3100 Block Martin Luther King Ave., SE.  © 2012 Matt Dunn

Photo Slideshow.  Jan. 16th along Martin Luther King Ave., SE. © 2012 Matt Dunn

The blog South East Socialite conducted a poll this week to find out what visions residents in Congress Heights have for the avenue: What should go and what should stay?

Only 69 votes have been cast so far—OK, that's a pretty small sample—but here are the results: 68 percent voted for "10 less liquor stores," 31 percent picked a "Walgreens instead of Popeyes," 15 percent wanted to see "the entire block ablaze," and 5 percent said they want "Shepard's Park destroyed." Those four answers were the only options.  

LaShaun Smith, who created the blog, isn't surprised by the results. "I've talked to many residents, and most of the homeowners are embarrassed by how MLK Avenue looks. I have some friends that actually take alternate routes home so friends and family will not see how horrible the street looks. The Popeye's Chicken looks nasty. Many of us hate there are so many liquor stores. There really should be a D.C. law against how many liquor stores can operate within a mile."

Smith, a Congress Heights resident herself, would like to see more respectable establishments, such as coffee shops—Big Chair!—a trendy cafe, a bakery, and a nice lounge for mingling. "Not everyone in Southeast would like to buy liquor and Philly blunts. It would be best to have business owners that live right here in Southeast," adds Smith.

Of course, MLK Avenue (formerly Nichols Avenue) intersects with Malcolm X Avenue (formerly Portland Street), and Smith points out that residents are well aware of the legacy of both names.

"Yes, we are all concerned," says Smith. "MLK links to Malcolm X Avenue. I believe it's the only intersection of its kind that links the two civil rights leaders. They would be embarrassed."

Photo by cliff1066™, Creative Commons Attribution License

Dee Does The District doesn't appreciate a sad bit of race baiting reported from the marathon hearing on the DCPS teacher layoffs.

Harry Potter and the Urban School Nightmare despairs over their students' poor attendance. They write:

"Our school's enrollment is down, and attendance is lower than I've ever seen it. When I first started at my school, I routinely had between 25 and 30 students in my class each day. Now, I'm lucky if I get 12. Today, less than half of my students were in class, and last week the average was 55%. Now, the kids who are there every day are learning like FIENDS, but at this rate 45% of my kids are going to fail. So what gives?"

DC Teacher Chic reports from her classroom a new trend—the working lunch. They write:

"This past week, I welcomed my students into my classroom / office space to eat their lunches. At first, it started because a few students were finishing assessments while eating their lunches (so as not to miss further instruction). To say the students loved the idea is an understatement. In the days following, my working lunches have blossomed from four students to seven, with several more students showing interest in attending next week."

Borderstan reports property crimes and violent crimes were up in September according to the latest crime stats: "Total crime (both violent and property crimes) for the  month of September 2009 in the Borderstan crime area¹ is 27% higher than in September 2008 and 61% higher than September 2007." The blog has maps and stats.

The 42 does not miss the Real World folks. But if you do miss the cameras or the realty competition shows, the blog knows what film crews are coming next.

And Now, Anacostia admires some new display windows on MLK.

Southwest...The Little Quadrant That Could has an update on Arena Stage's redevelopment.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery