8/28/01:

Greek cafe Legends now open on P beside The Fireplace.

See "Dupont gay bar Cobalt to finally reopen,"
http://washblade.com/local/010817b.htm

Fluid lounge to open after-hours at Selam Restaurant,
1524 U St - same spot which once held memorable and
tasty Las Cruces (with its Elvis shrine) and Zig Zag.

CSNA is proposing a plan to address problems caused
by proliferation of nightclubs on U St. See [1] below.

New 14th St shop Go Mama Go got a nice blurb from the
WP. See "Mama Knows Best," middle of "On the Fridge,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43076-2001Aug21.html

"Flowers on 14th" coming to shop south of Sparky's.

Caribou Coffee is hesitating on 14h & RI Ave spot;
developer Jim Abdo hopes to give CC prez a tour in
September to convince him to go forward.

Thai Tanic restaurant being built on 14th St, s of RI.

Fuse Box Art Gallery expected to come to 14th St.

Abdo's latest condo project has begun just south of 
Fresh Fields. See http://www.abdo.com/willison.html

WP reports on hip boutique hotels planned for DC, 4 of
which, naturally, are coming to Dupont: 
   * Topaz Hotel, N w of 17th (old Canterbury Hotel)
   * Hotel Rouge, 16th s of O (old Quality Hotel)
   * Clarion Hampshire, NH Ave between 20th and N
   * Howard Johnson, RI Ave between 14th and 15th
   * Hotel Monaco, 7th and E (old Tariff Commission)
Topaz & Rouge open this year; others in '02. See 
"Boutique Hotels Check In: West Coast Firm Plans 5
Funky Inns In the District,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22015-2001Aug16.html

WB looks at 8/11 storm. See "Nightmare on 17th Street:
Residents, businesses suffer flood, fire, power 
outage," http://www.washblade.com/local/010817a.htm

Dupont's closest "speed enforcement zone" will be 
along 16th Street, between O and U. See map at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/aug01/cameras080601.htm

See letter in WP on historic status of Tivoli Theatre:
"A National Landmark,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38457-2001Aug20.html
   WBJ's great profile is a must-read. See "Now 
vacant, Tivoli theater was once a real showplace,"
http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/2001/08/13/focus7.html

XM buying building at Florida and 1st NE. See "XM 
Satellite to Buy Headquarters: Planners, Civic Leaders
Seek Cluster of High-Tech Firms in Downtown D.C.,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33827-2001Aug19.html

Update on proposed hotel for new convention center:
"Gould group takes lead in hotel contest,"
http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/2001/08/20/story2.html

Macy's has stupidly declined offer for Woodies site 
downtown. See "Macy's Deal for Woodies Site 'Dead':
D.C. Officials Cite Disagreement on Incentives for
a Friendship Heights Store,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42799-2001Aug21.html
   See also "Lord & Taylor, Wal-Mart eyed as Woodies
tenants,"
http://www.washtimes.com/business/default-2001823233627.htm

Parking lot at 23rd and Constitution will get $35 
million HQ. See "Institute of Peace to build new HQ,"
http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/2001/08/20/story3.html

Benjamin Forgey, bless his cranky heart, wrote a 5-
part series on annoying stupid blights in the heart of
the city. See "An Architecture Critic's Complaints:"
   "A Good Neighbor's Monumentally Bad Fence,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2579-2001Aug12.html
   "Quick Fix Breaks The Monumental Mood,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7051-2001Aug13.html
   "Through the Glass Darkly, at the Old Post Office,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12376-2001Aug14.html
   "Pedestrian Impediments: A Walk on the Wild Side,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17659-2001Aug15.html
   "On the Mall, a Whole Mess of Ugly,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22933-2001Aug16.html

OK. The Park Service is letting a private company give
the Jefferson Memorial a lighting makeover. Note the 
article says "the memorial, opened to the public in 
1943, had no original plans for lights" - lights were
added in the 60s and 70s. Yet, when it comes to 
underwater lights for the Dupont fountain, the NPS 
claims it violates the historical integrity of the 
sculpture. Is it too much to ask that there be a 
common standard for all properties under the custody
of the NPS? See "Jefferson will shine at night,"
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20010824-19144916.htm

The NW Current reported on Casey Trees Fund's 
interactive map being built. See [2] below.

Dorothy Brazil wrote a great item in The Mail about 
DC's horrible climate for small businesses. See 
http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2001/01-08-15.htm
   See also "D.C. worst place for small business," [3]
below. 
   See also "D.C. No. 1 -- and No. 51 -- in erratic 
business rankings,"
http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/2001/08/27/newscolumn4.html

DC still has a long way to go before being hospitable
to small businesses. High taxes, poor policing, and a
lethargic, corrupt bureaucracy repel both taxpayers 
and quality businesses. DC is no island: we have 
competition nearby in all directions, from Bethesda to
Silver Spring, and from Clarendon to Old Town.
   Speaking of which, it's nice to know that "booming
economy" doesn't always refer to exploding manholes. 
See "New boom in Old Town: Alexandria attracts 
development, with crowds, congestion," [4] below.

Whoever thought there'd be a fun gay diner in Crystal 
City? Freddie's Beach Bar & Restaurant is, in fact,
the only restaurant I know of with an eternally-
spinning disco ball. Also love the Christmas lights 
and comfy booths. See http://www.freddiesbeachbar.com/

The Blade reports that the DC/Ba'mer area ranks #1 in
highest percentage of population made up of same-sex
couples. San Francisco comes in second. At the 
neighborhood level, 17th St ranks 4th. The top 5 are:
   * Boston's South End
   * Atlanta's Midtown
   * Manhattan's Chelsea
   * DC's 17th St
   * San Francisco's Folsom St
   See "Census shows dramatic surge: DC leads nation’s
other cities in concentration of gay couples,"
http://www.washblade.com/national/010824b.htm
   See also report "Census Figures Show Lesbian and 
Gay Families are Integral Part of American Society," 
http://www.hrc.org/familynet/chapter.asp?article=340
   See also "Count of Gay Couples Up 300%: 2000 Census
Ranks D.C., Arlington, Alexandria Among Top Locales,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41994-2001Aug21.html

WB is conducting a survey of gay DC. Cast your votes
at http://www.washblade.com/bestofdc/bestofdc.htm

WBJ looks at Metro in Tysons. See "There's a will for
Metro in Tysons, but a way may be another story,"
http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/2001/08/20/story1.html
   See also "Scale back Tysons-Dulles rail extension -
or it may never get built," (I agree)
http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/2001/08/20/editorial1.html
   See also "Metro to Tysons: The world isn't flat,"
http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/2001/08/27/editorial4.html

293-unit apartment to be built straddling 12th St. See
"Clark Realty to build apartments at Clarendon Metro,"
http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/2001/08/20/newscolumn5.html

See "Riding the Wave from Md.: Record Number of 
Commuters Outpaces Growing Bus System,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43338-2001Aug21.html

Thursday, August 30: Three Dog Night free concert,
outside American Art Museum, 5:30-7:30 PM.

September 1 - 30: Art Treasure Hunt along U St - see 
[5] below.

Tuesday, September 4: "14th Street Renaissance," part
of the DC Builds series at the Natl Building Museum. 
Panel to be Jim Abdo, Wayne Dickson & Chris Shaheen.
$12. See http://www.nbm.org/Calendar/Lectures.html

September 8 & 9: Adams Morgan Festival. See "Art, 
Music, Sports, Food, Crafts on Tap," 
http://www.intowner.com/fr/issue/stories/story4.htm
   See also http://www.adamsmorganday.org/

Thursday, September 13: "Gaynines: Gay & Lesbian Dog 
Party," sponsored by WCP, at S&T Park on 17th St. See
https://secure.washingtoncitypaper.com/ematch/events/events-lovemonth2001.html

September 23: BikeDC. Sign up now for fab tour through
streets closed to traffic throughout DC.  See
http://www.waba.org/new/ride_with/bikedc2001.php

There are now 263 of you who get this e-mail.  You are
welcome to send tips or comments. Anyone interested in
being added to the mailing list should send their full
name, approx location of residence, and how they found
out about it.

Best regards,
Michael
dupont_circle@yahoo.com
------------------------------------------------------
[1] 
To:       
From:    "Francis Q. Hoang"  
Date:    Tue, 28 Aug 2001  
Subject: Action Plan for U Street Noise Problem

First off, for those who don't know me, my name is 
France Hoang and I am the newly appointed Chair for
Public Safety with the CSNA. I'll do my best to work 
with everyone in the community to make our 
neighborhood a safer and healthier place to live.  
 
I met with Lt Dykes for a couple of hours early this 
morning regarding the traffic and noise problems
identified yesterday.  He was extremely helpful and 
willing to work with the community in solving this
problem.  Here's the action plan we developed:

1.  PROBLEM:  Noise, excessive traffic, and 
disturbances primarily along the 1300 blocks of T and 
V St and along the 2100 and 2200 blocks of 13th and 
14th St from 0100 to 0400 on Friday and Saturday 
nights.
 
2.  ANALYSIS OF PROBLEM:  
 
Offenders: Drivers crusing/passing through U Street 
           area
  Victims: Residents in U Street area
 Location: As stated above, blocks adjacent to 1300 
           block of U Street. 
 
The problem seems to have 3 root causes:

(a) The high volume of traffic passing along U Street
during that time causes traffic backup, causing some
vehicles to voluntarily take side streets around the 
1300 block of U Street. 
(b) Some traffic chooses to cruise around the 1300 
block of U Street repeatedly.
(c) In the past, police have closed at least part of 
the 1300 block of U Street to traffic when (1) an
emergency occurs that requires a police reponse or (2)
as clubs let out due to the high volume of people that
exit directly into the street, which has let to 
violent crime in the past.  This forces vehicles onto
residential side streets.  
 
3.  ACTION PLAN
 
Endstate/Vision: (a) Reduce or eliminate noise, 
traffic, and disturbance along residential side 
streets; (b) smooth traffic flow through U Street 
corridor; and (c) safe and orderly closing of clubs.
 
Short Term Goal:  Implement one solution and assess 
within 1 week.
 
Long Term Goal:  Achieve all three goals.
 
Strategy:
1. Police will not close the 1300 block of U Street to
traffic as clubs let out.  Additionally, police will 
explore possibility of additional static posts to move
traffic and pedestrians out of area at closing time 
and issue notices of infractions.  
2. If the block must be closed due to emergency, Lt 
Dykes will inform me and I will notify residents of 
time and reason via email the next day.  
3. In order to gauge if this change has any impact, I 
will observe club closings and traffic on U Street at
0400 on Friday evening with Lt Dykes.  In addition, 
residents are asked to sent email to 
csna_public_safety@hotmail.com after the weekend to 
report whether leaving the 1300 block of U Street open
made a difference.  
4. If the noise problems persists, we will implement 
an Action Team with police, citizen, community
organization, and government agency representatives to
conduct problem solving and develop a more detailed 
and long term solution.  Scott hinted at several of 
these possible solutions in his message. 
 
4. IMPLEMENTATION AND ASSESSMENT
 
Lt Dykes stated he would speak with his Commander and
the powershift Lt, then implement this 4 point
plan Friday and Saturday night.  I will observe the 
club closings and traffic on Friday night and collect
emails from everyone.  Early next week, I'll send 
another message out to everyone with the results. 

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, 
please feel free to send me an email at
csna_public_safety@hotmail.com or call at 
(202) 518-7669.  
 
Thanks again to Lt Dykes for being so willing to work
towards solving this long standing problem.  
 
Francis Q. Hoang
Chair, Public Safety
Cardozo Shaw Neighborhood Association

To learn more about the ustreetnews group, please 
visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ustreetnews

------------------------------------------------------
[2] - [from Northwest Current]         August 15, 2001

Digital map to build on city's tree listing

By CHRIS KAIN 
Current Staff Writer 

In Chevy Chase, residents boast about the tree they
call the Northampton Oak. The tree -- estimated to be
400 years old -- has its own neighborhood group, which
paid for a professional tree service to provide a deep
fertilizer treatment to help stimulate root
development. 
   Cleveland Park has particularly large beech trees
on Newark Street. 
   And in Georgetown, residents brag about the 
American lindens that line Prospect Street, the elms 
on Q Street and the ginkgoes on Potomac Street. 
   All will be part of an interactive digital map 
planned by the Casey Trees Endowment Fund to document
the location, type, size and condition of the 
District's street trees. The fund, established earlier
this year with a $50 million grant from the Eugene B. 
Casey Foundation, hopes to have much of the work 
completed by next summer. 
   "The street tree inventory should be in pretty good
shape by the middle of next summer," said Sheila 
Hogan, a Cathedral Heights resident and the fund's
executive director. "We already know where all the
trees are. We could digitize that, but it would not be
as useful." 
   Rather, by training volunteers to determine the
canopy size and the condition of the trees, the 
project will collect information that will help the 
D.C. Tree and Landscape Division and nonprofit groups
decide where to target their resources. 
   In 1999, a study by American Forests found that 
over the prior 24 years, the city's average tree cover
dropped 37 percent to 21 percent, with losses
particularly heavy in the eastern parts of the 
District. A healthy city should have an average tree
cover of 40 percent, according to the study. 
   "We need to get a much better idea of where we need
the trees most," agreed Sally Boasberg, who works on
tree issues for the Committee of 100 for the Federal
City and sits on an advisory committee for the Casey
Trees Endowment Fund. "There are certain areas that
don't have much tree cover. ... We need to know
whether the situation is worse on Bladensburg Road or
Benning Road." 
   While Mayor Anthony Williams and the D.C. Council
have boosted the budget of the tree office in recent 
years, Boasberg said that an up-to-date and complete
inventory is essential. 
   "In order to budget properly, we have to know how
many trees we have and how many trees we have to 
replace," said Boasberg, a landscape architect and 
Cleveland Park resident. 
   Though the District once had an accurate inventory,
cutbacks a decade ago left the tree office too
short-handed to keep it up. 
   "It's gotten hopelessly out of date," said 
Outerbridge Horsey, who has worked closely with city
officials as one of the founders of Trees for 
Georgetown. Hogan said that the new project will team
college students with high school volunteers to comb
city streets and take down information about each 
tree. Training will focus on species and disease
identification, as well as basic inventory skills. The
work will take place in the spring and early summer. 
Hogan also said she hopes to work with neighborhood
groups to start a Tree Keeper program, with volunteers
preparing an inventory of trees in city parks and in
private yards. 
   The resulting information, she said, would
particularly help the many groups working to beautify
playgrounds and parks. Those involved could project
the growth of the existing trees to determine where
new trees should go and what species would work best. 
"You want to make sure there's plenty of shade for the
kids," Hogan noted, "but you may want to have some
little areas of sun." 
   The inventory could also note if a tree was planted
in memory of someone or is particularly notable for 
some other reason, Hogan said. 
   Forest Hills advisory neighborhood commission chair
David Bardin -- who, like Hogan, testified at a city
council hearing held in the wake of the American
Forests report in late 1999 -- is particularly
interested in that aspect. He would like to see
property owners able to list particularly large or
otherwise notable trees on a listing akin to the
National Register of Historic Places. 
   "Let people who are proud of their trees list 
them," Bardin said. "This is something they boast 
about."  Large trees also stir pride among nearby 
residents, he noted. A large white oak tree planted 
before the Civil War figured prominently in the 
testimony of Bardin and other opponents of a town-
house project at Nebraska Avenue and Albemarle Street
that they said threatened the tree's health. Neighbors
subsequently gave their support to a smaller project,
now approved by the Zoning Commission, that shifted 
the buildings and parking lot farther from the tree's
roots. Bardin also pointed to a tree near the U.S. 
Capitol, saved in 1875 from the recommendation of an 
arborist who said the tree had little chance of living
much longer. 
   "A crusty, farsighted Republican senator from
Pennsylvania said no way," Bardin said. 
The tree remains, though it is held up by cable. 
"This is a city which is extremely conscious of many
of its cultural attractions," Bardin said. "We
identify historically important structures. We
identify monuments which point to individuals who are
significant in the American experience, or monuments
to events that are significant." 
   And now, he said, it is time for the District to
create the register of trees already found in many
states. 
   "I think very few of us realize that we have some 
very fine specimens here," Bardin said. 
   Boasberg and Horsey said they are glad to see the
soaring interest in the city's trees, both among the
public and city leaders. 
   "Trees seem to be getting a lot of attention now,
which is great," said Horsey. 
   Long before the publicity created by Casey's $50
million donation earlier this year and recent
investments in the city's Trees and Landscape
Division, Horsey and about six or seven neighbors have
labored for more than a decade to raise funds to plant
new trees in Georgetown. 
   Trees for Georgetown has spent around $25,000 a 
year, usually to plant trees except for the year 
organizers used it to provide badly needed pruning. 
Horsey estimated the group has planted 700 trees over
the years, each inspected by an arborist consultant. 
Twice a year, the group divides Georgetown into
sectors and details the condition of the
neighborhood's street trees. 
   "We have volunteers look for dead trees, hazardous
conditions and empty boxes," Horsey said, "and we
submit that to the city for review. ... We did an
inventory a number of years ago, and we try to keep
that up to date." 

------------------------------------------------------
[3]  
Study: D.C. worst place for small business 
By Kate Royce
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

     The District still has a long way to go in its
efforts to lure and keep small businesses, but the
climate has improved slightly under Mayor Anthony A.
Williams, small business owners say. 
     Fred Luskin, owner of Bell Wine and Liquor in
Northwest, says high taxes, overzealous police
officers and street vendors have caused him to lose
sales.
     "Police seem to delight in double parkers. That's
how they get their revenue. The impression is they do
everything to drive business into the suburbs, then
they complain they have no revenue," Mr. Luskin says.
     Street vendors, who he says charge no sales tax
on their items, also hurt small businesses, he says.
     "No one stopped to do the arithmetic. They lose
millions of dollars because of vendors. People don't
need to pay sales tax from them," he says. "I don't
think anyone in the government has had any retail
experience where they have had to look at a payroll."
     Mr. Luskin says his business has to pay a high
property tax and just finished paying off a special
tax of $1,300 per year for six years for the
construction of the MCI Center.
     "The consensus is we're taxed to death," he says.
     For the sixth straight year, the city ranked as
the worst place to start a business in the United
States in a national study by the Small Business
Survival Committee, a nonprofit small business
advocacy organization, located in the District.
     The District placed 51st on the 2001 Small
Business Survival Index compared with the 50 states.
Nevada placed first, while Virginia ranked 15th and
Maryland 27th.
     Results of the sixth annual study were based on
factors such as tax rates, electricity costs, crime
rates, number of bureaucrats and minimum-wage rates.
     According to the index, the District's top
personal income tax rate ranked the fourth worst in
the country, at 9.3 percent. Its top capital gains tax
rate tied for last place with California, also at 9.3
percent. Its top corporate income tax placed second
worst at 9.98 percent. The District fared better on
its state and local property tax ratio, ranking 36th
at 3.78 and 25th on a general state and local sales
tax ratio of 2.60.
     "[The index] informs the lawmakers about the
government's impact on the small business climate,"
says Darrell McKigney, president of the committee.
"Most of these factors are government-imposed costs."
     Mr. McKigney says the the District's high income
taxes and high corporate and capital gains taxes hurt
business.
     "It's a huge disincentive, especially in small
businesses where personal income and business income
are one and the same," Mr. McKigney says.
     The District has some problems, but it's working
to solve them, says Richard Monteilh, president of the
D.C. Chamber of Commerce.
     He says the D.C. Council has been working to
reduce taxes, such as dropping the snack tax earlier
this year, which taxed items such as popped popcorn,
but not unpopped popcorn kernels.
     Tony Bullock, interim director of communications
for the mayor, says the city does enough to support
small businesses, though they are focusing mainly on
one sector.
     "Mayor Williams has done a lot for small
businesses, obtaining small contracts and just being
there for them," he says. "The various federal
programs providing tax credits do an awful lot in
technology."
     Mr. Bullock says that more than 300 small
technology companies have been started in the District
through tax-incentive programs.
     But Raymond Keating, chief economist for the
Small Business Survival Committee, says that isn't
enough.
     "The problem with that is that tax relief should
be as broad-based as possible - it shouldn't provide
for one program over another. They should do a
broad-based tax, and then let the market work."
     He also says the mayor's tax cut last year was
not enough to help small businesses effectively.
     "The District passed a tax cut last year, but the
original proposal was for a larger tax cut over a
shorter period of time," Mr. Keating says. "Instead,
under the mayor, the tax cut was smaller over a longer
period of time."
     Mr. Bullock says he isn't taking the study too
seriously.
     "I think it's somewhat of a joke in many
respects," he says. "It purports to capture various
government factors that influence businesses. The
bottom line is that we are unique."
     He also says the study compares the District to
states with rural areas and doesn't compare similar
quantities.
     Other factors that the District scored high on,
like crime rates and number of bureaucrats, make it
harder to attract and retain employees, he says.
     For example, Crystal Craft, owner of Deane Avenue
Cleaners in Southeast, says two of her employees quit
after her store was robbed two months ago.
     "You're safe nowhere, but to come into your
business and have a gun stuck to your head - it gives
you something to think about," she says. "The money
the government is spending needs to be put into
safety."
     But comparing the District with states such as
California is unfair, Mr. Monteilh says.
     "Any state is going to have rural areas that will
balance out the crime rate," he says. "We should be
compared more with cities like Chicago or New York."
     Mr. Bullock also says the comparison with other
states makes the District look too tax-heavy, since
many major cities levy city taxes on top of state
taxes.
     The District needs to pay better attention to how
its neighboring states are taxing its residents, he
says.
     "You don't have to move too hard for a better tax
climate, and D.C. will never prosper until they get a
more competitive tax climate with their neighbors," he
says.
     Ms. Craft says if the District reduced or
eliminated some of its taxes, local businesses would
be in better shape.
     Mr. Luskin also says the higher sales tax,
coupled with the lack of a major mall in the city,
drives business to the suburbs.
     "All they have to do is hop on the Metro and
they're in Crystal City," he says. 

------------------------------------------------------
[4]                                    August 20, 2001
New boom in Old Town 
By Robert Moorman
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Alexandria attracts development, with crowds, 
congestion 
     Alexandria's building boom is transforming the 
home of George Washington into a viable center for 
business,  raising the hopes of city officials and 
quality-of-life concerns of homeowners.   
     The 333-foot high George Washington Masonic 
National Memorial looks down on the City of Alexandria
from Shooters Hill like a lone sentry. From the 
observation deck of the structure that resembles an 
ancient Egyptian lighthouse, one can see the explosive
growth along the west end of Old Town, the heart of 
the city.
     The completion in the late 1990s of the mammoth 
Albert V. Bryan Federal Court House for the Eastern 
District of Virginia sparked the building boom that 
continues today. Various businesses and institutions 
have sprung up over the past few years along Duke 
Street, upper King Street and the four-mile-long 
Eisenhower corridor, which runs parallel to the 
Beltway. Time Life, Society for Human Resource 
Management, the investment house AG Edwards, Regent 
University, the Hilton Hotel and the Fairfield 
Resorts, a time-share luxury condominium, have all 
moved in.
     But it is the mixed-use development at Carlyle 
off Duke Street and the controversial 2.4 million-
square-foot U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to
be built nearby that has attracted so much attention,
not all of it favorable.
     Residents worry that the 7,100 people that will 
be relocated from PTO's current headquarters in 
Crystal City will further burden Alexandria's already
strained roadways. City and PTO officials say traffic
will be manageable because many PTO employees will use
public transportation and are expected to operate on a 
flexible schedule.
     Residents also are concerned about how the new 
Woodrow Wilson Bridge will affect their lives. The 
bridge is expected to be completed by 2007. As part of
a settlement agreement to the new bridge, Alexandria 
will get an access road from the inner loop of the 
Beltway directly into the Eisenhower valley, which 
should ease congestion. A second promised access way 
from the Beltway to Telegraph Road will not be built 
due to lack of funding.
     As for the PTO, the 15.5-acre headquarters campus
is expected to attract a variety of hotel, retail and
residential units, increasing Old Town's inventory by 
50 percent, according to city officials. In 
anticipation of the PTO's arrival in 2004, the patent
law firm of Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & 
Neustadt has leased 205,000 square feet of space at 
1940 King St. Computer Patent Annuities Inc., a large
patent renewal service, recently signed a 10-year 
lease agreement for 15,000 square feet at King Street
Station.
     "We see the PTO as the catalyst for the 
completion of the Carlyle project, particularly the 
retail component," says Bill Hard, executive vice 
president for LCOR Inc., the principal developer for 
the PTO headquarters. Groundbreaking on the new 
headquarters is expected this October.
   
Wasting open space 
     Not everyone is enamored with PTO as a new 
neighbor. Alan Rudd, a resident of the Carlyle Towers,
adjacent to the Federal Court House, objects to the 
PTO's plan to erect two 71-foot-high parking garages 
above the ground, which will provide parking for 3,800
cars.
     "That is a horrendous waste of open space," says
Mr. Rudd. The garages will provide one parking space 
for every two PTO employees, a violation of the 
national capital guidelines for parking, says Mr. 
Rudd.
     In addition to PTO, there will be 3,000 
residential units in the Eisenhower corridor and 5 
million square feet of office space. Plan approval has
been given to the Simpson Development for the 
Alexandria Technology Center V and VI, which will need
128,000 square feet of office space. The nearby 
Hoffman Town Center is taking shape with the just-
opened 22-screen AMC Theatre. Recently, Alexandria 
approved the building of a 493,460-square-foot office
building; 33,512 square feet have been earmarked for
retail stores and restaurants in the Hoffman Town 
Center. Including the PTO, the city's planning 
department has identified 14 million square feet of 
development or redevelopment potential in the 
Eisenhower corridor alone.
     Times have changed for Alexandria. Before the 
building boom, Old Town was known more as a nightlife
alternative to Georgetown and a haven for trade 
associations taking advantage of reasonably priced 
office space. In the early 1980s, Alexandria made a 
concerted effort to attract trade associations from 
the District and elsewhere with the promise of 
reasonable lease rates and easy access to the nation's
capital and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
     Today, the city is home to more than 300 
associations that employ more than 9,000 people and 
400 technology companies, employing more than 10,000
people.
     As of the first quarter 2001, Alexandria employed
92,984 persons, compared to 88,761 for the year 
earlier quarter, according to the latest local 
economic indicators released by the Alexandria 
Economic Development Partnership (AEDP). That number 
is expected to rise dramatically as new businesses 
come in. AEDP, a public and private partnership funded
by the city, indicated that the vacancy rate for 
industrial space was just over 4 percent, a further 
indication of the city's growing popularity.
     Retail sales in the city for the first quarter 
were slightly more than $508 million compared with 
$489.4 million for the first quarter of 2000.
     Why choose Alexandria, a city with a limited 
amount of undeveloped land? "A number of businesses 
have come to Alexandria because they want something 
other than a sterile office park," offers Alexandria
Mayor Kerry Donley, referring to those businesses that
line the Dulles corridor. "The same things that 
brought a lot of the trade associations here has 
served us well in attracting various businesses."
     Mr. Donley says the city is well into its third 
phase of development that began in the 1960s with the
restoration of the historically rich Old Town, 
incorporated in 1749. Public and private funding help
concerned residents restore some of the luster of the
city that was a leading trading port for tobacco and 
flour in the 17th century. Some of the federal funds 
were obtained through the Model Cities Program created
by the Lyndon Johnson Administration.
     A change in Virginia state law allowing liquor to
be sold by the drink plus a repeal of the Blue Laws 
prohibiting stores and restaurants from operating on 
Sunday in the 1970s opened the door to Old Town for 
the food and beverage industry.
     Those events were followed by the redevelopment 
of the eastern part of city along the Potomac River. 
Parks, town houses and office complexes were erected 
along the waterfront.

The future 
     The city's future hinges in large measure on the
Carlyle development and Potomac Yard, toward the 
north, says Mr. Donley, who predicts moderate 
residential growth of 10 percent to 15 percent over 
the next decade.
     According to the last census, Alexandria's 
population went from 95,000 to 128,500 in just over a
decade.
     With increased development comes another source 
of revenue for the city. The PTO alone is expected to
generate $6.5 million in tax revenue annually, 
according to Mark Jinks, the assistant city manager in
charge of all financial matters. The rest of the 
Carlyle project and the development along the Potomac 
Yard is expected to generate $20.9 million and $13 
million in tax revenue, respectively.
     While not a windfall, that $40.4 million in tax 
revenue will certainly help to pay for more public 
services, Mr. Jinks says.
     The city council has earmarked $250,000 annually 
for additional emergency medical services for the west
end of Old Town. The area's merchants applaud the 
growth, particularly those in the west end of Old 
Town, an area once considered a dead zone at night.
     "With each building that goes up, our business 
spikes a bit," declares Vernon Grandgeorge, co-owner 
of Joe Theismann's restaurant, located across from 
the King Street Metro.
     Mike Chouri, general manager of the 241-room 
Hilton Hotel across the street, has noticed a definite
increase in the number of business groups at the 
hotel. In the summer, the occupancy rate for leisure 
travelers rose to 60 percent, 40 percent for business.
The percentages are reversed for the rest of the year,
Mr. Chouri says.
     The Hilton will soon have company. A Hampton Inn
is scheduled to open this summer, bringing to three 
the number of hotels within walking distance of the 
King Street Metro. The Embassy Suites, next door to 
Joe Theisman's, was built 10 years ago.
     While most welcome the growth, several area 
businesses expressed concern over the ever-increasing 
rental rates in Old Town. According to the city, 
average full-service rental rates climbed to $26.14 
per square foot, a $4 increase in five years.
     In the west end of Old Town, where many of the 
new properties are located, rental rates for office 
space range between $30 and $32 per square foot. On 
lower King Street, retail rents at some businesses 
have skyrocketed to $40 to $50 per square foot.
     "That's what happens when you get successful. 
Landlords raise the rent," says Barbara Brecher, 
president of the King Street Metro Enterprise Team, 
which represents businesses along King Street. "Years
ago, you probably couldn't have given these retail 
stores away."
     Joe Egerton, owner of Arts of Fire and Egerton 
Gardens, sees good and bad news for lower Old Town.
     "There has been some turnover of businesses due 
to the increase in rents," says Mr. Egerton. High-end
retail businesses have been replaced by T-shirt and 
ice-cream shops, he says.
     And yet some national chains like Old Town 
Restoration Hardware and Xando, a trendy coffee shop 
chain, have opened stores in lower Old Town.
     At Potomac Yard, Crescent Resources, the real 
estate division of Duke Power, plans to build 1,977 
residential units, as well as 1.9 million square feet
of office space and a 625-room hotel on a 300-acre 
site that includes a portion of Alexandria and 
Arlington County.
     Retail outlets occupying 135,000 square feet also
will be part of the project. This will be the second 
phase of development of the former rail yard. Potomac
Yard already has a three-year-old, 587,907 square foot
shopping complex and a multi-screen cinema that is 
teeming with activity on most days.
     While the PTO and Carlyle projects factor heavily
into Alexandria's future, officials continue to look 
forward. Over the next 20 years, the city will be 
looking at redevelopment of land not used currently, 
such as empty warehouses and abandoned buildings, says
Alexandria's Mayor, Mr. Donley.
     But the immediate challenge remains: how to 
balance Alexandria's growth and residents' concerns 
that the quality of life be maintained.

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[5]  
TAG Art Treasure Hunt
 
The Triangle Artists Group is hosting an Art Treasure
Hunt from September 1 to 30 in the U Street 
neighborhood (the blocks north of U, south of Florida,
between 12th and 18th Streets NW).  
 
Artists will work with homeowners and businesses to
display art in windows and other public spaces.  Maps
of participating venues will be made available to 
visitors at the opening events and in literature 
displays throughout the area. 

All events are free to the public.  All area artists
are eligible to participate, you do not have to be a
member of TAG. There will be opening events on 9/1, 
closing events on 9/30, and walking tour one night
during the run of the show.  Work on display may be
for sale, at the discretion of the artists.  
 
For further information, contact the curator:
Daniel Emberley, phone and fax 202-462-7876,
riceandpasta@juno.com.  
BECAUSE U STREET IS TOO COOL FOR A HOUSE TOUR