Last week the City Paper reported on moves to ban the sale of single beers along the up-and-coming H Street stretch in Northeast, part of an attempt to reduce the quality of life crimes, like public urination or disorderly conduct, that seemingly go hand-in-hand with 24-ounce cans of Bud Ice and 40-ounce bottles of Old English Malt Liquor. Of course, the proposal is nothing new — Mt. Pleasant adopted a similar ban in 2001, and in 2005 then-Ward 4 Councilmember Adrian Fenty saw fit to extend the ban to the whole city until a court shot it down for not having been subjected to necessary public scrutiny.

And just like most debates in the District, this one has been tinged by the dirty word of the decade — gentrification. One side argues that this is simply about getting rid of the single beer cans and bottles that invariably end up on sidewalks, in alleys and in front of aspiring businesses. The other side claims that the only thing the pro-ban crowd wants to get rid of are the type of people that usually buy single beers — poor, black and less than likely to shop at those aspiring businesses. But the race and class lines have crossed this time, and even Erik Wemple, a self-identified yuppie and Editor-in-Chief of the City Paper, has found himself defending the single beer:

Well, I’m gainfully employed, and I love the single beer. I must confess that years ago, I didn’t see the point. If I bought beer, it was either in a six-pack, case, or keg. That’s because I was generally consuming it with friends or at a party. I agreed with the activists that the single was for folks who’d most likely down their beer out on the street. Now, though, I am married, and a big can of Corona or Heineken has become a perfect dinner libation for the Mr. and Mrs.

Joe Englert, bar owner-extraordinaire, H Street restaurateur and victim of the single beer, differs, writing in response to Wemple:

I find it more than a little amusing that someone who buys their singles in Dupont Circle and Logan Circle has the nerve to write off those of us who live on H Street and support a singles ban as NIMBYs. This proposal is a response to an easily documented situation – you need only walk through the alleys on either side of H Street to see the accumulated empties from those whose thirst simply couldn’t wait (and the accumulation that comes from their bladders being unable to wait afterwards).

For some odd reason, these empties tend to be overwhelmingly singles. Either the folks who buy the six packs and the full-size spirits are more conscientious about where they throw their empties, or — just maybe — the availability of singles along H Street is contributing directly to the litter and the public drinking.

Most people we’ve asked (in a completely unscientific poll) are opposed to such a ban, at least a citywide version, usually because they see no need, no point, or simply refuse to buy Sparks in any quantity exceeding the single can. But we can also see each neighborhood choosing their own adventure — after all, an ANC commissioner on H Street might see a need for a ban while their counterpart in Cleveland Park won’t.

Where do you stand?