Dinner links: development delays and bodily wastes

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Dinner links: development delays and bodily wastes

by David Alpert • February 17, 2009 5:04 pm

Photo by mrobenalt on Flickr.

Staying retired, for now: Development at the Armed Forces Retirement Home is now on hold thanks to the bad economy. (Post via Bloomingdale, For Now)

Shady development seeing the light: The Mongtomery County Planning Board will hold a hearing on the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center on March 26th. (Gazette)

Isn't it fertilizer? Some residents of McLean Gardens and the surrounding area aren't sure a dog park can coexist with their community garden on Newark Street. (WTOP)

Radio? Is that like YouTube without pictures? Kojo Nnamdi discussed social networking today in light of the Maryland legislature's recent ban.

When boarding, please don't pee: Friends of friends of Transportation Examiner Katherine Hill pee on the Metro platforms. Really. Yuck.

Bricks or bricks? DDOT wants to know what you prefer for bricks around Eastern Market: "Holland Pavers" or cobblestone-esque bricks. (DCist)

Dead tree? Oh well: There's nobody to prune dying or dead trees, DC officials tell Life in Mount Vernon Square.

On the calendar: Tonight, DDOT is simultaneously presenting plans for 17th and 18th Street in Dupont and the 11th Street Bridges. In Alexandria, the Potomac Yards advisory group is discussing a potential Metro station. Tomorrow, DDOT will present plans to reopen Champlain Street under the Marie Reed Center in Adams Morgan.

Plus ça change: Last year, people in Ward 3 were debating free visitor parking passes; Council Chairman Vincent Gray was talking about parking on Poplar Point, and we looked at two options for South Capitol Street, of which DDOT ultimately picked the better one.

10 comments

Tags: AFRH, DC, DDOT, Eastern Market, Gaithersburg West, links, McLean Gardens, Montgomery, parks, sidewalks, technology, trees, WMATA

Take action: Rhode Island Avenue deserves decent sidewalks (Oct 5, 2010)
Amid exciting innovations, DDOT neglecting bus priority (Mar 23, 2010)
Plans envision multimodal "crossroads" at Mt. Vernon Square (Dec 10, 2009)
Breakfast links: Make a difference (Jan 7, 2009)
Push for better parking zoning, development, streetcars, retail and buses in DC and Arlington next week (Nov 12, 2010)

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington. He has had a lifelong interest in great cities and great communities. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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There's already a dogpark complete with doggy level water fountain just up the trail from this spot in Glover-Archbald Nat'l Park.

by Bianchi on Feb 17, 2009 5:25 pm

The proposed dog park at 39th/Newark is at least a mile from the G-A park at 39th/W. Not sure how those serve the same communities.

Dog poop isn't great fertilizer, though, since dogs eat meat. That said, it's not going to pollute the vegetables once it soaks in.

by ah on Feb 17, 2009 5:46 pm

well i don't think a mile is far to walk with my dog - I do it twice a day, but maybe it's far for some people, or some dogs. Maybe one day it will be too far for my fourlegged firebrand. I agree the dog waste argument is weak. If the soil is acidic mix some lyme in it. I do not however think garden space should be usurped for a dog park. We need more urban gardens and locally grown healthy food in the nutrition mix at every opportunity. There should be room at that location for dogs w/o giving up garden space.

by Bianchi on Feb 17, 2009 7:01 pm

"Dead tree? Oh well: There's nobody to prune dying or dead trees, DC officials tell Life in Mount Vernon Square."

I always thought that, lately, DC is super good at tearing down trees, removing them, but awful at maintaining them (watering), especially when young, and advocating them. The tree people are under DDOT.

There's lots of people to call. Or at least, there were.

by Jazzy on Feb 17, 2009 8:17 pm

Dog parks and community gardens are some of the best places to build community. There are regulars, people know each other's business, and there is a sense of place developed. Since there is no loss of the garden, having more use there will only help to get more people out and communicating. Moreover, for the elderly and for kids and for walking dogs at night, it is both safer and more convenient than walking on a trail

Green space is only as good as its usability. Northwest is chock full of pointless, marginal green spaces that people never really value until there is the potential loss of it. These people seem to be stuck in the notion that green space is strictly for looking at, a mistake, since both of these uses make the site more accessible while still keeping most of the comforts of natural environment.

..and the dog poop argument is only valid if the dog walk is upstream of the garden. Any hydrologists with knowledge of the park read this blog?

by цarьchitect on Feb 17, 2009 8:21 pm

According to the application for the dog park (google "newark dog park", the dog area is downhill from the garden. Is it an either/or issue? I took it to be the gardeners don't want to share with the dogs.

Anyway, as for distance, I'm sure a mile is great exercise for some humans and their canine owners, but for others it's a bit of a hike.

by ah on Feb 17, 2009 8:47 pm

Jazzy--you have it partly right. DC is really good at tearing down *live* trees (although usually ones in cramped tree boxes). They're really terrible at taking down dead/dying/dangerous trees. By that point, they prefer for nature to take its course, and allow them to fall on someone's house or car, because that way the car/house owner will pay to have it removed instead.

by ah on Feb 17, 2009 8:49 pm

My take is that the people at DDOT (Urban Forestry something or other?) are making a very concerted effort to take down dead trees that are hazardous. They are serious about this.

Again, not to be a dead tree, the problem I have is that there is no concern for replacing trees, caring for trees, planting any but ornamental trees.

by Jazzy on Feb 17, 2009 8:59 pm

Well, to address David's query, dog feces is a poor fertilizer because it can carry roundworms, which can also infect humans.

by Craig on Feb 18, 2009 2:54 am

The dog park battle there has been going on for more than a year.

And dog park etiquette calls for the providing of poop bags and for people to pick up after their pooches. Certainly not all of it gets picked up, but most does.

The waste argument is also somewhat of a red herring, because - parks or not - people will have dogs, and the dogs will do their business somewhere in the neighborhood.

by Mike S. on Feb 18, 2009 11:58 am