The District Curmudgeon

Change happens all the time. When it comes to a neighborhood, some call it progress, while others lament the passage of time. Regardless of the position you take, it can be jarring to wake up one...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2014/02/goodbye-to-another-piece-of-old-trinidad.html

"…got me invested in some kind of fruit company…" "Made up my mind, make a new start, goin' to California with an achin' in my heart." - Led Zeppelin I'm going to keep this one short f...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2014/01/this-isnt-goodbye.html

I used the DC311 mobile app to report this damaged school zone flasher on April 23, 2013. **UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Ben Berkowitz, co-founder and CEO of SeeClickFix. It sounds l...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/07/feel-like-your-311-requests-get-lost-in.html

For years, there has been a leak of some sort coming up through the sidewalk on West Virginia Avenue NE, just north of the intersection with Fenwick Street, in front of property used by the DC De...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-west-virginia-avenue-wetland-is.html

By necessity, this is just going to be a narrative without embellishment. I just wanted to share this story because I mentioned it on Twitter, and many people responded out of concern for me and ...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-run-in-with-kids-outside-of-fragers.html

Sloppy work on blogs deserves to be called out, especially when the author of the work seeks an air of authority on a subject. I'm taking this opportunity to ask Simon Jacobsen to do a better jo...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/06/vanishedthe-ruined-capitol-doesnt-live.html

I'm not here to give you a prediction regarding the results of today's election. We'll find that out very soon. What I do want to put out there are some things that I would wager would be talked...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/04/non-professional-four23dc-election.html

Metro Blur, by theqspeaks We welcome the occasional reader submission here at The District Curmudgeon, and this little bit of righteous anger from our friend Jonathan Gitlin sums up what w...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/03/reader-submission-wmata-passenger.html

As a former Michigander, it always bothered me to see the state represented without the Upper Peninsula or Isle Royale. A map showing only the Lower Peninsula, labeled "Michigan," is incomplete. ...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/03/state-of-incompletion.html

I guess it's that time - the yearly litter bomb from Two Rivers Public Charter School . Nearly a year ago to the day, I wrote about this school's lazy attempt at neighborhood outreach. They've...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/03/irony-litter-from-two-rivers-pcs-on-its.html

I was poking around in DDOT 's photo archive on Flickr last night, and I came across the following photo: Southeast/Southwest Freeway 1968 (DDOT on Flickr) It's a picture of the construct...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/02/ddot-photo-of-old-sears-building-on.html

Trilogy NoMa is a strange apartment complex. To start with, the name is ridiculous. The buildings were built in a long-established neighborhood (Eckington  , since 1830) that just happened to...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-two-block-shuttle-for-urban-lifestyle.html

A solid low-stone retaining wall is about to become part of history (probably tomorrow). Do you know any stone masons in DC who could use this material? Let them know as soon as you can! Read on ...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2013/02/open-letter-to-local-stone-masons.html

Most DC news outlets have covered the story about WMATA cutting bus service to some streets east of the Anacostia River. The rationale for those cuts are incidences of rocks being thrown at buse...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/wmata-changing-more-than-just-rock.html

Can a relatively innocuous real estate sign be tone deaf? Maybe. These signs, advertising the Flats at Atlas apartments, have been up for months in tree boxes in the blocks surrounding the b...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/urban-pioneers.html

We went to my first-ever D.C. United match on Saturday (it was Jaime's second). While the end result was ultimately unsatisfying (a draw that led to the team being bounced from the playoffs), we...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/dc-uniteds-appreciative-open-letter-to.html

This summer, DCRA's Office of the Zoning Administrator issued a preliminary ruling on a plan for new houses to be built on the piece of land at the southwest corner of Florida and West Virginia ...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-homes-at-corner-of-florida-and-west.html

Is your supercan's lid, wheels, or lift bar (the metal bar halfway down the front of the can) broken? Get in touch with DPW via the 311.dc.gov website ASAP, and you'll get it repaired for free! ...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/carry-out-menu-fromthe-department-of.html

Do you remember the "New Town " project that was pushed by John Ray and Sang Oh Development 6 years ago in the Florida Avenue Market area? It was touted by Vincent Orange during his failed mayora...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/pretty-soon-you-wont-recognize-place.html

The Friends of the Woodridge Library is having its fall used book sale this Saturday, November 17, from 9:30 am until 4:00 pm, at the library (located at the corner of 18th Street and Rhode ...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/friends-of-woodridge-library-book-sale.html

Check out this full-page advertisement from the current issue of the Washington City Paper : It turns out Bloomingdale is a new neighborhood! Not sure exactly when it came into being, but fo...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-new-neighborhood-just-appeared-in-dc.html

This weekend, Patrick B. Pexton, the Washington Post's ombudsman, wrote an article lamenting his paper's coverage of local news ]. In it, he states that the complaint he hears most is that "The p...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/first-step-for-post-metro-section.html

We're always happy to spread the word about events at Art Enables , one of our favorite places in Woodridge, DC, on Rhode Island Avenue NE. This weekend, check our their latest art workshop. ...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/11/art-enables-saturday-workshop.html

Different commercial districts around the city have had fall festivals for years, taking advantage of what is usually good weather to invite people from around the city and the region to see ...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/09/this-saturday-first-foria-fall-fest.html

Here's a quick story about how, even though city services in DC are so much better than in the bad old days, there still is much to be desired... I found a license plate from a car in our fro...

http://distcurm.blogspot.com/2012/07/northern-charm-and-southern-efficiency.html