A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Fun-Free Brookland: Members of the Brookland email list are disgruntled that ABRA has revoked Brookland Café’s liquor license. Some were upset to lose a fun neighborhood hangout: One person wrote, “Some people just don’t want others to have a good time.” Others felt personally attacked. In reference to the person who filed the complaint against Brookland Café, a list member said, “why does he not want me to have a beer with my friends in my own neighborhood?” And, of course, others took it upon themselves to crusade for the suds. One wrote, “This game needs to end. We could lose one of the only decent social gathering spots here in Brookland. The BCafe is listed at, or near the top in its class and the hotel is a bright jewel and one of the Dupont Collection properties. Let’s try to end this, shall we?”
Trashy Neighbors: Palisades is plagued with dog poo. One neighborhood email list member complained, “[I]t would be great if folks can bring the bagged waste back to their own trash cans, rather than throwing the bag in the trash can of the nearest house. It is not so pleasant to open our trash can and find these surprises in there!” Another member, however, defended convenient pet poo disposal and suggested a neighborly approach: “Are you really suggesting that they carry their doggie bags with them while hiking through the wonderful paths and parks in our area, or up and down the boulevard for a couple of miles? I leave my trash can near the sidewalk where people can put their doggie waste in easily (not that I’m looking for more or that I don’t appreciate it when it is tied up neatly.)”
Walmart Overload: A post on Just up the Pike spurred annoyance over the potential for a Walmart on Rockville Pike at Bou Avenue. The blog notes that it would be the third of its kind on the count—and that such a large store would inhibit current plans to develop the area with multiple smaller businesses. A commenter chimed in: “No one can take this urban boulevard seriously unless there’s transit that actually supports it. In the absence of transit and transit-oriented development we’ll see things like this Wal*Mart proposal…on a stretch of R’ville pike that really does not need thousands more cars on weekends.” Not to mention, Walmart will open four stores in D.C. proper in the next few years.
Just in Case You Didn’t Know: Halloween can be confusing, as evidenced by a member of the Chevy Chase email list. They asked, “Does anyone know when ‘official’ trick or treating is (door-to-door)? Sat, Sun or Mon?” Luckily, another member of the list gave an exceedingly polite answer: “I don’t know whether it’s ‘official,’ but, in my experience, for at least the past 11 years, door-to-door trick-or-treating in our neighborhood has always been on Halloween.”