check out welovedc's fantastic proposed declaration of independence for georgetown here.

by IMGoph on Mar 9, 2010 4:27 pm  

To me, the funniest thing about the secession idea was Joynt's fantasy that Georgetown would have all this money coming out of its ears. Nobody's doubting that it's a wealthy place in terms of residents, but I'm missing the massive commercial tax base... DC's tax base rests on a robust and active downtown.

by Alex B. on Mar 9, 2010 4:40 pm  

Gentification: I have lived in Baltimore city neighborhoods that were "gentrifying", and those that were not. I much prefer the "gentrifying" ones: usually the newcomers were replacing lost population, and saw new potential in the old area. Areas that did not improve often had some underlying problem, usually crime and grime. The saddest areas were ones that had gotten so bad that the only way was up.

by SJE on Mar 9, 2010 4:43 pm  

Bag fees in Maryland are definitely worth supporting. Bag use in the District has to be way down. I don't have numbers, but just judging by my own behavior and that of people I see in front of me at Giant, it's gotta be.

by Nate on Mar 9, 2010 4:50 pm  

Sure Georgetown can secede from Washington. I don't think anybody would care. What these folks are forgetting is that they won't be able to secede from the District of Columbia.

by Jasper on Mar 9, 2010 5:03 pm  

No place will ever be seceding for DC plain and simple and if it ever does happen you will have all the thousands of neighborhoods and blocks in DC become little cities/towns that pop up over night.

Speaking of billboards is that at&t screen completely on the buildings property and what about the Verizon Center one.

by kk on Mar 9, 2010 5:08 pm  

Secede from DC and ... make your own state? Retrocede to Maryland? Maybe join Virginia ... it does border Virginia.

Making your own state would be interesting. The State of Georgetown, an enclave of the District of Columbia, which is itself practically an enclave of the State of Maryland.

by Tim on Mar 9, 2010 5:33 pm  

Georgetown was once the capital of Montgomery County. I would much rather see G'town back as the MoCo capital over Rockville.

by SJE on Mar 9, 2010 6:03 pm  

One of my snowbound projects last month was "making my own state". Actually, several of them...

by Froggie on Mar 9, 2010 6:06 pm  

I know the knee jerk reaction is to hate the video billboards, but I think they are great. It gives some energy to the area. Put more up!

by beatbox on Mar 9, 2010 6:19 pm  

I agree with beatbox, the boards (Except for the one above the sidewalk) look great. DC could lease out sidewalk space like that across the city. Doesn't metro own some of the space around the entrances, if so, they could profit from allowing the extra advertising.

by arm on Mar 9, 2010 6:54 pm  

Charging for bags? We already pay sales tax for what goes into the bags. What other fees and taxes do you want? Five cents per condom, baloon, etc...? We recycle these bags. I swear that if there is a bag tax, I will throw every bag I now recycle into the trash.

K

by Kaleel on Mar 9, 2010 7:24 pm  

I swear that if there is a bag tax, I will throw every bag I now recycle into the trash.

But it's tough economic times. We need these extra fees so our children don't have to pay for them!

by Neil Flanagan on Mar 9, 2010 8:14 pm  

'Gentrification' is thrown around so easily, it's hard to know what exactly it means. Even when there is no residential displacement, your moving into a neighborhood does theoretically increase the neighboring property values and thus rents.

1. You make others' investments in the neighborhood seem safer by showing visibly and statistically (through aggregated tax records) your own willingness to invest. Money follows money.
   
2. Vacant buildings lower property values, so occupying a formerly vacant building should boost neighboring property values as well.
   
3. If your income is higher than that of your neighbors, you are pulling up the median and mean income for the area. As a result, the neighborhood becomes more attractive as a retail location. The more money in the neighborhood and the more disposable income, the higher the potential customer base. The higher the potential customer base, the higher the rents will be for commercial space.

by Eric F. on Mar 9, 2010 9:28 pm  

Richard Layman identified seven separate phenomena which can all be facets of what someone means by "gentrification":
http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2005/07/more-about-contested-space.html

by thm on Mar 9, 2010 10:03 pm  

Speaking of Alexandria and DASH, are there any plans to reinstitute some type of bus tracker? From what I've read online, they initially were trying out Next Bus, but are no longer using it? (why is that?)

Also, I've read online that they're likely to eliminate some of the DASH routes. Any information out there on which lines would either see elimination or service reductions?

by Aaron on Mar 9, 2010 11:22 pm  

Having lived through gentrification in more than one place, I have to say that people do get displaced. They almost always are renters and they do get displaced when their place is sold and remodeled, with apartments converted to condos. The cashing out happens, too.,esp. if people struggled through years of being unable to get a decent price for their house and no longer need the space.

The kind of abandonment that's still evident in parts of Central Harlem isn't necessarily what precedes gentrification. Columbia Heights may have been below its peak, but it was certainly heavily habitated before gentrifiers came-in. Ditto the areas between Logan Circle and 16th St.

Concentrating poverty in a small number of places creates all kinds of problems, but the dispersion of people that comes with gentrification can't be treated lightly.

by Rich on Mar 9, 2010 11:50 pm  

Aaron: I found this, from a hearing back in December. The fare increases were approved last week according to a DASH press release. The level of service cut is going to depend on how much money the city gives DASH this year, which won't be finalized until next month.

by Froggie on Mar 10, 2010 6:31 am  

@Nate: I think any attempt at bag fees will be struck down by the Eastern Shore and west-of-Frederick politicians. If they really want to increase tax revenue, why not explore selling beer and wine in supermarkets? Even with Maryland's loony booze policies, passing that would be more realistic than a bag fee that only has had support from MoCo, PG, and Baltimore City.

by Jason on Mar 10, 2010 9:10 am  

I think David's legal analysis of the video billboards' legality is a bit off.

As for gentrification, it happens all the time. Populations shift, demographics change. How many Germans are still living in Foggy Bottom? How's that Irish population in Swampoodle? What about the white majority in Anacostia or the black majority in Georgetown and the West End?

Change happens. It can suck. But it's gonna happen nonetheless.

by Fritz on Mar 10, 2010 9:51 am  

froggie,

Thanks for the info. Does anyone know whether DASH is seriously looking into implementing some type of bus tracker in the near future? With the potential for service reductions, it becomes increasingly more important that people have information letting them know when the bus is arriving so that they won't miss it be a minute and potentially be stuck waiting another 15 - 30 minutes for the next one.

by Aaron on Mar 10, 2010 11:15 am  

@kaleel

The three R's of resource conservation are, in the order in which they should be practiced: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The hope is that bag fees will reduce bag use. Recycling plastic bags does not mean they get turned into new plastic bags, they mostly get turned into composite lumber and other stuff, so more petroleum has to be used to create more plastic bags. Also the recycling process itself involves melting all the plastic down, which still releases harmful toxins into the environment. Plastic in general is terrible for the environment and hard to recycle, so just saying "but it's cool, I recycle" and continuing to consume plastic bags and bottles and whatever else at high rates is not doing the environment any favors. As for your threat to start throwing away your bags if a bag fee is instituted, grow up.

by chris on Mar 10, 2010 11:19 am  

@chris--although perhaps not relevant to the bag discussion, I prefer to state the 4 R's of resource conservation: reduce, reuse, repair, recycle. Now, unless you're trying to look really hard-core, repairing plastic bags probably isn't worth the effort, but reusable cloth bags can be patched when they develop holes.

by thm on Mar 10, 2010 11:45 am  

Right, good point.

by chris on Mar 10, 2010 11:48 am  

@chris

We are sick of being nickled and dimed to death by you people in the name of the environment. It's a scam to pay for more government largess. I'm sorry that most of us can't be as 'grown up' and evolved as you kool-aid leftists.
You kids are running out of our money.
K

by Kaleel on Mar 10, 2010 2:41 pm  

That last part's pretty entertaining given that the older generations have basically spent most of future generations' money through deficit spending, wars, HOT lane deals, and much more.

by David Alpert on Mar 10, 2010 2:47 pm  

And you old fogies are fucking up our planet. The point is not to "nickel and dime you to death" but to change your destructive behavior. Buy a reusable cloth bag for a one-time cost of like a dollar, quit whining about how "leftists" and "environmentalists" are "trampling" your "freedom" to be as lazy as you want no matter the consequences to everybody else, and everybody will be happy. I don't understand why there are so many selfish libertarian weirdos reading a progressive blog like this.

by chris on Mar 10, 2010 2:55 pm  

David/chris: not to mention that we're paying for their Social Security and Medicare...

by Froggie on Mar 10, 2010 4:04 pm  

@ Kaleel: What chris is trying to say is that your precious freedoms come with a few moral duties. Simple things such as cleaning up your mess and not leaving others with the check. Younger generations feel that older generations are not leaving the place clean and definitively are leaving the check on the table. Back fees, carbon taxes, etc are means to get at least some cleaning done and a bit of the check paid of.

You also might want to be careful with accusing young kids of spending your money. Factually, it is the other way around. It is wise to keep youngens as your friend, as it is the youngsters that will have to figure out a way to pay for your social security when the money you did not save runs out in the 2030s.

by Jasper on Mar 10, 2010 4:05 pm  

I swear that if there is a bag tax, I will throw every bag I now recycle into the trash.

That'll show 'em!

by hugo on Mar 10, 2010 4:25 pm  

Last time I checked the "progressives" were running the show in Washington with promises of change. But it appears that those wars are still on and the spending and in-fighting is the same as it's ever been.

@David
Good point. I wonder why the kids vote for more bakruptcy rather than push for fiscal discipline and more control over their own Medicare and Social Security funds. Instead, They seem happy to see their future depleted by aging baby boomers buying votes and robbing the treasury for themselves. What's 5 cents for a shopping bag? What's 6% sales tax? What's 30% federal income tax, state income tax, gasoline tax, cell phone tax, 911 tax, tanning salon tax, capital gains tax? The list of hidden taxes defies reason. And it's always for a good cause right? At what point do we say we're sick of this?
@Chris
Nice language, have fun at the rave tonight.

K

by Kaleel on Mar 10, 2010 4:31 pm  

Charging for bags? We already pay sales tax for what goes into the bags. What other fees and taxes do you want? Five cents per condom, baloon, etc...? We recycle these bags. I swear that if there is a bag tax, I will throw every bag I now recycle into the trash.

Taxes on toilet paper!?! I swear that until they repeal the toilet paper tax, I will no longer wipe my own ass!

Take that Freedom-Haters!!1!

by oboe on Mar 10, 2010 4:37 pm  

@Kaleel

But it appears that those wars are still on and the spending and in-fighting is the same as it's ever been.

Yeah, why should it take any time at all to unravel a decade-long two-theatre military presence in two quagmires halfway across the globe? You'd think that Progressives like Rahm Emmanuel, and Ben Bernanke would wave the magic wand already.

Damn you "progressives" in control of Washington!

Read a book.

by ibc on Mar 10, 2010 4:42 pm  

Taxes on toilet paper!?! I swear that until they repeal the toilet paper tax, I will no longer wipe my own ass!

this is actually not even as ridiculous as what kaleel is saying, because at least you'd actually be boycotting the offending product. kaleel is saying that if they want tax bags, he will pay that tax and continue to use the bags, he just won't recycle them anymore. that way he ruins the environment even more than he already is, and the people he's mad at still get his money and don't even know that he's mad about it.

also, lol raves. you really got my number there.

by chris on Mar 10, 2010 4:50 pm  

@Jasper

Social Security and Medicare will already be broke before I collect a dime of either of them. I'll still have many more working years to go when 2030 rolls around. I was merely responding to someone who told me to grow up.

K

by Kaleel on Mar 10, 2010 4:56 pm  

Don't even try it ibc. Troop presence in Afg. is up and your side is trying to take credit for an Iraq war they were against but voted for. Also, a surge they were against, called a failure and are now taking credit for once they finally figured out that it worked. Progressives wanted and end to the war, period. But this is way off topic.

K

by Kaleel on Mar 10, 2010 5:11 pm  

Bag tax: Worse than Hitler?

by Fritz on Mar 10, 2010 7:02 pm  

@ Kaleel: I was merely responding to someone who told me to grow up.

Ah. Well, you are clearly refusing to grow up. It's been a while since we have a temper tantrum like yours here in the comments. It was amusing. Now go make your homework! You've got works to do in civics, history (something longer than a year ago) and polsci. You're clearly not ready for real science yet.

by Jasper on Mar 11, 2010 10:52 am  

Jasper, ;-)

by Bianchi on Mar 11, 2010 10:56 am  

Raves? What is this, 1997?

by Phil on Mar 11, 2010 11:31 am  

Raves? What is this, 1997? 1992!

by Bianchi on Mar 11, 2010 11:36 am