets, they wouldn't be much quicker than buses. Also, for all their failings, buses can go off-route if necessary, because of a security blockade or an unplowed street.

there should be an inner-ring line between Dupont, U St., Union Station, Capitol South, Waterfront (Navy Yard?), Pentagon City, Courthouse and... M Street.

the bus system in DC has decent coverage - there are lines between Dupont and Georgetown, running the length of Mass Ave, running the length of Wisconsin-into Pennsylvania-into Independence-into Southeast, and between Tenley, Cleveland Park and Columbia Heights, for instance. the problem is that they don't run very often.

PGC home prices are at the fucking half million point now, a train that takes you from New Carrolton to Silver Spring without transferring means ever more. The great hope is that eventually the effect will be as it has been in parts of Arlington and Fairfax, drive out home developers in favor of new urbanized development as the subway becomes more usable and the price of housing/population growth encourages greater density.

This whole thread STARTED as a result of the morality of high density living discussion so it's interesting we're back to discussing the relative merits of world subway/mass transit options! Uh, "interesting" I mean

the only problem is that any new dense urban construction projects will have the same problem they have NOW which is that 25% of buyers will be investors and speculators not actually planning on living in the space themselves at all (annoying) and the people who DO end up living there will be the same freakishly civic-minded boring-ass WONKS who are already trying to come live in DC et envir

I forgot what my point was for opening this thread again OH YEAH

the yellow/green line was STILL fucked up when I came HOME tonight after my 12 hour day, I saw a branch ave train with GREENBELT on the display and the fucking inforobotbox changed its shit up like ELEVEN TIMES except for at Mt. Vernon where it stuck on the same inaccurate table the entire time I was waiting.

DUMBUTTS populate these caverns

http://www.wmata.com/about/expansion/kst_busway.pdf

Buses or streetcars would have to obey stoplights, but there wouldn't be any congestion. It's hard to think of what streets are wide enough to absorb extra lanes, though - K St will get its awful and useless side lanes wiped out (if rush hour is a nightmare now, imagine when delivery vehilcles park in the regular lanes!). Connecticut is wide enough, but there are squeeze points at the bridges. It would be great to convert 18th St to bus/streetcar ONLY and have it turn up Calvert. Pennsylvania Ave. in both NW and SE has enough room. 4th St or M St in SW would both be ideal for this sort of artery with their high residential density but sparse metro stops. East Capitol, North Capitol, and South Capitol.

Obviously a monorail should be added along 10th St SW at L'Enfant Plaza to complete the failed utopian dream.

And people would still love driving their cars and still hate traffic, and they would still find the transit system wanting, and they would still say the city is a sleepy swampy cesspool with Not Enough Hip Shit to Do.

Double the number of cars on the Red and Orange lines; people will want the number to have tripled. Make the 8-minute time between trains into a 4-minute time between trains, and people will gripe that it isn't a 2-minute wait.

I'm beginning to think that the whole of the DC Metro Area's problems are a result of subpar public transportation.

They want better public transportation so that other people can take it, and they can stay in their cars where they're the captain and they control the radio station.

I will, however, probably have warm and fuzzy feelings about the District when I get my $5000 tax credit next April. Uh, what is the reasoning behind that, anyway?

The night our contract was ratified we started talking about which of our crappy student furniture was going to go where in the new place and I said something like "well with the kitchen opening into the living room blah blah blah this or that should go by the window," whereupon the husband looked at me strangely and said "dude, that's not the right condo. You're thinking of some other place." He had to draw the floorplan for me to remind me which one we actually got.

"Welcome to DC. You know the handshake."

I demand Spring!

wednesday FAP?

Oh mookie, where art thou??? I'll be nice, I promise!

zardoz is really awful. another bizarre career choice from sean connery, who along with michael caine are the Men Who Would Star in Anything.

http://www.dctransitfuture.com/corridors/

I found an apartment that looks out onto Georgetown and the National Cathedral from the VA side and is one block away from the Orange line!

So fuck you!

This message brought to you by a street fight in daylight near 18th & Columbia which started over a parking fender bender and ended with a guy lying on the ground bleeding profusely from the head due to getting hit with a loose brick. Good-bye, Adams Morgan.

Er, any DC people need a housemate? I DREAD this moving process. Jump on City Paper website when ads go online, call, call, call, drive 8 hours to crash @ friend's place and see open houses, none of them are tolerable, repeat, repeat, end up living in a dump and/or with crazy people. Not again!

Use craigslist and only look at places that have photos!

http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/events/eng/event_display.php3?122

Yeah, I'll email you. Thanks! I used to live at 13th and U. God, I love that neighborhood, even if it's become instagentrified since I left. (I was abroad for a year and I came back and the vacant lot across the street was a row of posh new townhouses.)

I guess I shouldn't throw around words like "crazy" so casually. I mean, if they're crazy like the NOIZE board, that is A-OK. If they're crazy like they never bathe and never clean and do a ton of drugs, or are crazy like raging male powder-keg Fox News Republicans always looking to beat the crap out of someone, that's not cool.

Went thrifting in Alexandria with my mom today. We hit a special sale of the Junior League of Washington, and 2 stores on King St--the Prevention of Blindness and Odds and Ends.

Found the best, most aspirational little perfume and make-up store on King across from the Magestic restaurant--Bellacara. It had Acqua di Parma, Kiehl's, Fresh--all of the overpriced things that smell nice.

I saw the glorious red gates of the EDEN MARKET from the corner of my eye but was not permitted to stop. Hopefully next time for bubble tea and various sundry.

Has anyboy been to Annie Creamcheese in Arlington, soon to move to G'town? Silly name, but looks like they have some nice stuff.

Take this, for instance:

http://www.anniecreamcheese.com/inc/pdetail?v=1&pid=1205

How'd the Prevention of Blindness thrift look? It's hit or miss but I've found some fabulous things there on occasion. Oh, and if you go back, there is a fantastic English tea room on a side street just off King.. it's right near the big town square with the fountains, but the opposite side of the street. Can never recall the name. There's a little teapot sign out.

They started a Courreges 2 in Japan a while back, for the aspirational Courrges shopper. The logo was C2 though:( I wonder if that is still going.

I've read about that English tea spot but haven't been. I must stop by. Is your business finished up east, DG?

And can I quibble a bit on what gets called "Falls Church"? Eden Center and whatnot are fun but are not in FC proper.

Falls Church is a two-square-mile city that is independent of both Fairfax and Arlington Counties; as it is my home town, I am mildly protective of it. Lots of amorphous burbblob--from approximately Merrifield to Westover in the west-east vector and Seven Corners to nearly Tysons Corner in the south-north vector--gets called "Falls Church," but is not really.

I'm still stuck up east, but I am back in DC in June. Thank god. It's hard to get motivated, New England makes me really blue and I have to look for a job, too, and it's all such a nightmare to arrange from so far away. It's not like I'm not more than qualified for a decent job in publishing/media/etc., but I'm so exhausted right now! I miss my friends. Well, hopefully a few months after I'm back I can cease the complaining except for the usual gripes about late summer DC weather. :)

Cool, Daria, when you get back we should meet up for thrifting and tea. I may be looking for a job myself . . . . though the University of Maryland beckons, along with that upstart George Mason.

You could make a case for Falls Church or Seven Corners, but Alexandria would be nonsense.

FABT (Fancy a Bubble Tea) at Eden Center when you're settled in the DC area?

I suppose "postal Falls Church" or "greater Falls Church" are reasonable ways to describe some of the surrounding area--it could reach to Seven Corners but not as far as Bailey's Crossroads.

I have never set foot in this Eden Center place; worth a daytrip? What's to do besides eat? (As if that's not plenty.)

w/ Ommegang brewery & Rudi Ghequire, the brewmaster at Rodenbach

I heard there will be giveaways.

I definitely want to FABT!

Proximity to Rosslyn a bonus but not a necessity, as long as it is somewhat metro-accessible.

I need a hair place too. One that specializes in short hair cuts for girls? I think I may just grow my hair out, rather than attempt to find someone who understands "fifties boy style."

Maybe if you brought a picture, it would work better. There was something actually right in Rosslyn that had a very quaint/odd name (which I can't remember right now) but neither of our friends there have been and I don't want to be the first one, I am too scared after the Trim experience!

I like the mussels at Teaism-Penn Quarter.

There were some clean-cut boys in an issue of i-D I saw that has enviable hair.

(I can't vouch, as I'm going to cheap-ass barbers these days.)

I like Bang's graphics and the prices do not seem at all unreasonable. I will test it, perhaps? Wait where the hell is it, I didn't see it on their website.

Anyhow, Greggggg has been one of those rare types who actually seem to grasp what it is you want and will deliver it irrespective of his personal preferences. He will, however, warn you if what it is you want to do is simply a bad idea. Like me suggesting he hack me some bangs in the middle of a DC summer. May work for some; would have been a mistake for me.

I think I will try Bang, first. If I don't like what happens there I will try this Grrrrrreggg next. Thanks guys!

Were I a weathly person I'd hire someone to tend to my hair on a daily basis long before I would buy a boat or jewelry or any other luxury shit. I find there are few things as life-affirming as a really great haircut.

Today I have spent far too much time on ILX and far too little time on actual work and now I'm just going to go ahead and leave at 4:30 because it is beautiful outside!

Bob's Noodle and Joe's Noodle, both on 355. Joe's is across from Congressional Plaza in the same strip thing as South of the Border and a nutty eastern European grocery; Bob's is further north (just past the downtown part of R'ville) and right by TWO fun asian grocery stores and the crazy Japanese snack store whose name I can't remember at the moment but which you absolutely must go to because it is insane and has free samples of everything, including about a dozen varieties of dried fish oddities and a million different versions of salty plum snackies. If at all possible go to Bob's for lunch where you will have fantastic Taiwanese cuisine for a ridiculously small amount of money (dinner is more pricey). I could go on and on and on about Bob's so let me know if you'd like specific menu recommendations.

Joe's is Szechuan and has a menu of small dishes about a million miles long, most all of which are worth trying. Both Joe's and Bob's only take cash, so be prepared.

Also very good: A&J for Northern chinese, including great dim sum choices. That's in the plaza just north of Wintergreen plaza. Wintergreen itself has a good chinese bakery as well as Ten Ren, a cool tea shop (bubble tea alert!).

There are a couple of others that I also frequent, but I'd start with those three. Can you tell I am crazy about good Chinese food? Note that if you have chinese friends it would be good to take them along to help you navigate the menu and the waitstaff, many of whom don't see too many non-chinese customers and, when they do, toss them a completely different americanized chinese menu with general tso's chicken and eggroll type stuff.

Sorry for the dissertation; I'm kind of obsessed.

God I'm hungry now.

oh to be young and in high school again, cruising the pike at will for lack of anything better to do...

In Georgetown, I like Crooked Beat records for shopping, but I think that's about it. Any trip there is really just an excuse to go to Amsterdam Falafel.

I was on U St earier today and stopped by Carbon, Pink November, Goodwood, Millennium, and Wild Women Wear Red. Definitely more finds than Adams Morgan as a shopping area.

the 42 is key, i take it to work every morning when i have not overslept sufficiently to require that i take the less scenic, quick-all business metro.

i also like the 90 and 92 which stretch from woodley park (roughly) to capitol hill/eastern market, via u st/fla.

I'm sure I've posted on this before, but Adams Morgan has a good number of worthwhile bars. The Reef, Soussi, Rendezvous, Pharmacy Bar, Blue Room, and Asylum mean that there are more decent places on 18th than almost any other street in the city. Unfortunately, they're vastly outnumbered by lesser establishments and all bets are off on weekends.

I have a longstanding fondness in my heart for Chief Ike's Mambo Room, but went there a few nights ago to find it closed. What up?

There used to be an excellent breakfast place called Avignon Freres. It is now a Popeyes or something. Occurs to me that that block (the one with the Safeway etc.) has gone downhill while the rest of the neighborhood is getting gentrifabulous.

The roof at Tom Tom. A sublime space. But the last several times I've gone there, it's been closed. Why for?

The Caribou coffee and the parking garage opposite DCAC are both way too civilized. Adams Morgan trying to be Bethesda = dud.

Still, I like Madams Organ, Staccato, Cashion's, and the roof of Perry's. Tryst is not bad for what it is.

i don't know for sure about chief ikes, but i hadn't heard that it was closed. and re the tom tom roof, there are a lot of places that only open roofs seasonally, due to either costs or to permits. so maybe all hope is not lost!

the bethesda-like features of adams morgan these days are silly, but caribou coffee is redeemed, in my mind, by its employees being some of the nicest people i've ever encountered in the service industry.

That giant condo thing/parking garage thing just pisses me off. I miss the old Common Share too, and DCCD, and Antoine's is apparently closed. Trying to remember what's still good about Adams Morgan.. hmm.. the Ethiopian restaurants, and a Caribbean place.. Tryst is OK for ostentatiously reading something so that everyone sees what you're reading & thinks yr teh coolness..

Dudes, I say go to the Steak & Egg diner up Wisconsin Ave just before American U. PWNZ.

You know one thing that I notice whenever I'm there (having come from the NYC area)? KHAKIS KHAKIS KHAKIS!

Chez Antoine, the crepe place? It appears to be a falafel place now.

I vote for a FAP some time this week, perhaps Wednesday evening? (A job for this week that I had been anticipating, actually, fell through. I don't have too much money right now, but I do have time.)

CARIBOU COFFEE AND PARKING GARAGES ARE TOO CIVILIZED!!! GIVE ME THE EAT PLACE!!! TRYING TO BE BETHESDA BECAUSE THEY HAVE A PARKING GARAGE NOW!!! WTF POPEYE'S CHICKEN IN A NOISY, FILTHY NEIGHBORHOOD!!! "gentrifabulous" aha aha ha

Stay in Fall's Church!

BTW Chief Ike's is still open, just probably not on Tuesdays or whenever you deign to visit my neighborhood, and it's usually packed to the gills and their drinks are shit.

18th et al, to even include the Blue Room, was once a place you could go and have a good time even on a Friday night. Now it's turned into a fucking shithole, against the best efforts of the neighborhood council to keep the nightlife from ruining everything - the rudest, most insufferable elements of the population conglomerate there and everybody else with a lick of sense has moved on to other venues for their enjoyment or learned to stay home. I wish I could blame the Jumbo Slice Three but the fact that all of those establishments manage to stay in business on their revenues from just 10 hours a week spread over 2 nights is a symptom, not a cause.

The gentrification has largely failed because nobody actually wants to live there for gentrified prices. The only grocery store in walking distance being pretty crap is kind of like the straw that breaks the camel's back for that part of town.

I apologize for the fact that all my posts to this thread are basically me listing reasons why I'm moving to Rosslyn. But honestly I haven't go much else to say lately. Except to advise Mary: Tryst is a hole.

"I hear that you and your significant other have sold your condo and bought a rowhouse.
I hear that you and your significant other have sold your rowhouse and bought a condo. "

Oh and yeah, hello, there is virtually no bar in the Northern half of the world that keeps their outdoor areas/roofs open year-round, so I'm sure the Tom Tom is quite open if not by now by May 1. Though considering that even the most propagandist DC publications have all listed Tom Tom as pretty much the worst bar in DC (an assessment I'm kind of certain I agree with though I think I might prefer it to the RFD Taphouse) I'm not sure why you'd want to go!

And no, I don't think Chief Ikes is closed, unless it closed sometime in the middle of last week. I mean it's the nearest bar to our apartment so we have to pass it whenever we go out and really it seemed quite hopping last Saturday and Sunday.

I don't remember having a bad time at Chief Ike's, unless I'm conflating it with Cosmo or whatever that's called above it in my mind?

ADAMS MORGAN, GLOVER PARK WHATS THE DIFFERENCE

Also, CHI CHA LOUNGE. HATE!!!111

Note that waaaaay upthread I solicited ILXDCors opinions about what NW neighborhoods to live in and lo and behold I took your advice. If it sucks I will BLAME YOU!

now that you have, though, grow tomatoes for us!

Brooklands, in Cleveland Park across from the Uptown Theater? My sister regularly shops there.

Then a block north of that there's a small Magruder's, but that's almost all produce, a deli counter, and only a few other grocery items.

Sunday I went shopping in charming Old Town and visited Hysteria (Marc Jacobs clothing arrives in Aelxandria) and the Shoe Hive (where I tried and failed to get my mom to buy me a $100+ pair of gold ballet flats). At Hysteria the blonde saleswoman exclaimed: "It's perfect! He's an artist, and a Republican, just like my college boyboyfriend. Artistic . . . and preppy!"

We then went to Tea Cozy--the tea was good and the menu seemed promising but the execution of the food lacked something. I had mushy peas though.

Finally, drove through the Hollin Hills neighborhood (collection of 50s-modernist houses. The houses looked more like shacks then I had expected but I will try to learn to like them. The best ones had no window dressing in the front panels or the back--allowing you to see through their house to the back yard. Also, many had nice use of primary color.

Is Baltimore cooler than D.C.?

Thanks for Brooklands recommendation--I'd never even heard of it. I've been meaning to check out that Magruders--the one right by the Metro, right?

Mookie: I LOVE growing tomatoes! This year I will be growing, at minimum, a SunGold (orange cherry, prolific and delicious), a brandywine, a cherokee purple, and hopefully a german green and tangerine! Also cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, arugula, some sort of melon, lots of herbs, hot peppers, and whatever else I can get my hands on cheap. Come July we can do a FAHT (fancy a homegrown tomato?)

Giant owns the shopping center and intends to expand into the entire space (it's not a bad grocery store, but is very small by modern standards). However, this project has been hindered by historic preservationists on one hand and Giant's dubious designs on the other. (A mega-underground parking garage? All store exits only opening on the parking lot, none on the sidewalk?)

Now who would like to comment on nearby ZEBRA LOUNGE?

I won't comment on the nearby ZEBRA LOUNGE, but I will tell you to head to the very close 2 AMY'S pizzeria for amazingness.

1. The location
2. The lines
3. The fact that it's so crowded means the staff don't feel bad about being assholes to you (only sometimes)
4. Makes Pizzeria Paradiso taste like junk in comparison

But yes, it's awesome.

5. The din
6. The clientele, most of who looked like they all just came in with their double-wide strollers ('cause they had twins because they waited until they were 40 something to have kids and ended up having fertility treatments) straight from Bethesda.

I like the little overpriced side dishes w/wine, though. Just go late enough that the stiffs are all between their high-thread-count sheets.

I'm gonna eat lamb kabobs while cooing over cute woolly sheep.

Also looking forward to the "Sheep to Shawl" contest--riveting action!

So, how are all of the DCILXors? Congrats on the new place Tom, I bet you're quite relieved to be done with it.

Oh, and Ally, I think it is the utter wrongness that makes it so very, very RIGHT!

okay this is totally roffles. My sister is a fucking ren faire addict, she made my mom create costumes for her and her ex-bf, like, two years ago. Like proper boots and all, my mom had to make from scratch. It was totally bizarre and I kind of kept pestering my mom as to why she was supporting such nonsense, especially without getting paid. I think her eventual answer was that she was doing it as a test to see how well she could do it, and then make more to sell to "freakos" on eBay. I don't think she ever went thru with this plan. Probably because it is WAY TOO LAME even for bored moms.

I once met a chick at a normal-people wedding who turned out to be some kind of SCA high official. I only found out because other SCA people kept coming up and bowing/curtseying to her. Brr.

WTF is an SCA high official? Is this like the dungeon master or whatever thing from the RPG thread?

This is the atrocity they're putting behind the FBI HQ:
http://www.ventanacondos.com/images/nav_r2_c2.gif

http://www.ventanacondos.com/images/home_body_r1_c2.jpg
http://www.ventanacondos.com/images/home_body_r2_c2.jpg
http://www.ventanacondos.com/images/home_body_r4_c2.jpg

According to one of my coworkers who was looking into investment property opportunities they're going to be putting a Mickey D's in some of the retail space. McDonald's, Hard Rock Cafe, giant federal monstrosity named after an obsessive-compulsive, paranoid closet transvestite, and oh there's the theater where Lincoln was assassinated. Lovely.

This is a Sony Playstation 3:
http://e3.playstation.com/scea/i/h_003_ss_01.jpg

COINCIDENCE??!?

From the Washington Socialites blog, whatever that is:

Jenna Bush at St. Ex
By Socialite Reporter
Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Jenna Bush partied down Saturday night at Saint-Ex. "She was chain-smoking and dressed all in white," says the source. It's a step up from Smith Point, but only a step. Ahh, nothing like a cancer stick to get the party started on a Saturday night. *cough cough*