DC Metrocentric

Periodically we turn the site over to a different neighborhood blogger from the metro area and let them loose on a series of topics about what makes their neighborhood great. This week we are focusing on the well known neighborhood of Georgetown.

Site Name: The Georgetown Metropolitan

Neighborhood: Georgetown

Neighborhoods Best Kept Secret?

The industry-standard answer to that is Montrose Park. But I’m not so sure that’s much of a secret these days: the parking spots around it get filled with out-of-state plates on sunny days. I’d say the other best kept secret about Georgetown is that it’s not that expensive to live here if you look hard enough. There are plenty of apartments owned by random people (i.e. not managed buildings) that go for prices at or below what you pay to live right near a Metro stop. Just learn to ride the Metrobus and you’ll be fine.

Favorite Neighborhood Building?

That’s a tough one. I just got married at the Dumbarton House, so that will always have a special meaning to me. I’ve always loved the architecture of Christ Church. It’s like it’s reverse foreshortened (the details are smaller the closer they are to the ground) which makes it seem huge without really being that big. I always smirk walking by the Hamilton House remembering that it once was a den of beatnik bacchanalia. But if I had to pick a favorite: there’s something about 1237 30th St. that I’ve always loved. Maybe it’s the single candlelights outside every window or the tiny spitehouse next door. I just always love walking by that house.

Least Favorite Building?

That’s easy: Washington Harbour. It’s an abysmally designed train-wreck. It has no character and it’s populated by mostly bland and cheesy establishments. We could have done something so much better with the waterfront than to drop a huge suburban mall-type complex there. It does so little to engage the water; it simply uses the river as a back drop for suburbanites getting drunk. For a local example of what we could have done with a waterfront take a look at Alexandria. It’s got docks, parks, and restaurants without losing the Old Town charm. There is no drop of Georgetown charm at Washington Harbour. There’s not much of a harbor there either.

Biggest Current Issue for Residents?

The first thing to know is that Georgetown is not really one neighborhood. It’s at least three separate and distinct neighborhoods: the East Village, the West Village, and the lower half (sometimes call Cherry Hill). Each sub-neighborhood has its own bugaboo. In the East Village its always crime (mostly robbery and burglary) but recently it’s been the fight to save Scheele’s Market. The West Village is always complaining about parking, traffic, and GU students, not always in that order. I really don’t know what the lower half is concerned about. They probably fret over the K St. nightlife. I’m sure they all have strong opinions on whether to keep or get rid of the Whitehurst Freeway.

New Development you are looking forward to?

I’d still love to see Jonathan Umbel open up his planned butcher shop next to his Tackle Box, but its prospects seem dimmed. However, the final completion of the Waterfront Park is going ahead and that will be a great addition when it’s done in about a year and a half. I would say I’m looking forward to the Apple store, but I’m not really an Apple guy.

Anything you would like to ask the DCMetrocentric readers?

The only thing I’d ask is to remember that most residents in Georgetown are neither opera-glass toting dowagers or obnoxious Smith Point patrons. At the Georgetown Metropolitan I’ve endeavored to focus on the average experience of most residents and ignored the Cafe Milano sightings, the Georgetown Ladies Social Club, or the like. That’s all Washington Life’s idea of what Georgetown is about. I believe it’s much more interesting than that.

Do you have a neighborhood site that you would like to see featured in FocusOn? Send us an email, we love to hear from you! DCMetrocentric@gmail.com