A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.

Park in My Backyard: The ongoing conversation on the Petworth email list regarding what kind of restaurants the neighborhood needs has devolved, unsurprisingly, into calls for more parking. For example, one member writes, “Since I moved to Petworth in 2010 I’ve lamented the lack of parking along Georgia Ave. It is difficult to frequent some of the restaurants along there. Going forward, these large apartment and condo developments should be required to allocate a certain portion of their underground parking to public parking for a reasonable fee. Many folks criticize the parking under DCUSA but that has proven very valuable at times. I’ve tried to go to Chez Billy a few times and was ‘forced’ to illegally park in the Safeway lot because nothing was available.” But another says, “Yes, going forward let’s make lots of room for more cars. There should be cars allocated everywhere. Some streets should have diagonal parking and some should have a herringbone pattern. I can envision a Greek key pattern for municipal parking areas for a more pleasing visual effect. Nothing is nicer in a mid-sized city than the sight of cars parked all over the place, sidewalks should be considered. I have lamented the lack of occupied car cubbies too. I was once ‘forced’ to walk on my feet from my house to a restaurant! I think certain streets should be converted into parking lots where people could park there cars for a reasonable fee.”

This Year’s Flower Thief: On the MPD 7D email list, a member writes, “I’d just like to warn folks that there’s a lawn furniture thief in our area. I went out to find my two old metal chairs that I’d rescued from the trash several years ago and painted bright red missing from my front yard. I’m not going to make a huge deal about it because they were old and didn’t cost me anything but the price of three cans of Krylon, but it’s the principle of the thing. Somebody walked inside my gate, picked them up, and walked (or more likely, drove) off. Watch your furniture and other items.”

Circle of Hell: Driver’s Choice: “I passed the circle at approx. 11:30 AM and there was yet another accident at the roundabout (intersection of 16th St., Colesville Road, Eastern Ave). You may want to avoid it for a little while,” writes a member of the Shepherd Park email list. After that member reports of a second accident, another adds, “There have been too many accidents at this location. I almost had one last week. Something must be done. This whole circle must be redesigned. Who is the responsible party?” In a separate thread titled “Confusion Circle,” a third member writes, “At least three car-to-car crashes today. Why? Among other reasons, the traffic light pole on the median at 16th Street (southbound) and North Portal Drive, (westbound) has two traffic signals—one for 16th and the other for North Portal. For some reason both signals are pointing in the direction of southbound 16th Street. Thus, this traffic always has a green light. Or a red light. Driver’s choice. The most prominent signal for drivers on North Portal probably makes the intersection appear as an uncontrolled intersection to drivers who are not familiar with the intersection.”

No Shit: “Please pick up after your dogs and advise your dog walkers to do the same. Every morning we water our yard and garden, and every morning we are cleaning up after dogs. This tells me that late night and early morning dog walkers are too lazy to clean up after the dogs,” pleads a member of the Palisades email list. A second poster adds this anecdote: “We very much appreciate the reminder—we’ve repeatedly found it on our front lawn, right by the car, this past two weeks—our young son has shoes made to fit over his orthotics and when these are out of action (being scraped and washed and left out to dry) he has no others. Yes, we will get a second pair but can’t do so until we get new custom-made orthotics, in coming weeks.”