Posts about Rhode Island Avenue

Fortunately, many organizations have had success developing affordable housing in Ward 5. One of the smallest is Open Arms Housing, which provides permanent housing and wrap-around services to 11 chronically homeless and mentally ill women.

Marilyn Kresky-Wolff is the Director of Open Arms, and she spoke at the Housing Town Hall about the success her program has had in the lives of these women: none of their residents have returned to homelessness. Two of the residents spoke about getting back on their feet and rebuilding their lives.

Open Arms Housing, like many other projects in Ward 5, have succeeded by paying attention to the needs of the community they serve. This was particularly important when they rehabilitated the 258 units at Edgewood Terrace VI, an extensive complex just across Rhode Island Avenue on 4th Street NE.

In the early 1990s, Edgewood Terrace served as one of the largest drug markets in Washington. Today it is a mixed income apartment community with on site services for residents including adult education, computer training, and day care programs for children. The key ingredient in the outstanding change was the commitment of the developers, Community Preservation and Development Corporation, to tenant engagement in every step of the revitalization process.

In 1995, when the Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) bought the first section of Edgewood Terrace from HUD, CPDC immediately sat down with tenant association leaders. The relationship between CPDC and the tenants resulted in renovated apartments, as well as common areas for youth programs, job training, computer classes, and community events.

With more people drawn to public spaces and a partnership between CPDC, the tenants, and the Metropolitan Police Department they were able to break up the drug trade. Residents who had once been afraid to venture outside after dark now had reclaimed their community.

Affordable housing developers continue to find solutions to meet the diverse housing needs of the community. Ward 5 residents can look forward to the opening of Metropolitan Overlook, a mixed income condominium on 2nd Street NE, just blocks off of Rhode Island Ave. Rehabbing a property that has sat vacant for 20 years, Metropolitan Overlook will be a 37-unit condominium with 11 permanently affordable units.

Ward 5 will continue to benefit from the investments in affordable housing that build vibrant spaces for current and future District residents.

WMATA spent $69,000 for the sample station in May 1968. After just a few weeks of construction, it measured 64 feet in width, 30 feet in height, and just 17 feet in length. It marked a key milestone in the capital subway project—a massive planning and engineering effort that started in the 1950s.

Materials used in each station: "Six basic building materials—Exposed structural concrete, red quarry tile, white granite, aluminum acoustical panels, porcelain enamel steel for graphics and solid bronze for railings and escalator and elevator cladding." (Allan, 1994)

"For the Glory of Washington"

Stanley Allan was the project manager for Metro's architect, Harry Weese Associates.  Allan compiled hundreds of pages of early plans for the transit system in a 1994 book. He chose to put a photo of the "experimental station" on the cover, describing it with pride:

Concrete arch of the sample station pictured on the cover of Allan's book.

Full scale mock-up of a proto-typical vault section, built for the purpose of studying the technical aspects of concrete formwork, general constructibility, concrete and reinforcing steel placement, the cost analysis of these factors and the time to do the work as projected for a full 600′ long station vault.

When completed it was a mock-up for platform paving including the edge strip, for the railings, lighting, concrete finishes, and acoustical treatment. It served as an excellent public relations interface with the press, public officials, the general public and technical advisors.

At the Rosslyn bi-level station, deepest in the system, there is an illustration of the massive structural work involved. Most of the system's high-arched stations are in deep trenches cut under the street and then covered over. But the Rosslyn station has been cut through rock. A huge contraption on wide rails and supported by hydraulic jacks is used to hold it tightly until the concrete has set.

The coffering effect—for strength—is created by using forms that look like inverted bathtubs.  Once the contraption—called a "form jumbo"—is in place, a section of the arch 106 feet from one side of the tunnel to the other and 66 feet long, can be constructed in about two weeks. Concrete is forced into place under pressure. The final effect is to produce an attractive station requiring no paint, and whose walls are ingeniously out of reach of most potential graffiti artists.

To put the 1968 "experimental station" in context, it's worth mentioning that ground was broken for Metro's first real station on December 9, 1969. The system opened March 27, 1976. It's unclear when the sample station was destroyed to make way for the current Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood station.

About That Cemetery...

Harmony Cemetery plaque at Rhode Island Avenue Metro station. Image from the Historical Marker Database.

The Post's first mention of the "experimental station" described its location as, "the site of the former Harmony Cemetery at 8th place and Rhode Island Avenue NE, just east of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad overpass."

Red Line commuters walk past a small sign at the current above-ground Rhode Island Avenue station that pays tribute to some of the earlier underground inhabitants. Added to the station in June 1981, the plaque notes that bodies were reinterred in a Maryland cemetery.

Cross-posted at Ghosts of DC.

To most, the bellwether of neighborhood change in the city is and always will be, rightfully or wrongfully, ethnicity. Through my eyes, however, it's graffiti. I read the winds of demographic change by literally reading the writing on the walls that align the Metro's Red Line, or lack thereof.

Earlier this year, the long-standing "BORF" tag was buffed from the Takoma Metro station by the proprietor of Visions Lighting, Inc. Little as ten years ago graffiti dominated downtown buildings. No longer.

Reached by email, Roger Gastman, a former frequent of the Rhode Island Avenue warehouse rooftops and author of Free Agents: A History of Washington, DC Graffiti, wrote, "I don't really have much to say—it's just part of what happens to all graffiti spots!"

With the mixed-use development of adjacent Rhode Island Row a new day is dawning for the neighborhood. For many decade-long riders of the Red Line adjusting to the new sights will take some getting used to.

And that's a good thing no matter how you look at it.

Graffiti strewn warehouses by Rhode Island Metro Station (Red Line) in summer of 2010.

Access points to the Rhode Island Avenue Metro. Image modified from Google Maps.

Today, there are only 3 ways of accessing the station:

• The bus bays next to the former parking lot (labeled 1 on the map)
  
• A winding pedestrian bridge (labeled 2)
  
• A (temporarily closed) four-story staircase from Rhode Island Avenue (labeled 3)

Plans are in the works for an additional pedestrian and bicycle bridge (labeled 4), which will connect the station with the Rhode Island Avenue Center mall and the Metropolitan Branch Trail. Although this will improve station access, another connection is needed for the areas southwest of the station.

Riders from nearby Eckington must trek up Rhode Island Avenue, under an overpass on a narrow sidewalk where cars speed by, then go up the ramp or stairs to reach the station. Even for residents closest to the station, the circuitous walk can take up to 15 minutes and makes rail a less-appealing option for riders.

A ramp should be built from the station, across the CSX tracks and down W Street to better connect the station with Eckington (labeled 5 on the map). This will enable residents to access the station more readily and will lay the groundwork for future improvements along 5th Street NE.

In its vision for the Rhode Island Avenue corridor, the DC Office of Planning suggests turning the area around the rail overpass and 5th Street into a mixed-use district, containing shops, offices, and new residential structures. The report also calls for a new connection to the station, running along the 600 block of W Street NE (which is currently used as an alley for nearby warehouses) toward the station (labeled 6 5 on the map).

Making another pedestrian connection to the station would create a sense of neighborhood cohesiveness that does not currently exist, and help surrounding neighborhoods grow and prosper.

In recent decades, small business have all but disappeared from the area, and in recent years, even larger establishments, such as the National Wholesale Liquidators and the Safeway at the Rhode Island Avenue Center strip mall have closed their doors.

With only a few tenants left, the mall's sprawling parking lots never exceed 50% capacity, even on weekends. Indeed, the lot's landlord even offers "commuter parking" for the nearby Rhode Island Avenue Metro station.

The former Safeway, closed in 2010, has stood vacant, with little sign of activity, for over a year. When it closed, the grocery chain noted that the location had been unprofitable for over 10 years. Grocery stores serve as important community anchors and allow other forms of retail to flourish nearby. This is especially true for this strip mall, which is detached from the surrounding streets and neighborhoods.

Rhode Island Avenue north of Brentwood fares no better. Despite stretches that see over 30,000 vehicles per day, businesses along the avenue are anything but diverse. Sit-down restaurants tend to avoid this part of town, despite plenty of potential customers. The only new food establishments to open recently are a Rita's Custard Shop and a breakfast/brunch-only diner.

Nearby residents lament the lack of retail, but although the area has no shortage of space for new businesses to move in, the high upfront costs of opening shop coupled with the neighborhood's reputation pose an enormous to traditional establishments that might even consider the area as their base. In "up and coming" neighborhoods, entrepreneurs may be hesitant to open businesses despite low rents and high traffic volumes. Many business owners don't want to be roped into a long-term lease if the future of the neighborhood remains uncertain.

With lower operating costs and a greater dependence on readily available, affordable property, pop-up stores might prove to be a great option for Rhode Island Avenue. And, the so-called pop-up businesses might already have some examples to follow in Northeast.

In the Rhode Island Avenue Center, a car-wash and Mr. P's BBQ truck have set-up shop and attract a loyal following of both locals and visitors. On weekends, impromptu flea markets appear and attract residents from Edgewood and other close-by neighborhoods.

Within the vacant former Safeway space, an indoor flea or farmers' market might fit in nicely, especially in cooler weather. Since Safeway's departure last year, residents of nearby Edgewood and Eckington have had to travel to the Brentwood Giant to get groceries; adding an indoor, semi-permanent farmers' market might make their lives a little easier (and tastier).

On the other side of town, in Mt. Pleasant, an ingenious concept called the "Temporium" made use of underutilized retail space on Mt. Pleasant Street NW. Despite being a temporary facility, the space attracted 6,800 visitors and made over $31,000 in sales the last month it was open.

However, before significant development can occur on Rhode Island Avenue, the corridor needs to see some substantial improvements to the area's transportation infrastructure. Currently, the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood metro station serves the area, but it lacks adequate neighborhood access.

There are plans to build a ramp across the CSX/MARC/Amtrak line, which would eliminate the circuitous walk or perilous rail crossing to the shopping center and could begin construction in 2012. DDOT has also included Rhode Island Avenue in its Phase II streetcar plan, but this addition should be preceded with a Circulator route or other frequent bus service.

Eventually, the entire corridor will need to adopt a comprehensive plan (such as the one produced during the Fenty administration by the DC Planning Office), but, in the meantime, short-term solutions, such as pop-up stores, exist to improve the livability of the area and make the neighborhoods that surround it more appealing.

In his November 15 testimony before the DC Zoning Commission on proposed car and bike parking regulations in the zoning code, Thomas said,

"I have recently spoken with representatives of several retailers who are interested in developing large, multi-tenant shopping centers in the District.... There are ... a number of locations in Ward 5 and other outlying Wards with blocks of land large enough to accommodate these developments, but without convenient access to Metrorail. Placing a cap on parking citywide, in a one-size-fits-all approach, would limit the desirability of these locations and have an adverse economic impact on the District."

At the same time, Thomas knows very well what progressive urban infill looks like, and has helped usher it in during his tenure in Ward 5. Rhode Island Station, The Flats at Atlas District, and developments near Catholic University build on a multi- and mixed-use platform with retail space for small, local businesses.

While we continue to hear Thomas' lip service about the jobs and tax revenues that will be brought by new big boxes, our main streets continue to flounder. The Rhode Island Avenue Great Streets Initiative, for example, seems to have fallen off of DMPED's radar.

Can Thomas, who will have oversight of DMPED as Chair of the Committee on Economic Development, push for movement on a plan that could link the District's side of this important gateway with the revitalization that is happening just across the border in Mt. Rainier and Hyattsville?

While Brookland's 12th Street NE commercial strip received streetscape improvements, it still struggles to attract new businesses. North Capitol Main Street, Inc. continues to make strides in promoting local businesses, but will it find itself competing against a suffocating surge in big box, large-scale infill?

Will economic development East of the River under Thomas be focused on a blend of large- and small-scale development, or will bigger continue to be touted as better?

Thomas has proven an ability to work with developers and corporations on large projects. He knows the language of urban design and of Main Street commercial revitalization.

Unfortunately, a disconnect appears to exist between Thomas' advocacy for the bigger players and the smaller operators necessary to foster vital, dense cores in our neighborhoods. As he leads the Committee on Economic Development for the next four years, his actions will speak louder than words, particularly as we work our way out of the current recession.

Without a balance of both local and national retail outlets, small- and large-scale development, we will continue to see big box nodes favored to the detriment of our underutilized retail corridors, and we simply cannot afford that.

On the one hand, this land is a completely unused piece of asphalt. Look at the map here—the location is in the part of the parking lot furthest from both the Giant and the Home Depot. I never see any cars parked there, even during busy hours at the stores. The land will be better utilized than before, but it will still be a car-centric drive-to and -through location.

A sidewalk to the Metro station runs alongside this site. When the bank is completed, there will be more complex traffic movements at the point where the sidewalk meets the parking lot. It will be worth paying attention to pedestrian safety at this location when the construction is finished.

Plan for the site. Click to enlarge.

It's somewhat ironic that, while we are encouraging transit-oriented development on the old WMATA parking lot next door, we're moving further away from that goal at Rhode Island Place.