That darling month when everyone throws self-control away.
Neighborhood updates, events, and a few things to keep an eye on
Dear friends and neighbors,
I hope you had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend, rainy and gloomy as it was. Still a few more weeks before summer fully kicks in, although the pools are opening and the weather is warming. The neighborhood calendar is starting to fill with porch parties, graduations, and a few construction detours.
A few updates and things to keep an eye on below:
Sewer pipe break in Woodland-Normanstone area
Walkable neighborhoods are good for community
Call in the potholes
New MPD 2nd District Commander
New Neighborhood Senior Center in Cleveland Park
Calendar items
ANC and other stuff
🚧 Sewer leak near Shoreham Drive
Our neighborhood is having its own version of the Potomac sewage spill: an 18-inch sewer line experienced multiple breaks requiring emergency repair in the Woodland Normanstone area on Park Service land below the Omni Shoreham. Repairs have now been completed on four separate breaks in the pipeline by DC Water.
The next step is a closed-circuit television inspection of the remaining line to see whether there are any additional breaks. If more issues are found, those will need to be repaired. If not, the project should move into restoration, which DC Water estimates could take roughly two weeks.
So: not done yet, but the remaining work is hopefully measured in weeks rather than months. The Rock Creek bike/pedestrian trail remains open.
🚶♀️ Walkability, families, and knowing your neighbors
Walkable communities are coded as a liberal dream. But some conservatives have come to recognize that neighborhood walkability is “pro-family” and “pro-child.” I also think walkability facilitates all the “small change” interactions that bind a neighborhood together, build community and resilience. These aren’t especially left-wing values.
Nationally, the trend is the opposite direction: more kids being driven to school and neighbors interacting and socializing less than they used to.
We should be actively working to reverse this trend. This is one of the reasons I care so much about sidewalks, street trees, safe crossings, libraries, small businesses, and low-key neighborhood events. A walkable neighborhood is not just about transportation. It is also about whether we bump into each other, notice what is happening, and build the ties that make a place feel like home and help us take care of each other.
🕳️ Pothole season, alas
If it feels like the potholes have been especially aggressive this year, you are not imagining things. With the snowcrete and a lot of freeze-thaw, we have had a tough pothole season. DDOT is in spring repair mode and says it plans to resurface 81 miles of roads and 40 miles of sidewalks. I’ve notice a bunch of repairs in the neighborhood recently, but if you have any that are bugging you, report them through 311; include the location and a short description of the size/severity if you can. DDOT claims repairs typically take 72 hours from the time they're submitted.
👮 New Second District Commander
MPD’s Second District (which includes our neighborhood) has a new commander: Christopher Dorsey. Commander Dorsey is a 20-year MPD veteran and previously served as Commander of the Seventh District. He says his focus will be strengthening relationships, addressing crime and quality-of-life concerns, and staying responsive to community needs. I hope we’ll have an opportunity to meet with him soon. The previous commander was pretty responsive to issues the ANC brought up and made some useful changes.
🧓 A new neighborhood senior center
The Cleveland & Woodley Park Village is opening a new neighborhood senior center next to the firehouse on Connecticut Avenue. The center is expected to support a range of uses: drop-in space, health check-ups, talks, communal meals, and other programming. This is a great addition to the neighborhood. It’s open now, feel free to drop in to check it out. eas.
🌳 Trees, heat, and summer care
Hot weather is coming—actually, it may already be here. Please remember to water young street trees, especially newly planted ones. A slow, deep watering once or twice a week can make a real difference.
📝 Update on ANC activity
As Treasurer of the ANC, I’ve noticed that we are sitting on a sizeable bank account: more than $100,000. These are taxpayer funds that have accrued. Our ANC gets an annual allocation from the DC budget of about $20,000, but we have underspent it for many years.
Earlier this year, our ANC agreed that these funds should be put to productive community use rather than sitting unused. We are looking for worthy community projects to support with grant funding. If you have good ideas, please send them along. We can only give grants to non-profit organizations, and the work has to have a direct connection to our community.
The next full meeting of ANC 3C will be June 15 at 6:30pm. More info to be posted here. Calendar and other meetings can be found here.
As always, I’d love your feedback. Even negative feedback is helpful to improve what we’re doing.
📅 Coming up
Thursday, May 28, 5–9 pm
🌒 Cleveland Park Night Market on the Cleveland Park Promenade. Local makers, artists, small businesses, food, and music in a lively, walkable outdoor setting.
Saturday, June 6, 4-7pm
🧺 Woodley Park Picnic at the Woodley Playground. Hosted by the Woodley Park Community Association. Meet some neighbors, free food and fun. RSVP please.
Sunday, June 7, noon–5 pm
🎪 Cleveland Park Day with vendors, live music, a Kids Zone, and a first-ever Talent Show for Humans and Pets. Volunteers needed! Rain date: Sunday, June 21.
Saturday, June 20
🤍 English Village / Upper Woodley Park Dîner en Blanc. Volunteers are needed for flyers, street closure setup, tables and chairs, flowers, donation table, and cleanup.
Tuesday, June 30
🌳 Cleveland Park Library will host author Mike Tidwell for a talk on The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street
🏛️ Vandalism from the White House
It started with destroying the East Wing of the White House. Then Trump trashed the Kennedy Center. He wants to build a cliched and gaudy arch in front of Arlington National Cemetery. But, the one that bothers me most are his plans to destroy East Potomac Park and Hains Point. Just gawdawful. No one wants this mess and a lot of us love those spaces for what they are now: a modest public golf course, playing fields, space for bbqs and picnics, running and cycling. He’d destroy all of it. Read more and sign up to resist. Also here.
Gawain
ENDS///