But where? asks WashBiz. Moreover, where should Apple locate a DC retail store? Georgetown, U Street, Gallery Place? Vote here.
DC had a meeting with Nordstrom about the idea of bringing the store to the dated Georetown Park mall, reports the WaPo. "We look for a location . . . that already has entertainment and restaurants that draw customers," a Nordstrom official says.
Western Development is reported to be planning major changes to upgrade the mall, which was built in the 1980s. There is talk of some sort of subsidy too. DC officials compared the situation to the construction of Gallery Place.
Remember when DC passed on a downtown Bloomingdales in the 1990's because it would not provide a subsidy. Times sure have changed.
It's hard to over-estimate how great the circulator bus is. Wanna go shopping in Georgetown but you are standing in front of your condo downtown or just finished a meeting on Capitol Hill? Take the Metro? But it don't go. Take a cab? Only if the boss is paying. The Circulator is the answer.
So why do some malign it. "I think it is time to put the Circulator in mothballs. In my daily travels, I find most of the buses barely occupied," someone told the WaPo.
Hello. . . The circulator is the only way to get across town. The bus got even better a month or so back when it was extended up Wisconsin Ave.
Ok naysayers. DDOT statistics for the Circulator system show ridership is growing. Total ridership for April 07 was 202,000, compared with about 182,000 in April 06. Slow, but steady growth.
Soon the condo dwellers along K St., the shoppers along M St. and the homeowners along P St. will be able to walk down to a new park along the Georgetown waterfont.
WTOP reports progress on construction on the park that will feature an interactive fountain and steps down the water.
As we have said before, it is a shame there is no retail component to this. Of couse, we hare not suggesting a Costco, but a stand where they sell ice cream sandwiches or hot cocoa would be nic.e
But no playground, dog run, basketball court or anything that will make the park an active site. A glass half full is better than an empty one, but the redevelopment could be so much more.
National Park Service begins construction Monday on the long-awaited Georgetown Waterfront Park along the Potomac River, reports the AP.
The park will eventually replace a parking lot with a waterfront promenade that will include three overlooks with sculpted granite slabs etched with images of Georgetown's maritime heritage. There also will be trees, flowers, benches and pathways. The first phase of the park will stretch upstream from Wisconsin Avenue toward the Key Bridge.
But no playground, dog run, basketball court or anything that will make the park an active site. A glass half full is better than an empty one, but the redevelopment could be so much more.
Progess is being made on the effort to replace a parking lot in G'town with a waterfront park, said the WaPo. It's hard to fathom the mindset that thought it was a good idea to use the waterfront for a parking lot.
No matter. Progress is being made. The park is planned to span the area from Key Bridge to the end of 31st Street.
Phase 1 is the stretch upstream from Wisconsin Avenue to the boathouses at Key Bridge, and construction is expected to begin this summer. Phase 2 is the terminus of Wisconsin Ave., where a plaza and fountain would connect the riverfront to the street, and construction on that won't begin until more funds are raised.
The third phase of construction would create two separate paths for bicycles and pedestrians, and would install trees and benches, from the Kennedy Center to about a half-mile upstream near Thompson boathouse, where visitors can rent kayaks, canoes and bikes and where many rowers keep their shells.
Quibbles: its going to be a passive park. In other words, the park will have paths and maybe a bench or two. No playgrounds, no cafes, no dog runs etc. Baby steps are important. Once its built, the other stuff can follow.
pix from the WaPo
BUSTED MYTH: GEORGETOWN METRO KILLED BY SWELLS
Imagine if all the shops, restaurants, bars and taverns in Georgetown DC were surrounded by a Metrorail station. Alas, it was never to be. But the station was not killed by powerful, well-connected and well-heeled Georgetown residents who did not want to be overrun by riff-raff.
The station was never built because it cost too much relative to its benefit it would have provided, says Zachary Schrag, Assistant Professor at George Mason University who recently appeared on WAMU.
As articulated in his book, A Great Society Subway, Schrag said Metro designers concluded a Georgetown stop would have:
-- cost too much:
1. Proximity to the Potomac River gave the engineers nightmares, and
2. Building such a massive project in historic Georgetown would have been worse;
-- and provided only limited benefit:
1. Georgetown is not a big employment center, and
2. The extra stop would slowed the commute from Virginia.
In fact, the only station killed by local opposition was the Oklahoma Ave. station in Northeast. The largely African-American neighborhood wanted to remain quiet. The residents convinced the powers that be that the station was a bad idea.
So much for the masterplan. I guess there is no conspiracy afterall. Or is there?
A new circulator bus route will be added to the Mall beginning this week, the WaPo reports. Like the north-south line on 7th St. NW and the K St. east-west line, the new line will cost a buck to ride and run every ten minutes or so. Buses will travel along the perimeter of the Mall and will shuttle tourist and others from museum to museum. Watch-out Tourmobile.
As for the other lines, the east-west route served 1,345 riders per day in February up from September 2005 when that figure was 985. Rather than terminating at the convention center on L St., the line will go up to O St., near the Giant supermarket. Given how crowded the 70 bus is, why not extend the line up to U Street where the Metro station is? Until the bus brings people to U St., it always will be a bus to nowhere. Some mornings DC Bubble is the only rider on that bus.
The average number of weekday trips for the north-south route last month was 3,892, compared with 2891 in September. This is the best bus in Washington. Why it took all these years to figure out that a connection between Georgetown and Union Station is needed is beyond us.
A sign at the park site and its website annuonce a groundbreaking in 2005 for the Georgetown Waterfront Park, which will be "the final jewel in Washington, DC’s riverfront necklace of green." Only problem is that there was no groundbreaking last year and no physical signs of work this year either. Today, the park looks much like the parking lot pictured below in fact it is the parking lot below.
But requests for construction bids will go out in March, said a spokesman for the National Park Service. The intention is to begin the 18 months of construction during the spring. If all goes according to plan, work on the majority of the park will be complete by fall 2007.
"This magnificent green space will curve along 10 acres of waterfront extending from the Washington Harbour complex to Key Bridge, creating the vital last link in a contiguous park extending from the mouth of the Anacostia River to the District of Columbia Line," explains the park's website.
Key features include: a new promenade, "gracious lawns," bike lanes and "lighting that offers a sense of security during evening visits." Thus far, backers of the park have raised $12M of the needed $15M for the project.
So the forthcoming request for proposal will only cover phase I, the area extending from 34th St. to Wisconsin Ave. Phase II, which includes a grand plaza and the redesign of the existing park next to Washington Harbor, won't happen until the needed funds have been raised. Donations to fund can be made through this website.
More incredible than the park itself is the notion that this prime real estate was used as a parking lot all these decades. The only thing that would have been worse would have been to build a highway. Oh wait, they did! Now if we can only get rid of the Whitehurst Freeway, but we digress.
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