- City Desk - Washington City Paper

Dupont Circle Logan Circle U Street

Posted by Angela Valdez on Aug. 25, 2008, at 12:34 pm

Borderstan, an in-between hood described here, is inching toward legitimacy here, with its own website.

Comments

mattyillini August 25th, 2008
9:45 pm

#1

Here is what Borderstan is all about... go to borderstan.com and click on "About" at the top.

Q. Where is – and what is — Borderstan?
A Borderstan is your neighborhood. We’re in the Dupont/Logan area between 14th and 16th Streets NW and P and S Streets NW. The neighborhood is split between Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) 2F/Logan Circle and 2B/Dupont Circle, the Second and Third Police Districts, and Police Patrol Service Areas (PSA) 307 and 208.

Q. Why did the people of Borderstan form a semi-autonomous region and ask the D.C. Police for recognition?
A. We felt the best way to get the support we need from various city resources (like the police) was to give ourselves a name and declare our existence! We wanted to make clear that even though our small neighborhood straddled the boundaries drawn by the city’s administrators, we are a still a single neighborhood. Problems (and solutions!) flow across those invisible PSA and ANC boundaries.

Q. Does Borderstan have an official “governing body” or official “community group?”
A. Nope. We’re just a bunch of folks who are availing ourselves of the power that comes from group action. We do have an email group, and some of us meet fairly regularly with police officials who serve our area. The more voices that are heard, the better we’ll be able to understand who we are as a neighborhood. In other words, the more the merrier!

Q. Exactly what do Borderstanians want?
A. Many things, naturally—endless sunshine and flowers, to end hunger, prevent fashion crimes, bring about world peace and to have safer streets. But, Borderstanians are pragmatic by nature. Thus, we’ve have decided that safer streets are attainable, so this is our goal.