July 31, 2006
Morning Roundup: Hot Teen Sex Edition
Hey there, Washington. How was your weekend? Ours was OK. Yeah, just OK. Oh sure, we're fine. We guess we're just a little troubled by some of today's headlines. As if the looming Heat Emergency, which has given us a Code Orange Air Quality day today and will place the heat index close to 110 through much of the week, wasn't disturbing enough, we alse read in the Examiner that the growth of online news readers nationwide has plateaued. According to a study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, about three in 10 adults, or 31 percent, regularly read news online, which is roughly the same as two years ago. Wait a minute. DCist began almost exactly 2 years ago. Suddenly it all makes sense! DCist is such a force to be reckoned with in the online news community, we've actually swallowed all of the growth of the Internet over the last 2 years. Who would have thought? Well this changes everything. Here's a special shoutout to all of our loyal readers who made this day possible.
New Curfew Begins: The new 10 p.m. curfew for juveniles aged 16 and younger takes effect tonight. Kids accompanied by an adult or on their way to or from work are exempt from the rule, and teens can also feel free to sit on their own front porches or stoops to pass the time. The measure was put in place as part of legislation associated with the Crime Emergency declared by Police Chief Ramsey earlier this month. We imagine many teens are pretty bummed that their late summer nights out are coming to an abrupt end. Then again, odds are good most of the city's 16-year-olds, forced to hang out in their bedrooms on a Friday night, can probably find something to do to pass the time. Not that we're condoning that sort of behavior.
Groundbreaking on Georgia Avenue: D.C. government officials will be on hand to break ground at a new, $60 million mixed-use development above the Georgia Ave./Petworth Metro station. The project, called Park Place, aims to do for Petworth what other Green Line redevelopment projects by Donatelli Development, at U Street and Columbia Heights metro stations, have done for those areas. Can one condo development turn Petworth into the next up-and-coming neighborhood? DCist will be bringing you round-the-clock team coverage.
Briefly Noted: PG County man charged with lighting his girlfriend on fire ... Police Inspector asks forgiveness for racial remark ... Marion Barry absent from an event honoring former mayors of D.C. ... murder total for the month reaches 21.
This Day in DCist: In 2004 we helped fan the fires of rage over the arrest and detention of a woman for eating some candy on her way into a Metro station.
Picture taken by Flickr user pixleslie and placed in the DCist photostream.
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Curfew:
Perhaps this comes as a relief for the kids. It's been hot as the Congo outside lately. Even on the late night tip.
New Development @ Georgia Ave/Petworth:
I walk past that lot every day on my way home. I don't think it's going to change much. On the contrary, it's just going to be an eyesore towering over the endless lanes of row houses.
If anything that development should go into Georgia Ave: a block that has more liquor stores and crap groceries than necessary.
One should note that a lot of people are putting more time and money into their cribs these days. It's nice to see some of the more neglected homes getting a much needed facelift.
should 13 or 14 year olds be wandering around the streets of DC unaccompanied at any time?
Interesting commentary......
The new Park Place development will sit directly across the street from an existing apartment building of equal height (6 stories). I don't see how it will be towering over that one. There are (plenty) other multi-story apartment buildings fronting Georgia Avenue and New Hampshire Avenue in the immediate vicinity of the new development.
Also, I thought eyesores were more along the lines of abandoned and neglected properties. No? Architecturally, Park Place does a good job blending the new modern elements of the building while acknowledging the historic elements of the neighborhood.
This development, directly on Georgia Avenue, right above the Petworth Metro Station, will coax other developers into action in the neighbourhood. And, I thought Georgia Avenue is a miles-long thoroughfare in DC. No? Georgia Avenue can definitely handle more density such as with the Park Place development.
There always has to be a test development to guage the waters for future developmental success. Park Place is exactly that test for the Petworth neighborhood.
Actually, Park Place is not the only new development happening at the Petworth stop. There's a number of new construction projects planned for the immediate area, as well as a number of good new businesses. Park Place will change a lot of the neighborhood (I think, for the better), but a lot of that change is also already happening.
Um, the suggestion that 13- and 14-year-old kids should never be left unsupervised is just sort of insane.
Curfew:
In most neighborhoods, this so called curfew is not gonna change a damn thing.
Petworth Development:
Let's be honest Petworth residents--what the area needs is a total redevelopment of Georgia Ave from New Hampshire down to Howard University. There's a vast number of vacant lots and boarded up buildings on Georgia Ave, right now is effectively an eyesore. Nothing more than crap liquor stores, second rate grocery shops. I won't even discuss that nasty titty bar where they show Redskins games when it's football season.
There's maybe a handful of stores in there that are useful ie a couple of decent barber shops and that record store that sold me Ghostface Killah's "Fishscale" the day before it's street release.
I'm not asking for Whole Foods and Starbucks, I'm asking for proper quality and useful businesses. A bunch of condos and crap coffee shops or pointless boutiques aren't going to cut it (coughCOLUMBIAHEIGHTScough). I mean, who really needs a UPS store or a Carvel?
OOPS. didn't proofread. I meant to say...
should 13 or 14 year olds be wandering around the streets of DC unaccompanied, after 10, at any time? crime emergency or not?
I completely agree with K's statement on the redevelopment throughout Georgia Ave. I know because I live on Georgia and Harvard and I see the boarded up houses and numerous liquor stores on daily basis.
And as for the Curfew:
It's a good idea, but it will still not in various neighborhoods in the city.
I completely agree with K's statement on the redevelopment throughout Georgia Ave. I know because I live on Georgia and Harvard and I see the boarded up houses and numerous liquor stores on daily basis.
And as for the Curfew:
It's a good idea, but it will still not in various neighborhoods in the city.
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