September 25, 2007
Morning Roundup: The World is Flat Edition
Good morning, D.C. With much of the hot political action this week taking place at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, it's our job to pull your focus away from trivial issues the mainstream media seem obsessed with, like global climate change, and bring it back down to what's really important at the local level, like complaining about how gasoline could be about to get really, really expensive in Maryland. What's that you say? The two issues are somehow related? You don't say.
Rooftop Additions Giving People Aneurysms: The front page of the Washington Post is devoted to how some people don't like rooftop additions that are popping up on rowhouses in the city. They don't line up with the other rowhouses, you see, and this makes them eyesores.
Metro Could Get Flatscreen Panels for Ads: We've known for some time that Metro General Manager John Catoe has been considering adding more advertising space to stations and trains, but this morning he told WTOP that he'd like to add flat screen panels to stations to display TV-style ads. In addition to the ads, Catoe says he'd be able to offer customers weather and news information, as well as service updates. The Riders Advisory Council is considering asking for a limit to the number of ads that could be shown on such screens.
Briefly Noted: Freshman charged with shootings at Delaware State ... Special Ed hearings to come in D.C. Council ... Alexandria must pay $2 million to dredge marina ... Woman shot at Adams Morgan Safeway.
This Day in DCist: In 2006 we were tracking the E. coli outbreak in spinach in Maryland and reviewing The Science of Sleep.
Photo by Pianoman75
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Rooftop extensions are eyesores because they're gross. It's like wearing a hat made of someone else's head.
Very few, if any, rowhouse rooftop extensions are done with any regard for the architectural flow of the blocks they're on. 95% of the extensions I've seen are ugly, often with different building materials and sometimes different colors than the lower floors. In fact the only extension I've seen that I felt actually tastefully blended in with the surrounding house is one along Maryland Ave NE.
Plenty of fugly rooftop extentions in historic districts. Look around 13th, U, or T Streets NW. But if it's built to code, I don't see how you can do squat about it. Unless you want to amend the regulations to fit some nebulous aesthetic criteria, which wouldn't be a first for DC.
Hopefully the new screens could also show the time. The screens the platform that show when the next train is arriving used to show the time. Now they don't and it is sorely missed.
Hopefully the new screens could also show the time. The screens on the platform that show when the next train is arriving used to show the time. Now they don't and it is sorely missed.
Anyone take the 42 this morning? How did it work out? Second Tuesday in a row where I've walked to work because the bus/traffic has been wack. I saw several go past on 16th and go down U St...
fist, westbound Columbia was closed b/t 16th & somewhere along the 1700 block because of the investigation of the shooting at Safeway. I guess they detoured down 16th.
DCfist: The 42 was a mess this morning due to the shooting at the Safeway. Columbia Rd. was closed between 16th & 18th.
I've long dreamed about putting a rooftop extension on my house. Because I live in a historic district all plans must be approved by the DC government and historic representatives. Does anyone know for a fact what such an extension would cost?
If a rooftop extension was done in 1920 it is part of history, but if its done now it is ugly. I'm not saying there shouldn't be any limits or guidelines set for additions, but I get tired of folks complaining about how these things are "out of sync" or "don't fit" in the neighborhood. Articles like this are always biased towards the people who don't like these things, because on the other side, its just people who don't really care or have an opinion.
Thanks guys, but I knew that Columbia was closed for the shooting (saw it on the news before leaving for work, thank goodness)... but what I want to know is how did it impact the 42 time-wise.
Basically I just want validation for being smug because I walked instead of bussed... I also wonder what happened to all of the people who live along Columbia. Big suckage there.
Ugh, that extension pictured in the WaPo article... wow. It's funny that the most anal regulations exist in boring, soulless, fugly condo complexes, but these beautiful and historic rowhouses are open to all kinds of molestation.
Regardless of historic district status, when you put a poorly designed addition on your home that is visible from the street, you negatively impact the surrounding neighborhood. Some people might think this is a minor issue and not worth the discussion. But the truth is, for most folks, their house is their largest investment as well as a reflection of their own personalities. Too many insensitive alterations done in the name of "well it looks better than it did before" don't help in the long run and harm the values and character of the surrounding neighborhood.
I loved the quote from the woman who moved to PG county and thinks the newcomers to Petworth are "disrespecting the neighborhood" (her mother still lives in the city, though!)
I took the 42 in this morning. I typically get on at Chief Ikes, right before the Safeway, and instead I got on at the next stop, by the Blockbuster. I only had about a 15 minute delay.
I'm hoping that they will have things cleaned up by the end of the day. I heard this morning that the woman shot, who is apparently the night manager at Safeway, had died. I also heard that the shooter was her ex GF.
Give me a break... cities by their very nature are fluid. Things change in them all the time.
Its their property, they should be able to modify as they see fit.
"Its their property, they should be able to modify as they see fit." Would you be okay with your neighbors tearing down their house and building a high rise? Or a factory? That's the argument for zoning. When your house is ugly, you don't have to look at it, the people across the street from you do.
People should be allowed to add on, but it should closely match the material and style of the house and neighborhood. I don't think using different materials is generally done to be funky or to express a style, but rather is a statement of cheapness.
"Give me a break... cities by their very nature are fluid. Things change in them all the time.
Its their property, they should be able to modify as they see fit."
I disagree with this logic. Generally I don't support the pure property rights view, whether it be a rural lot with wetlands, or a townhouse with historic features. Like wetlands, a historic building is in part "owned" by all of us, and we should have some say in how they are treated. Call me a commie if you wish, but that's just how I see things. These are assets of the city, and the city should take steps to preserve them.
Besides, your characterizing of cities as "fluid" is not really accurate. There has always been a tension between controlling design and property rights. Look at the Cairo. Washingtonians went crazy over that building and it's why we have height limits now. There's got to be a balance, but these atrocities are way beyond the pale.
I'll agree that you could make an argument that had these buildings mashed up two older styles they may have simply been called "eclectic" but I reject that argument. It's not just that these pop-ups merge two different styles, it's that their execution is so god awful.
I love that a woman got shot in my neighborhood right in front of a store where many of us shop, and all of the comments on here are directed to fucking rooftop decks and morning commutes. You people are assholes.
welcome to washington, guest number twenty.
Yes, guest 20, obviously anyone who comments about anything else today has no regard for that woman, her family, or her neighborhood. We should all be commenting about the shooting, even if we have no real information about it. Or perhaps DCist should shut down commenting every time someone's shot in DC.
"I love that a woman got shot in my neighborhood right in front of a store where many of us shop, and all of the comments on here are directed to fucking rooftop decks and morning commutes."
And I love how self-centered your focus is. "My neighborhood". "A store where many of us shop".
So had the shooting taken place in another neighborhood in a store you don't frequent, would it be ok to comment on something else?
Cities do ebb, flow, and change. Thank god they do.
We don't need more oversight. The folks who want change under their control have never had to endure the cost of going though the DC BZA or HPRB, or have never experienced the quote from the mason to build an addition in brick.
The hot "new" areas of DC are just that because there aren't a lot of regulations to go through, and DC needs the tax revenue. Making architects jump through more hoops only adds costs and waters down design. We don't and shouldn't expect things built in 2007 to look like 1907.
A lot of this anti-rooftopism is subjective. I'm a big fan of formstone, but Shaw yuppies can't tear that stuff down fast enough.
I guess this is the urban version of ijjits building Mcmansions in infill developments. "But we're increasing your property values by building this fugly nightmare!"
If you want this stuff banned, you can always convince Jim Graham that it's a dangerous neighborhood nuisance.
Maybe if she were shot in front of rowhouse with an ugly roof extension then I would discuss it. not all of us live in adams morgan or even shop at safeway. It’s a big city, you should get out more.
Reid, you're a tool.
Except that the areas that have experienced the highest property value growth are in historic districts. And the areas of other cities with the most expensive property are in historic districts -- Santa Fe, Charleston, Savannah, San Francisco.
Walk around the Eastern Market area and check out some monstrosities that were bestowed on that area in the 60s and 70s. There's a particularly lovely one at 9th St SE, just north of Pennsylvania avenue, full of the charm of the 70s, with a glorious minimalist setting that I'm sure has its neighbors gnashing teeth with envy as they sit on their stoops and front porches.
We don't and shouldn't expect things built in 2007 to look like 1907.
Er, so isn't the corollary of this - that houses built in 1907 shouldn't look like they were built in 2007 - exactly what the opponents are saying?
29 - But the addition **is** being built in 2007. There are many ways to skin a cat. I'm not saying that the addition displayed is a particularly adept cat skinning - but it does make a comment about the society and culture in which we live, no?
28 - Highest property value growth is because of limited supply. It is because we in the US lost the ability to build good cities. We set up zoning and building laws that don't allow us to borrow the principles of good city design from the past and apply them to today. Thus, there is a limited supply of these places that have good transit, close to jobs, with shopping and restaurants nearby.
"but it does make a comment about the society and culture in which we live, no?"
I'm not really sure what that means, but I think we're all in agreement that the additions we're talking about are the ones that are terribly executed. You can make an addition that is modern in style and materials but is complimentary to the original structure. It's just a really tough thing to accomplish with any success. Adding a design review could weed out the utter failures.
But regardless of what style you have, a rowhouse significantly taller than all its neighbors is going to look bad. The principles of good city design would agree with that observation.
FLATSCREENS? For god's sake, stop with the stupid gimmicks and just put up some damn posters like every other subway system in the world. Beer companies and plastic surgeons will buy them, commuters can easily ignore them, metro gets the money, and everyone is happy.
31 "But regardless of what style you have, a rowhouse significantly taller than all its neighbors is going to look bad. The principles of good city design would agree with that observation."
So that would make this (http://flickr.com/photos/ohadby/70985378/) a bad street?!?