A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Adams Morgan Hotel is to Global Capitalism…: As is wont to happen on the Adams Morgan email list, a conversation about the forthcoming conversion of the First Church of Christ Scientist (and Washington City Paper‘s offices) into a boutique hotel has flared up again. “Why is this hotel constantly being referred to as ‘historic?'” writes one member. “Also, not to burst anyone’s bubble, but there is no way that they would ever get more than $300 a night. Our own Hilton normally does not charge even $200 a night. So why one earth would someone pay $500 a night to wake up and step out into that mess around Freedom Park?” Another counters, “I’m pretty sure that $400+ a night was randomly made up in the head of one of the anti-hotel people and has been put forward as fact since then. The hotel hasn’t even broken ground yet, there is no way the room rates are determined. I agree that as is that location would never be able to get $300+ a night today. But it’s development 101, put the hotel there now and in five years the area around it has been upgraded and those rates are feasible. (see Chinatown, Convention Center, Logan).” And a third poster asserts, “Aside from the handful of local denizens who have been fighting the battle against global capitalism in all its forms for the past decade or three, the community is pretty much behind this project.”
Bread Bowls for All: New Columbia Heights decides that Panera coming to DCUSA is not necessarily the end of the world. “At first I was a bit worried about Panera coming, as I thought there were too many chains in DCUSA, but then I realized that’s basically going to happen no matter what,” says the blog. “As long as they are useful, as in they generate foot traffic and aren’t dead spaces like a bank or something, and as long as the interesting local, independent spots keep coming to the rest of the neighborhood, I’m happy.” Commenters generally agree; “I’m with you on disliking chains going in, rather than independent places, but if it’s gotta be a chain, then at least Panera gives us another healthy option,” writes one.
We’re Number One! Frozen Tropics notes that Richard Florida, the urban studies guy best known for his obsessive ranking of anything with a whiff of density, put H Street NE in the number-one spot on his “10 great places to explore urban neighborhoods” list. One commenter willfully ignores the redundancy of that title, writing “This is awesome. Taste it Georgetown.”
Meanwhile, in Chevy Chase: The email list is tackling a variety of issues. This includes the following: “Gutter cleaner available,” “difficulty with Office of Tax and Revenue,” “Guide to Window Repair and Preservation,” “Need Sleep doctor,” “Dell printer for sale,” “Tampering at Verizon equipment sites,” “Free: Kids’ ergonomic computer desk,” “Can videocassettes be recycled?, “Need home for beautiful, declawed cat,” “Need place to donate books, person to take them there,” “Looking for large quantities of used Tennis Balls,” “Seeking kids’ tandem trailer bike,” and “Free: 19 Keurig decaf coffee & tea cups.”