Ground Broken for New Douglass Bridge

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held on Tuesday for the new Frederick Douglass Bridge at the site of the new bridge in Buzzard Point. Mayor Bowser, DDOT Director Jeff Marootian, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressman Steny Hoyer, DC Council members Charles Allen and Trayon White, and Federal Highway Administration DC Division Administrator Chris Lawson were all there and spoke about the project’s benefits. Bridge construction will last about four years with completion scheduled for 2021. Below are some pictures from the groundbreaking event.

DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton

Construction crane at foot of bridge

Mayor Muriel Bowser

Congressman Steny Hoyer (MD)

Chris Lawson with FHA DC Division

DDOT Administrator
Jeff Marootian

Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen

Ground is officially broken 

On the way to the ground breaking ceremony, I walked by the construction site of Audi Field, which is still on schedule to open by mid-July. A topping off ceremony was held last month and since then, work has begun on installing the facade of the stadium.  Infrastructure work continues on the roads around the stadium, including Potomac Avenue, which will receive new sidewalks, gutters, trees, and street furniture. Earlier this year, Half Street south of Potomac Avenue reopened to traffic where similar improvements were also made to that street. 2nd Street south of R Street remains closed to traffic as work will be done on that street to create a bike lane and other improvements.

New street lights on Half Street

Beginning of work on stadium's facade

View west of stadium from Half Street

New sidewalk on Potomac Avenue

Street furniture on Potomac Avenue

A Few Quick Items: New Website Launched for The Southwester, Station 4 Leads SW Revival, United Eyes Baltimore, Bellevue Library Controversy

- A new website was recently launched for The Southwester, which allows readers to view articles from the latest issue of the paper without having to download a PDF (although that option is still available). Readers are allowed to leave comments as well. Although a few kinks still need to be worked out on the new website (i.e. article formatting), it is moving the paper in the right direction.

- The Hill writes a review on Station 4, which opened over four months ago at Waterfront Station. According to the article, the most popular item on the menu is the crab cake. The article mentions that recent events at the restaurant include Neighborhood Appreciation Night, prix fixe lunch ($18) & dinner ($29)specials. Also, there were "True Blood" themed nights leading up to Halloween.

- According to The Washington Post and The Examiner, MLS has sent out surveys to Baltimore area residents gauging their interest in the possibility of DC United moving to the Westport area of Baltimore City. From the Post article:

United has spent all 16 MLS seasons in Washington but club officials have said playing at 50-year-old RFK is not economically viable. Talks with D.C. officials have shown no signs of progress. Buzzard Point in Southwest D.C., near Nationals Park, has been the club’s primary focus. Previous negotiations, involving Poplar Point in Anacostia and then Prince George’s County in Maryland, collapsed. 

- The Washington Post reports on the controversy over the naming of the new David Adjaye-designed library rising along Atlantic Street in Bellevue.  The DC Public Library Board recommended earlier this year that the library should be named Bellevue, after the neighborhood in which it's located (the previous library was called Washington Highlands, which was named after a neighborhood in SE). However, Mayor Gray supports the proposal to name it after William Lockridge, a Ward 8 activist and member of the State Education Board who died earlier this year. The DC Council held a hearing last month to discuss the naming of the library, but according to the article, Ward 8 Council member Barry has agreed to delay the renaming bill for two weeks in order to hear what the community has to say before making a decision.

ANC 6D Meeting Recap

- Redistricting: At-large council members Phil Mendelson and Michael Brown attended the ANC 6D meeting – both of whom are members of the special committee in charge of redistricting. After a brief presentation by the council members, the floor was open to questions and comments from commissioners and the audience that lasted over a half hour. Just about all of the comments revolved around the proposal by Ward 8 council member Barry to annex Near SE and/or Near SW - everyone was against. The initial mark-up of the new Ward boundary map will be done after the council’s next meeting on May 25 and the entire process must be complete by mid-July. Once the redistricting map has been finalized, Ward taskforces will be created to work on ANC boundaries. After the council members left, commissioners Garber and Litsky introduced a resolution to keep Near SW/SE in Ward 6 which passed unanimously.

- Consolidated Forensic Laboratory (CFL): The new CFL under construction at 4th and E Street is 55% complete and on track for completion by June 2012. Components of the facility currently underway include waterproofing of the lab space and installation of the sun shade louver system along E Street, which is one of the green components of the building (the CFL is aiming for LEED-Gold certification). Next month, the protected sidewalk along the west side of 4th Street will be removed. It may be moved into the curb lane of 4th Street or removed completely – approval for shifting the structure to 4th Street is pending DDOT approval. The protected sidewalk is being moved so new sidewalks, trees, and plants can be installed from July – November. By Halloween, the exterior of the building should be complete. So far in 2011, 113 tradesmen have been hired, out of which 67 (or 59%) are District residents. Through the duration of the project, 257 tradesmen have been hired, of which 133 (or 52%) have been District residents, and only three have been Southwest residents.

- 4th & M Street Intersection: Commissioner McBee mentioned that DDOT has issued a notice of intent for changes to the 4th & M Street intersection. Back in March, the ANC voted to request DDOT to make the following changes:

• Restore left-turn traffic signals on east & westbound M Street to turn on 4th Street.

• Allow drivers to make left turns on two lanes of northbound 4th Street towards M Street so employees at Fort McNair can get out of the neighborhood faster (the left lane would be left turn only and the next lane will allow cars to either turn left, go straight, or turn right).

• The Metrobus stop will return to the northeast corner of the intersection.

• U-turns will be illegal again on M Street.

• Restrict drivers from turning left from southbound 4th Street onto M Street (drivers leaving Safeway can use I Street as an alternative to go towards Near SE).

Within the past couple of weeks, DDOT has made changes to the 4th & I Street intersection (as I tweeted previously) which include the conversion from a “Barnes Dance” hybrid to a normal intersection. There is no longer a pedestrian-only window at the intersection; however, pedestrians are given a couple extra seconds to cross the street before the traffic light turns green for vehicles. This was probably done to facilitate the movement of vehicles from the Waterfront Station Safeway towards Near SE since the left turn lane from southbound 4th Street to M Street will be eliminated once that intersection is reworked by DDOT.

- Team to End AIDS: The ANC approved (6-1) the use of Town Center East Park temporarily by the Team to End AIDS endurance program to use as a staging area for their weekly runs around the city on Saturday mornings from May 21 – December 1 in preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon and other races. The use of Town Center East Park is temporary due to the proximity of housing and potential disruption of library patrons as 70-100 runners gather at the park each week. The ANC is looking into other locations where the running group may gather instead, including the northwest parcel of Waterfront Station and 7th Street Landing.

- 7th Street Landing Farmers Market: Bob Rubenkonig and Elinor Bacon from Hoffman-Madison Waterfront presented their security plan for the weekly Mobile Market, which will take place each Thursday from 5-8pm (June 2 – September 22). The park will be reconfigured for market days, with security barriers erected along the top border by the CaBi station and near the entry points to the waterfront promenade at the water-facing side of the park, resulting in three entrances. Near the top entrance, there will be six market vendors set up and behind them new benches will be installed. A stroller corral will be located in the top right corner of the park and the port-o-potties will remain on the opposite corner. Prepared fresh foods will be sold near the music stage (while jazz is being performed) and on the opposite side near the DC Harbor Cruises kiosk. Beer and wine will be sold on the left corner near the water-facing side of the park, next to one of the prepared fresh foods booth, and seating will be located in the center of 7th Street Landing. Bracelets will be required to purchase beer or wine and 100% ID check will be in effect. There will be 3 security officers and 10 staff members at the market, including those from the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture and Hoffman-Madison Waterfront.

- Lucky Kabob liquor license: The ANC unanimously approved Lucky Kabob’s application for a CR-01 liquor license (may serve beer, wine, and spirits) at the restaurant, located at 1548 1st Street. Lucky Kabob opened last year and according to the proprietor, has done pretty well so far. After a six-month probation period, the ANC will reconsider the restaurateur’s request to allow dancing at the establishment at weddings, parties, etc. The Indian restaurant’s operating hours are as follows:

Carry Out

Monday – Friday: 7:30am – 7:30pm; Saturday: 9am – 7:30pm; Sunday: 10am – 5pm

Dine In

Monday – Friday: 10am – 9pm, Saturday: 10am – 9pm

Census 2010 Paints an Interesting Picture of Southwest: Part I

While the District of Columbia as a whole gained residents over the past 10 years, the population of the Southwest quadrant of DC did not. Despite recent development in the little quadrant that could, the 2010 Census counted 20,916 residents in the Southwest quadrant, a decline of 9.8%, or 2,264 residents from the 2000 Census. When looking at the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood on the west side of the Anacostia and the Southwest neighborhoods on the east side of the river (including Bellevue and Bolling Air Force Base) separately, the population change looks different.  The Southwest Waterfront only lost 242 residents in the past 10 years, or 2% of its population. However, the eastern part of the Southwest quadrant lost 2,022 residents, or 17.9% of its population. 

Back when the 2000 Census was conducted, the west and east sides of the Southwest quadrant looked very similar.  The population of each were about the same (11,863 on the west side and 11,317 in the east) and the ethnic make-up of both areas were almost identical.  Below is what the ethnic make-up of the Southwest quadrant as a whole was after the 2000 Census: 

• 65.2% Black or African American
• 27.0% White
• 2.3% Asian
• 5.5% Other
• (Hispanics or Latinos of any race make up 4.5% of the total) 

The last decade saw a divergence in demographics among the two areas of the Southwest quadrant.  After the 2010 Census, the ethnic make-up of the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood (or Ward 6 and a tiny sliver of Ward 2 portion of the quadrant) now looks like the following:

• 54.3% Black or African American
• 32.3% White
• 5.1% Hispanic or Latino of any race (the 2010 Census counts Hispanics differently)
• 4.5% Asian
• 3.8% Other

The eastern neighborhoods (or Ward 8 portion) of the Southwest quadrant now look like the following:

• 71.7% Black or African American
• 18.2% White
• 5.3% Hispanic or Latino of any race
• 1.4% Asian
• 3.4% Other

Since the last Census, the demographic changes in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood has trended similar to the District as a whole, with a larger share of White residents moving in and African Americans moving out. Meanwhile, the eastern neighborhoods of the Southwest quadrant have seen the population of all ethnic groups decline, but the percentage of African Americans in the area has increased to nearly 72% of the population. 

The Census Bureau will release more detailed demographics for the District of Columbia from the 2010 Census on Thursday, so once I sift through the data, be on the look-out for part II of this post sometime next week.

The following 2000 Census tracts were used to analyze the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood: 60.01, 60.02, 61, 62.01, 62.02, 63.01, 63.02, 64

The following 2000 Census tracts were used to analyze East of the River neighborhoods: 73.01, 73.08, 98.07, 98.08

The following 2010 Census tracts were used to analyze the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood: 62.02, 64, 102, 105, 110

The following 2010 Census tracts were used to analyze East of the River neighborhoods: 73.01, 98.07, 109

Redistricting

It has been known for quite a while that the DC Council would be deciding this spring how the eight wards would be redistributed once Census 2010 numbers were released for the District.  Those numbers were released last month and showed the population of the District increased to 601,723 residents - the first time in decades the city's population has increased. By District law, the population of each of the eight wards must be split evenly (in this case 75,215) with a 5% variance in either direction. According to the 2010 Census, Ward 2 has too many residents and Wards 7 & 8 each have too few residents. As a result, Council members are lobbying to add neighborhoods to their wards, including CM Marion Barry, who wants the Southwest Waterfront added to Ward 8.  Moving the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood to Ward 8 would pad the statistics for that Ward, which currently has one of the highest unemployment and crime rates in the city.  However, Ward 6 CM Tommy Wells has stated he will fight to keep Ward 6 intact.

The DC Council has been holding hearings this week regarding ward redistricting. The Greater Greater Washington blog developed a Redistricting Game where readers could redraw the ward boundaries and the results will be presented at today's Council hearing. The results of that survey shows the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood staying in Ward 6.  The next Council hearing will take place today from 10am-2pm at the Wilson Building downtown.

What are your thoughts on redistricting?  Vote in this month's poll on the top left corner of the blog and/or leave a comment. Stay tuned for more on the 2010 Census and how Southwest has changed during the past 10 years.

Update: The Ward 6 Democrats will hold a public hearing on May 5 from 7pm-8:30pm where residents can express their opinions about ward redistricting.  The three co-chairs of the Council's Special Committee, as well as Council member Wells will attend.  The meeting will be held at Friendship Public Charter School/Chamberlain Elementary (gymnasium) at 1345 Potomac Avenue, SE (across from Harris Teeter).

General Election Unofficial Results

Southwest Waterfront Unofficial Election Results (Precincts 127, 128, 142)

Voter participation in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood was higher than the District average, with margins of victory mostly similar to those District-wide or within Ward 6 (save for Ward 6 State Board of Education member candidate Monica Warren-Jones, who was up against Southwester Melissa Rohan).

• Registered Voter Participation Rate: 30.1% (27.8% District-wide)
• Delegate to U.S. House of Representatives: Eleanor Holmes Norton* with 88.3% of the vote (89.0% District-wide)
• Mayor: Vincent Gray with 76.8% of the vote (73.9% District-wide)
• DC Council Chair: Kwame Brown with 88.3% of the vote (87.8% District-wide)
• DC Council At-Large members: Phil Mendelson* & David Catania* with 56.8% and 30.6% of the vote, respectively (56.3% and 30.9% District-wide, respectively)
• DC Council Ward 6: Tommy Wells* with 88.1% of the vote (85.4% Ward-wide)
• US Representative: Mike Panetta* with 81.6% of the vote (82.4% District-wide)
• State Board of Education Ward 6: Monica Warren-Jones with 58.2% of the vote (66.7% Ward-wide)
• Proposed Charter Amendment IV to elect DC’s Attorney General: Passed with 74.1% of the vote (75.6% District-wide)
• ANC 6D 01: Bob Craycraft with 94.5% of the vote
• ANC 6D 02: Cara Lea Shockley with 40.2% of the vote
• ANC 6D 03: Ron McBee* with 54.5% of the vote
• ANC 6D 04: Andy Litsky* with 95.7% of the vote
• ANC 6D 05: Roger Moffatt* with 66.4% of the vote
• ANC 6D 06: Rhonda Hamilton* with 70.7% of the vote

Bellevue Unofficial Election Results (Precincts 124, 126)

Voter participation in Bellevue was lower than the District as a whole, but the margins of victory for most of the candidates (save At-Large incumbent David Catania), was wider than the District totals. Some of the voters in precinct 124 live in SE, but their polling station is located in Bellevue.

• Registered Voter Participation Rate: 21.3% (27.8% District-wide)
• Delegate to U.S. House of Representatives: Eleanor Holmes Norton* with 96.0% of the vote (89.0% District-wide)
• Mayor: Vincent Gray with 95.6% of the vote (73.9% District-wide)
• DC Council Chair: Kwame Brown with 96.4% of the vote (87.8% District-wide)
• DC Council At-Large members: Phil Mendelson* & David Catania* with 70.4% and 19.5% of the vote, respectively (56.3% and 30.9% District-wide, respectively)
• US Representative: Mike Panetta* with 89.7% of the vote (82.4% District-wide)
• Proposed Charter Amendment IV to elect DC’s Attorney General: Passed with 88.6% of the vote (75.6% District-wide)
• ANC 8D 04: Thea Dyson with 92.9% of the vote
• ANC 8D 05: Write-in with 100.0% of the vote
• ANC 8D 06: Write-in with 100.0% of the vote
• ANC 8D 07: Dionne Brown with 44.4% of the vote

* Incumbent

Visit the DC Board of Elections and Ethics website for more information on the general election results. Congratulations to all the winners!

Southwest May Become Battleground in Ward Redistricting

There was an interesting article in the Washington City Paper about how ward boundaries may change once the 2010 Census numbers come in next spring. In the article, one of the areas of the city that was discussed was Southwest. Currently, most of Southwest west of the Anacostia is in Ward 6 (Hains Point is in Ward 2) and Bellevue is in Ward 8. If Council member Marion Barry has his way, the part of Southwest on the west side of the Anacostia would become a part of Ward 8. If this were to happen, it would be the second time that the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood would change wards. Before the ward redistricting from the 2000 Census, the Southwest Waterfront was located in Ward 2. The reason stated in the article that Council member Barry wants the rest of Southwest in his ward is to bring more "economic diversity" to Ward 8. From the article:

Barry says his home ward, which is almost entirely African American and has extremely high poverty and unemployment rates, has long been the city’s “dumping ground.” Making it more diverse will likely involve expanding across the Anacostia into the whiter, richer Southwest, Barry said.

“We can’t go south,” Barry joked.

There’s some speculation in the Wilson Building that Barry wouldn’t mind expanding his political influence over the Southwest Waterfront development, a $2 billion development that’s well underway to transform the area into a glitzy urbanist dream that people actually visit. That would let Barry take credit for the project, even though the groundwork was already laid. And it would also let him hit up developers for campaign contributions as the Council member who represents the ward. (Adding some white voters to Ward 8, though, could give Barry new political problems to deal with.)

Since the population of Ward 6 after the 2010 Census is counted will most likely not be enough on its own to account for 1/8th the population of the District (as mandated by law), other areas will need to be added to the ward. It was mentioned in the article that Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells would like to add the Anacostia neighborhood to Ward 6 - taking away some turf from Barry.

The District will receive Census results in the spring, so it should be an interesting time ahead in the DC Council chambers!