 |
Mount Pleasant DC Forum
Discussion about the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
jack
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Posts: 4399
Location: 19th & Lamont
|
 Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 2:32 pm Post subject: Revitalizing Mount Pleasant Street |
 |
|
| Cory wrote: | | Actually, on the Main Street grant, nothing has been done yet. I have been discussing this with Tarek Bolden in the Office of Planning and Gabriela Vega. The proposal was sent to DDOT for planning purposes but has since stalled. As Tarek tells it, DDOT was scared off from completing certain planned projects when the community responded so negatively to their attempt to widen treeboxes to preserve the existing canopy. Admittedly, that project was poorly communicated but Main Street got an unfair share of the blame because it was not associated with their proposal for streetscape improvements. |
Well, that's not what we were told. Gabriela Vega, 11/15/2010: "The work taking place along Mount Pleasant Street is part of the comprehensive Transportation Enhancement Grant that was approved by ANC1D in June, 2010. One of the items listed in the grant is the removal of the metal and brick tree fences on the tree boxes along Mount Pleasant Street. As part of the scope of work to remove the fences DDOT will enlarge the tree boxes LENGTH by 2-4 feet to improve irrigation for the trees since the existing brick sidewalk on either side of Mount Pleasant is non permeable because the brick is set on concrete. The removal of the fences is tied to the work in widening the tree boxes - one cannot take place without the other."
So as far as we knew, the work was proceeding. DDOT wasn't telling anybody anything about exactly what they were doing, and even MP Main Street complained about being left in the dark.
As for DDOT being scared off "when the community responded so negatively" -- well, I gather that there were complaints about the tearing up of the sidewalks. Maybe if DDOT had communicated with "the community", there wouldn't have been such complaints. If DDOT decided to abandon the project -- what happened to the $240K from the Feds? -- they sure didn't tell us about it.
| Cory wrote: | | There are lots of studies available, and results within our own city showing how streetscape improvements encourage investment and development. The fact is, though, that I am not going to spend more time on the Mount Pleasant Street just because I don't have to cross at a crosswalk. There needs to be some meaningful change to the retail mix on the street. At least if Mt. Pleasant didn't have so much trash, had better lighting, better greenery, I would be more inclined to go for a stroll and linger on the street. I imagine others would be drawn out as well and that would have a meaningful impact on both existing and potential new business. |
Imagine the block between Lamont Street and Park Road turned into a pedestrian plaza (with bus, trucks, and cars allowed, but deferring to pedestrians). Provide places to sit, places to consume a carry-out lunch. Places to play cards or chess. The combination of Lamont Park and a pedestrian-priority street could do that.
I don't know how to "change the retail mix". Nor, for that matter, what new retail would make a difference. What we need is a way to make Mount Pleasant Street, or a part of it, into a neighborhood plaza, instead of a somewhat shabby, traffic-dominated strip mall.
-- Jack |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
jack
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Posts: 4399
Location: 19th & Lamont
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:07 pm Post subject: Revitalizing Mount Pleasant Street |
|
|
Digging through my old e-mails, there is this, from Adam Hoey of Mount Pleasant Main Street:
This work is NOT part of TEG. We are in agreement and equally fustrated that projects are not being planned and communicated properly. I need to work through communication on this today.
Adam Hoey, 11/15/2010
I have no idea what happened to that Transportation Enhancement Grant. Maybe Main Street does.
-- Jack |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dbh
Joined: 11 Apr 2008
Posts: 10
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
| So we're just going to increase the space available for the drunks who loiter on the sidewalks between Kenyon and Kilbourne? This PEZ thing you've been hawking for years Jack is just putting lipstick on a pig. How does turning Mt P St into a giant cross walk bring us nicer retail? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
micmac
Joined: 22 Mar 2005
Posts: 354
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:19 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Just take a look at Cleveland Park - narrow sidewalks, fast traffic on a busy street but lots of good rsetaurants and busy foot traffic. The width of the sidewalks has NOTHING to do with vibrant communities. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jack
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Posts: 4399
Location: 19th & Lamont
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:29 am Post subject: Revitalizing Mount Pleasant Street |
|
|
| micmac wrote: | | Just take a look at Cleveland Park - narrow sidewalks, fast traffic on a busy street but lots of good rsetaurants and busy foot traffic. The width of the sidewalks has NOTHING to do with vibrant communities. |
Actually the sidewalk on the west side is quite wide. And on the east side, there's the frontage road, separate from the main road. It's very pedestrian-friendly, compared to Mount Pleasant Street.
Of course they've also got a post office, and a library, and a movie theater, bringing people to the area. Our library is off towards 16th Street, and we'll never see a post office here. As for restaurants, Cleveland Park complains about having too many restaurants, and has imposed limits, in hopes of attracting more neighborhood-service businesses, such as a hardware store.
-- Jack |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jsfreed
Joined: 04 Apr 2004
Posts: 161
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:08 pm Post subject: Re: Revitalizing Mount Pleasant Street |
|
|
| jack wrote: | | micmac wrote: | | Just take a look at Cleveland Park - narrow sidewalks, fast traffic on a busy street but lots of good rsetaurants and busy foot traffic. The width of the sidewalks has NOTHING to do with vibrant communities. |
Actually the sidewalk on the west side is quite wide. And on the east side, there's the frontage road, separate from the main road. It's very pedestrian-friendly, compared to Mount Pleasant Street.
Of course they've also got a post office, and a library, and a movie theater, bringing people to the area. Our library is off towards 16th Street, and we'll never see a post office here. As for restaurants, Cleveland Park complains about having too many restaurants, and has imposed limits, in hopes of attracting more neighborhood-service businesses, such as a hardware store.
-- Jack |
Jack
It's all about balance, isn't it?
We complain about the lack of choice in one direction -- too many laundromats, bodegas, and low-end restaurants -- Cleveland Park about too many high-end restaurants. Neither neighborhood is complaining that there aren't enough opportunities for cars to encounter pedestrians in the middle of the street. You will also recall that downtown DC tried a similar strategy on F and G Streets in the 1970s and it was a horrible failure. Now, yes, I know there are differences between your car+pedestrian streets versus their car-free zone, but in neither case is there a strategy to actually draw people to the neighborhood to crowd onto the streets. A post office or library is not likely to cut it. Libraries are great but have limited hours and only draw people from the neighborhood. A post office doesn't really draw people at all anymore.
As limited as the power we have is, it does come down to how we see ourselves as a neighborhood and try to attract businesses that match that vision -- working with the landlords, neighborhood groups, etc. It's kind of amazing that despite having the richest Latino heritage in the city and a fantastic history of both bluegrass and DC punk, Mt Pleasant does not do more to cultivate itself as a city-wide center for these cultural treasures. This could be both an independent-business and event-oriented opportunity that's small scale and bottom's up rather than the less-organic development on H St or Adams Morgan (which no one here wants). There's no regular music series in Lamont Park, no record store, etc., etc. We have a ton of kids, but no place on Mt Pleasant Street that draws kids, whether it's the toddler set or high schoolers.
Perhaps we could address issues like this that are tangible and build on our common heritage as a neighborhood and spend less time pretending to be city planners. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jack
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Posts: 4399
Location: 19th & Lamont
|
| Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:50 am Post subject: Revitalizing Mount Pleasant Street |
|
|
Well, I don't know who is "pretending" to be a city planner. I'm trying to do what I can, within my capabilities as an ANC commissioner. Bringing about the pedestrian encounter zone was within the realm of possibility. Other things, such as attracting other businesses -- what businesses? -- I have no influence there.
As for making Mount Pleasant a Latino-niche district, that's been an ongoing effort for some years. That's clearly the best way to compete with the 14th Street commercial district, just a couple of blocks away. Ending the ban on live music in Mount Pleasant restaurants was a key victory towards that end.
BTW, there's a proposal to put a restaurant/coffee shop with music in the library's temporary facility, when that moves out. The people proposing that were dismayed to be told by some that anyone would be crazy to try to open a business in Mount Pleasant, especially with music -- remember the live music ban? the dancing ban? the endless battles with a certain neighborhood organization, fighting with local businesses about music, noise, trash bins, trash collection, and everything else? I replied with a letter to the proposers that that business-hostile atmosphere is a thing of the past, and they've got nothing to worry about.
But it's hard to overcome that history of neighborhood hostility to Mount Pleasant Street businesses. Mount Pleasant developed a reputation for trouble, and that reputation has stuck. Thanks to that reputation, it's hard to get new businesses to open here.
Some ideas for making Mount Pleasant Street more attractive may be found here:
http://planning.dc.gov/DC/Planning/Across+the+City/Other+Citywide+Initiatives/DC+Vibrant+Retail+Streets+Toolkit/DC+Vibrant+Retail+Streets+Toolkit
-- Jack |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
