Save The Date for the Hilly Awards at the Atlas Sunday, November 13

Save the Date:  The third Annual Hilly Awards are coming to H Street this year and will occur on November 13, 6 p.m. at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St).  H Street businesses did very well at last year's Hillys and this year the event should be even more fun with a bigger, better space.  Save the date and follow the Hillys on facebook.  We've heard of a handful of new, exciting aspects to the night, details of which will be rolling out over the next few months. 

In the meantime, a hearty congratulations to Julia Christian of CHAMPS (and the rest of the team who help put on the Hillys) on receiving the Washington DC Economic Partnership Small Business Initiative of the Year Award for the awards ceremony, which helps promote local small businesses.  It's a good time and a great celebration of our many successful local businesses in the neighborhood. 

ANC redistricting - is it time to reunite H Street?

Now that DC's Ward lines have been redrawn, each Ward Councilmember has appointed a task force to draw ANC lines therein.  In Ward 6, former ANC6A Chair Joe Fengler is leading the taskforce, which also includes a number of other former ANC Commissioners including Cody Rice, Ken Jarboe, and Raphael Marshall.  Fengler is holding a series of listening sessions and has started a blog to promote dialogue and transparency. 

Because Ward 6's lines were redrawn during the redistricting process a certain amount of change to ANC lines seems inevitable.  ANC6A Commissioner Ronneberg has produced a serious proposed map for consideration.  His proposal would reunite H Street under a single ANC. 

H Street has historically been under one ANC, but was split a decade ago amidst allegations of corruption within its then ANC.  Since that time, ANC6A has come to be known as one of the city's very best and has received particular praise for its use of citizen staffed committees and through its use of a standard voluntary agreement, which is the model for negotiations with all liquor license applicants.  As Ronneberg explains it, it reunites H Street and seeks to keep major commerical corridors together while maintaning Commissions that consist of 7-9 Commissioners, as recommended by the Task Force.  Both goals are laudable and worthy of support. 

We endorse the concept of reuniting H Street.  It makes little sense that neighbors on one side of 8th Street NE have no say in matters occuring on the other side nor does it make sense for different rules to be applied on either side of it.  Nor does it make sense for restaurants east of 8th Street to sign standard volunntary agreements with ANC6A and have them posted publicly on the ANC website, while those west of H Street may or may not have signed any agreements and whatever agreement was signed is not made available to the public and the nearby residents.  Furthermore, a reunited H Street ANC would likely promote better attendance at Committee and Commission meetings.  As it stands currently, a resident intersted in attending a comittee hearing about a restaurant opening at 7th & H Street NE would have to head to 2nd & L Street NW to attend a community meeting on whether to support a liqour license application.  Residents shouldn't have to walk over a mile and a half to get to a meeting about a new business opening a block north of them. 

Ronneberg's proposal has met mixed reviews from some in the eastern parts of the Ward.  We're somewhat surprised by this as we think there's a good argument that eastern parts of the Ward could benefit from having an ANC focused on seeing Reservation 13, the Stadium site, and Benning Road development move ahead.  Drawing ANC lines that don't include Hill East in ANC6A or ANC6B does not mean that those who live closer to the river are no longer welcome to spend much of their money at local businesses on H Street or Barracks Row, it just means that they have their own ANC and that the ANCs that vote on uses of space on those commercial corridor consist of those who live in greater proximity to the sites. 

The next public meeting on Ward 6 ANC redistricting is Wednesday, August 3, at 6:30 p.m., at the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Library (1630 7th St NW).  At this meeting, the Task Force plans to discuss the first draft of ANC/SMD boundaries.  If you agree that it is time to reunite H Street and the residents who live along the corridor in one ANC, you are encouraged to attend and participate.

Promised Bikeshare expansion coming to H Street & North side of Capitol Hill this fall

Finally some good news about in the DC Transporation world.  Bikeshare announced that they will go ahead with the expansion of neighborhood stations and install others long discussed this fall. 

New stations are slated for:

6th & H (always planned, but never installed)
11th & H (long in the works)
6th & Florida (Galludet)
7th & Maryland (Stanton Park/ NE Branch Library)

Each of these locations were among the proposed locations that received the most votes during the public comment period earlier this year.

The following existing bikeshare stations (which are often full or empty) are slated to expand:

13th & D

13th & H

13th & East Capitol (Lincoln Park)

This is good news for bikeshare users and for the neighborhood.  The existing stations, especially the 13th Street locations between Lincoln Park and H Street have a tendency to be full or empty and the expansion and additional locations will help ease that burden. 

The increased number of bikes in the area does beg the question of whether additional bike lanes should be installed nearby.  C Street and D Street have bikelanes, but there don't appear to be any closer to H Street than that.  H Street is not as likely option having just been redone and with streetcars coming eventually.  A December Greater Greater Washington post suggested G Street and I Street as possibilities for bike boulevards.  Maryland Avenue is currently being studied for pedestrian safety improvements and might be a good option for bike friendly improvements. 

DC Beer Week August 15-20 lots of great events on H Street at Granville Moores, Smith Commons, Little Miss Whiskeys & Red Palace

The 3rd annual DC Beer Week is August 15-20. It's shaping up to be an amazing week for craft beer lovers in the District, especially on H Street where craft beer lovers find lots to celebrate.  Granville Moores & Smith Commons have events throughout the week and Red Palace and Little Miss Whiskeys are joining in the fun as well.  Look for a series of beer dinners from Chef Teddy Folkman and team at Granville Moore's and regional beer nights (Midwest, MidAtlantic, NE, and West Coast) at Smith Commons.  Little Miss Whiskeys and Red Palace will host Great Lakes Brewery nights and local gem DC Brau will also be featured at Red Palace.   

  

The full list of great events on H Street is after the jump:

Link roundup

Steuart Development broke ground at 360º H Street -- the new mixed use development with 215 residential units above a full service Giant Food grocery store coming to H Street between 3rd and 4th Streets in early 2013. 

D*mn Good Times has one of the better write ups on Toki Underground (1234 H St).  Toki has been doing some pretty awesome specials of late -- follow them on twitter to keep track of Chef's latest creative dishes and ramen add ons. 

District Cuisine does a nice job with their first review of Tru Orleans (400 H St). 

The Washington Post says H Street is a work in progress and quotes a spokesman for the Mayor's Office of Planning & Economic Development Office as saying that the plan is for an "H Street [that] is not just a place to eat out but also a place where people can go to buy things or spend the whole day."  The story doesn't break much ground (and actually seems a bit dated), but does have a couple good vidoes, this one on Smokey's Babershop and this one on style and the H Street scene. 

The Post also previewed the Importance of Being Earnest at the H Street Playhouse (1365 H St) through August 14.  It sounds like an interesting twist on the classic.   Shows run Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.

Politico reports that the revived Gang of Six talks on the debt ceiling arose through a series of dinners that Senators Coburn and Chambliss had on H Street.  First come the hipsters, then the young families, then the conservative southern Senators? 

Music in the Courtyard at Gallery O on H this Saturday

Music in the Courtyard continues at Gallery O on H (1354 H St) this Saturday.  Music in the Courtyard runs all summer on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month.  Afro Bop will appear this Saturday, July 23 with cuban jazz music from 7:30-9:30.  The band is a Latin Grammy Award winner and admission is $5 at the gate. 

Yamomenem is next in the summer jazz series on August 13.  John Stone Reggae follows on August 27.

413 H Street is for sale

413 H Street -- the building next to Capitol Fine Wine & Spirit, just down from Sidamo & coming later this year Big Board, which is across the street from coming later this year Boundary Road, Bikram Yoga Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, Fitness Together, and Studio H, is now for sale.  The building is available for $650,000. 

The property has been vacant and blighted for some time and was subject to the city's blighted tax rate this spring, so hopefully it will be purchased and renovated soon.  We think the location is very good and poised to get better soon with Boundary Road and Big Board's openings on the horizon and the 360º H Street development underway and bringing a Giant Food Store & 215 residential units just a block away in early 2013.