All good points on traffic modeling.

But all models are wrong. Some are useful.

Heaven protect me if I questioned some of the CO2 models..

by charlie on Jul 24, 2012 8:31 am • link • report

Re: the back alley waffles--who cares. Like this is the first small business to make a poor decision. Groupon isn't there to help small businesses grow; it's trying to grow its own business. He shouldn't have participated if he could afford to wait for reimbursement. Couldn't he have talked to thousands of other business owners so he'd know what to expect?

Re: Post poll on having a black mayor--Where's the poll asking people if it's important to have a smart mayor? Or a mayor who is scandal-free?

by MJ on Jul 24, 2012 9:02 am • link • report

RE: Ohio Street

Each one of these streets that pops up always makes me think of the Ponte Vecchio. I do kind of wish that Ohio's case would've put some windows on its other sides, though.

by Bossi on Jul 24, 2012 9:13 am • link • report

Regarding the "importance" of having a black mayor in a majority African-American city: I find that as offensive as saying in the U.S., where African-Americans are a minority, there shouldn't be an African-American Secretary of State, let alone President. It's unfortunate that many DC voters put more weight on the "color of their skin" than the "content of their character." During his mayoral campaign -- er, "campaignS" -- Gray pointed out that both his parents were black, trying to draw a contrast with the mixed-race Mayor Fenty. Just plain offensive.

And, wait, DC isn't even a majority African-American city any more....

by Sam on Jul 24, 2012 9:17 am • link • report

Did Back Alley Waffles not carefully scrutinize and consider their contract with Groupon?

by Fitz on Jul 24, 2012 9:25 am • link • report

1. Col Pike rail - wheww. Now hopefully the project can move forward.

2. DC mayor - I personally do NOT think this would be the ideal time for DC to elect its first non-black mayor under home rule. It would aggravate all kinds of things and would make DC politics more racial, rather than less.

.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jul 24, 2012 9:26 am • link • report

It sounds like Back Alley Waffles did not do its due diligence when partnering with Groupon. Still, hopefully other small businesses will benefit from knowing about Groupon's usurious practices. Does anyone know if Living Social withholds money for extended periods as well?

by DCster on Jul 24, 2012 9:37 am • link • report

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-death-of-this-dc-waffle-joint-illustrates-perfectly-groupons-cashflow-accounting-methods-2012-7

slighly better/different take on the waffle thing.

I do think they might have an interesting lawsuit as investors. But as customers they are out of luck.

by charlie on Jul 24, 2012 9:39 am • link • report

many DC residents think it's important to have a black mayor

Can we just stop the racist and sexist articles referring to a candidate's skin color, gender, age or whatever? Just stop with that bullshit. DC has the strongest anti-discrimination law on the books in the US. You can't even discriminate based on DNA here. Let's follow the law.

You know when you've really ended discrimination? When a minority candidate gets into office and nobody really notices. Like in Belgium where the flaming gayness of their new PM was really no news.

Let's just focus on the qualities and plans of the candidates. GGW can play its part by not linking to articles focusing too much on the race and gender of candidates.

New GU building

From the link:Thus, by establishing the satellite campus, the school will be able to add about 2,100 new grad students to the main campus.

New York City opens remedial bike classes:

Link requires login.

Traffic projections are never as accurate as they claim to be.

Well, d'uh! Aside from the general tendency of people to overestimate the value of numbers, most traffic studies not performed by independent groups. They're done by people with skin in the game and are hence skewed. Finally, these groups rarely get evaluated based on past performance.

by Jasper on Jul 24, 2012 9:44 am • link • report

The Post has the other side of the waffle story, and the yelp reviews for the place make it seem like the guy hasn't got a clue as to how to run a restaurant.

Groupon have some scummy business practices, but I don't think those were to blame here.

by andrew on Jul 24, 2012 10:03 am • link • report

The Back Alley Waffles story is one case of a poor business decision; but it also illustrates why many businesses no longer use these deal sites, and why many of the best deals (from the consumer's perspective) are now behind us. Go onto these deal sites today and they're loaded up with garbage (tanning places, nail salons, massages, etc.). In a way they're not much different from the random assortment of coupons you get in the mail addressed to "resident".

Business may also be using these deal sites as a subtle form of pricing discrimination. In other words, they constantly run deals, making the deal the "regular" price, and making the menu price something that only someone who doesn't know or doesn't care about the deals would pay. I feel like this is already happening at many tourist attractions (guided tours, hotels, etc.).

by Rob P on Jul 24, 2012 10:25 am • link • report

The 650 Mass Ave. location should be a good home for the School of Continuing Studies, but it's really just a couple of floors in an office building, rather than a satellite campus.

The search for a location for a true satellite campus - for "The Next Hundred Acres" - is now ramping up: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/georgetown-university-is-looking-east-in-dc-to-expand/2012/07/19/gJQA74YtwW_story.html

by Dizzy on Jul 24, 2012 10:55 am • link • report

See what I mean about the WPost? I just shared my thoughts last week about the Post and it's utter ridiculous poll of DC residents whom by 60-80% had no opinion on the subject they were being polled about. Yet, the WPost ran it as a news item anway. This poll is no different. The WPost, like th Examiner are agitators. It might even be worse than the Examiner.

IMO, Tommy Wells being Tommy Wells will stop him from ever being Mayor...it has much less to do w/his race.

RE: Groupon, hell, I'll be happy whenever I can get an appt at Creative Hands..since they've rescheduled me twice and don't seem to pick up the phone.

by HogWash on Jul 24, 2012 11:06 am • link • report

This isn't exactly new territory for GU. It's not even 5 blocks up Mass Ave from the GU law school, which has been there for 40 years.

by Fischy (Ed F.) on Jul 24, 2012 11:07 am • link • report

Prince of Petworth had the best take on the Groupon thing from the owner's side (the WPost is better for Groupon's side):
http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2012/07/back-alley-waffles-closed-indefinitely-in-mt-vernon-square/#comments-section

In the comments, the owner notes how he didn't read the details of the deal. The other comments state how the business was poorly run to start with, like running out of food, irregular opening hours, etc.

by Justin on Jul 24, 2012 11:39 am • link • report

Regarding the "importance" of having a black mayor in a majority African-American city

Washington is not a majority African-American city.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/623761

by Marian Berry on Jul 24, 2012 12:04 pm • link • report

Can we just stop the racist and sexist articles referring to a candidate's skin color, gender, age or whatever? Just stop with that bullshit. DC has the strongest anti-discrimination law on the books in the US. You can't even discriminate based on DNA here. Let's follow the law.

Anti-discrimination laws in this country have nothing to do with whether people can have a conversation about the impact of race and gender in politics. We're not Germany where anti-discrimination laws probibit bars from banning smoking. Or, France where they have absurd hate speech laws that do more harm than good. For example, if Mel Gibson lived in France, he'd probably be in jail right now:

http://www.bilerico.com/2011/06/designer_prosecuted_for_hate_speech_in_france.php

This is America, and frankly, we're exceptional:

Unlike Others, U.S. Defends Freedom to Offend in Speech

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A couple of years ago, a Canadian magazine published an article arguing that the rise of Islam threatened Western values. The article’s tone was mocking and biting, but it said nothing that conservative magazines and blogs in the United States do not say every day without fear of legal reprisal.

Things are different here. The magazine is on trial.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/us/12hate.html?pagewanted=all

by Falls Church on Jul 24, 2012 12:04 pm • link • report

One of the odd things about living in America is that we vacillate between agonized pleas for a "real conversation" about race on the one hand, and strident attempts to shut down an open dialog on the other. Like a lot of other things, we're kind of nuts that way.

by oboe on Jul 24, 2012 12:13 pm • link • report

I was just in Columbus last week. That block on High Street is ok, but it could really use some trees, particularly in the summer. (and the buildings on either side are basically superblock construction, which I thought everyone was kinda down on)

by Kolohe on Jul 24, 2012 12:22 pm • link • report

A street in Columbus, Ohio passes over a highway with a shop-lined street

That block on High St is only mediocrely successful because the stores are so ridiculously small. Also, if it weren't connected to a very popular artsy (and gay) district to the north, it would not have any right of existence. Even worse, just to the south is the Columbus Convention Center, which I am not sure is doing very well.

by Jasper on Jul 24, 2012 1:52 pm • link • report

I'm trying to get my head around why the demise of Back Alley Waffles thanks to cash-flow problems brought about by Groupon's slow payment policy makes the owner a bad businessman.

Perhaps if Groupon had paid its bills faster instead of maximizing the "float", Back Alley Waffles - and the jobs and taxes that go along with it - would still be around.

If the fate of Back Alley is in fact the owner's fault, I would say that's because he didn't do enough due diligence and learn about these online coupon outfits.

Personally, I think the business model of ventures like Groupon has peaked. Judging from their offerings, nowadays the "deals" promoted by the Groupons of the world offer about as much value as the stuff advertised in the throw-aways that come with the rest of the junk mail.

by ceefer66 on Jul 24, 2012 2:17 pm • link • report

DC just needs a good mayor. Black, White, Yellow, Brown, Red or Green--it doesn't matter.

Unlike Living Social and other deal sites, I've heard nothing but bad stuff about Groupon. They generally have the worse deals for small businesses and take the longest to pay them back.

by jinushaun on Jul 24, 2012 2:26 pm • link • report

The problem with Back Alley Waffles wasn't Groupon, but rather the Supreme Court: once waffles became legal, people didn't have to rely on back alley waffles anymore.

by Mike on Jul 24, 2012 2:26 pm • link • report

If the desire for a Black mayor keeps Jack Evans out of the office, I'm all for it. Tommy Wells is a different story. Both won in wards that were racially split. Evans won in the old days and has largely become a pawn of developers and the Deadkins. He ran as a tax cutter/budget balancer, but has never been as aggressive in that role as others. Wells began as a reformer and has stayed that way, while staying in touch with the grassroots. Wells might be able to run the kind of campaign that could win. Evans is visible mostly at re-election time and not so much at the non-G'town end of his ward.

Even when DC hada huge Black majority, white candidates won citywide races. They usually had civil rights cred.

by Rich on Jul 24, 2012 3:56 pm • link • report

Perhaps if Groupon had paid its bills faster instead of maximizing the "float", Back Alley Waffles - and the jobs and taxes that go along with it - would still be around.

Groupon paid its bills with the exact speed they said they would. They promised to pay, by check and by mail, in 3 installments and that is what they were on pace to do. If that wasn't fast enough for the owner, then he shouldn't have signed up in the first place.

It also turns out that apparently only 18% of the coupons were redeemed, yet Groupon made 2 of the 3 payments, so he was actually being paid at a faster rate then the coupons were being used!

The problem was that the owner did not have enough capital to start and operate a business and did not have the necessary skills to properly manage his business. This business was doomed to fail, Groupon or no Groupon.

This happens all the time. Businesses big and small fail for lots of different reasons. Its called capitalism.

If there is any story here it is how a restaurant was allowed to operate without a sink or bathroom.

by dcdriver on Jul 24, 2012 5:09 pm • link • report

Here's my list of must haves for a DC mayor:

Smart
Honest
Interested in working hard for the city

Race is not an issue.

Sadly, the 3 things on that list virtually eliminate the chance of ever electing anyone.

by LuvDusty on Jul 24, 2012 5:11 pm • link • report

Re the race of the mayor; I think it's also interesting that the concept of a "native Washingtonian," which is usually a racial code, hasn't come up lately in the discussion about the next mayor. Perhaps that's because Harry Thomas Jr., Kwame Brown and Vince Gray are all proud native Washingtonians. Hopefully their shenanigans can put to rest the idea that a native Washingtonian can serve the city and its residents better than someone else.

by Joe on Jul 24, 2012 6:39 pm • link • report