DC Metrocentric

DC Wishlist is a look at new topics and ideas around our area, from imminent projects, to long-term plans, to pie-in-the-sky ideas for the city. This week we take a look at the potential of the Historic Georgetown Canals.

Imagine a beautiful pedestrian promenade serviced by canal boats right in the heart of Georgetown. It shouldn’t be that hard to picture considering the canal has been there for over a hundred years. Unfortunately though, the pedestrians have not. The canal operated from 1828-1924 but now mainly serves as a trail for joggers. What if you could move the pedestrians off of traffic congested M Street onto the much more open, safe, and scenic canal side?

The problem of course to accomplish this there would need to be a few more reasons to get people walking along the canal, which could easily be done if some effort were spent getting some more cafes and shops along the canal.

There has already been plenty of newer building built right up against the Georgetown Canal but they have all taken the unfortunate approach of being closed towards the canal side. This is a huge missed opportunity. If these projects had created frontage to the canal with space for restaurants and stores it would draw more people to what currently is treated almost like a back alley.

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By Feature Writer - Chris Loos.  DC Wishlist is a weekly look at a new topic each week, from imminent projects, to long-term plans, to pie-in-the-sky ideas for the city. This week we take a look at a complete remix of Thomas Circle and it’s potential.

Thomas Circle has a lot of untapped potential.  With a massive equestrian statue of George Henry Thomas at its center and flanked by two gorgeous churches, its certainly not DC’s worst looking traffic circle.  The Circle is an important crossroads between the neighborhoods of Logan Circle, Shaw, Downtown, and Dupont Circle, and acts as the gateway to Mid-City when coming north from downtown.

Its a shame then that the Circle has been so underutilized.  In the 1950s, the District altered Thomas Circle to ease gridlock, changing 14th Street to cut right through the center. All that remained of the Circle was a sad football shaped piece of turf, the statue, and a single cherry tree.

In 2006, DDOT carried out a $6 million renovation that righted this wrong, bringing the Circle back to its former glory…and circular shape. New lighting, crosswalks, bike lanes, and sidewalk were added.   These days the Circle is looking pretty good, but is still missing one thing– life…

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By Feature Writer - Chris Loos.  DC Wishlist is a weekly look at a new topic each week, from imminent projects, to long-term plans, to pie-in-the-sky ideas for the city. This week we take a look at a new use for Roosevelt Island.

Let me begin by saying that my post this week falls strictly into the “pie-in-the-sky idea” column. My question is this: why don’t we develop Roosevelt Island? I know, I know: It’s a scenic park and should be preserved as such. It has a low elevation and is prone to flooding. It’s owned by the federal government and development would require some kind of public/private partnership. But what if we did?

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By Feature Writer - Chris Loos.  DC Wishlist is a weekly look at a new topic each week, from imminent projects, to long-term plans, to pie-in-the-sky ideas for the city. This week we look at a different kind of Smartbike expansion.

Last month, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced their plans to expand Smartbike DC, our city’s pilot bike sharing system. The planned expansion will increase the number of stations from 10 to 50, and increase the fleet from 120 to around 500 bicycles. My first reaction to the news was relief, as I feared the pilot program was doomed to fail before it began because of the relatively small number of stations. After all, stations need to be located near both your origin and your destination for the system to be of any use. (For reference, Paris’ successful Vélib system has 20,000 bicycles at 1,450 stations at a density of one station every 300 meters.) Luckily, the system has proven to be successful regardless of its size, with over 1,000 registered users by January this year. DDOT Director Gabe Klein stated that his goal is to eventually have the system running in all eight wards. The expansion will take place gradually, fanning “out from the city center in concentric circles”. This is indeed exciting news for our city.

Now that DDOT is thinking big, I propose a new kind of expansion to the Smartbike DC system: diversification of the bicycle fleet. According to Gabe Klein, the vast majority of Smartbike trips have been made by local commuters; residents traveling to work or running errands. Since these kinds of trips vary in distance and have various storage requirements, wouldn’t it be great to have different types of bicycles to choose from?

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By Feature Writer - Chris Loos.  DC Wishlist is a weekly look at a new topic each week, from imminent projects, to long-term plans, to pie-in-the-sky ideas for the city. For the first installment we venture a little out of bounds to National Harbor.

For the uninitiated, National Harbor is a $2.1 billion mega-development on the Maryland side of the Potomac, just south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.  The site contains 6 hotels, 16 restaurants, 20 shops, a marina, and a convention center so large it has a faux-town inside its atrium. If you haven’t visited National Harbor yet you really owe it to yourself, if only to see what $2.1 billion of new development looks like.

“But how do I get to National Harbor?”  you ask.  Well, that’s easy—  It’s right off 495 and 295.  “But I don’t have a car” you say.  No problem, just take the Green Line to Southern Avenue Station, then catch the NH1 bus to the Harbor.  Make sure you come back before 11:00pm though when the bus stops running.  Too complicated?  Well, you could take the Yellow Line to King Street Station in Alexandria, then catch the $7 hourly water taxi to National Harbor. Too expensive? Hmm…

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