From this [Park(ing) Day]…

To this…

The organizers of Park(ing) Day DC seemed none too pleased with the post I wrote about their event. Apparently, the explanatory tone was not oozing with enough enthusiasm for them, so one coordinator took the time to type out his own version.

Read More “Now That’s What I Call a Sidewalk!” »

Ray LaHood—or whoever writes Ray LaHood’s official blog Fast Lane—loves Union Station’s spiffy, new bike station.

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation says the new facility is “a model example of the kind of sustainable mobility President Obama’s Livable Communities initiative seeks.”

The bike station, which was in the works for ages, finally opened up last Friday. It includes “parking for over 100 bikes, about 50 rentable lockers, a relatively spacious changing room, and a bike repair shop,” as DCist reported.

Read More “Ray LaHood Goes Gaga for Union Station Bike Center” »

I spent much of last Thursday and Friday reporting on the Colombia is Passion campaign, which has inundated our city with colorful heart statues.

Some say they’re promoting tourism, and the country’s culture and identity. Others say they’re a manipulative push for the Colombian Free Trade agreement.

And those people are protesting—starting at 4:30, in front of Union Station.

This afternoon, I spoke to Bill Holland of Public Citizen Global Trade Watch.

He said his group, as well as Witness for Peace, TransAfrica Forum, International Labor Rights Forum, and the Colombia Human Rights Committee, are participating in this afternoon’s gathering.

Read More “Protest Against Colombian Hearts Starting Soon” »

This morning, I spotted what can only be described as a sculptural advertisement in Adams Morgan.

Well, I neglected to see the one literally diagonally across the street at the intersection of 18th Street and Columbia Road.

These things—40 of them, to be exact—should be popping up all over the place. Our photographer Darrow Montgomery reported some in Dupont Circle.

Read More “Colombian Fiberglass Advertisements Popping Up All Over D.C.” »

This Friday, the District is renaming the 700 block of 10th Street—right in the heart of downtown between Metro Center and Chinatown—“Bud Doggett Way.”

Born in 1920, Doggett grew up near Union Station, back in the days when it was called Swampoodle, not NoMa.  He was known as a philanthropist and “parking lot tycoon,” according to his obituary in the Washington Post last August. In 1967, Doggett became the president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. He founded an organization called Heroes Inc., which gave money to the families of fallen police officers.

Here’s a bit more from his obituary:

[Doggett] spearheaded projects that helped rejuvenate the city’s downtown slums. City leaders advancing a worthy cause knew that they could count on Mr. Doggett. He would ask, “Are you sure that’s all you need?” and end the conversation by saying, “The check is in the mail.” Most recently, Mr. Doggett was a driving force behind the District’s impressive Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Read More “Part of 10th Street Becoming “Bud Doggett Way”” »

The American Planning Association just named its 2008 “Great Places in America,” “places of exemplary character, quality, and planning.” Three local spots make the list: Union Station, a great “public space,” and Main Street in Annapolis and Clarendon and Wilson Boulevards in Arlington.

Um wonderful, I guess. Personally, I think the marketing and promotion on these awards is a little off. I mean, shouldn’t this be a Great Places Hall of Fame or something? It’s not as if Union Station was built yesterday, and yet Mayor Adrian Fenty, and Harriet Tregoning, Director of D.C.’s Office of Planning, spoke at a little awards ceremony at Union Station this morning. I wondered what they said, exactly: “If Union Station’s architect David Burnham were here today, he would be mighty proud. Unfortunately, he could not attend because he died in 1912.”

Can today’s bureaucrats take credit for any aspect of Union Station’s greatness? In all seriousness, I was curious. I put this question to Sean Madigan, spokesperson for Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. For one thing, stated Madigan, Union Station was a mess in the 1980s, and a massive amount of local and federal funds was committed to rehabbing the building and adding retail.

Okay, that’s nice, yet still a historical detail. Anything, say, a little more 21st century? Well, a 150-bike rack is currently being built on the western side of the building, not too far from the METRO entrance, said Madigan. Read More “Union Station and Clarendon are “Great Places”” »