In the dawn of Washington's history, Pierre l'Enfant drew up his plan for the capital city, including 15 public spaces where roads intersected. In the late 19th century, many of those spaces were forged into circles. At Vermont and Rhode Island, Logan Circle was made. At Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, Washington Circle was made. At Massachusetts and Nebraska, Ward Circle was made, and elsewhere Grant Circle and Sherman Circle and Thomas Circle and Scott Circle. But at the marshes around Slash Run, where Massachusetts met with Connecticut, New Hampshire, 19th and P, they made one circle to rule them all: Dupont Circle, the One Circle.

Tonight I'd like to reflect on the state of the circle; to simply list the comings and goings, and to take a moment to discuss goals for the future.

Looking north, along Connecticut Avenue, I see several newcomers: Benetton and Sisley opened in the old Janus cinema. Russia House Lounge opened in March, in a grand building once used as a private restaurant and club. The Video Rack opened below the Leather Rack. And Irvine Contemporary Art opened in a space now shared with Troyer Gallery. Two new restaurants will open soon: Sette and Mourayo. But there are ghosts on this avenue as well. Fuzio closed. Cafe Midi closed. Kemp Mill Music closed. Burrito Brothers closed. Are we no longer the city's burrito capital? Are we no longer the place to browse for music?
There is one other ghost, Viareggio's. It opened in 1999 after the previous tenant, gourmet grocer Market Day, folded. Food plays a special role in society, and food stores are a vital piece of the neighborhood puzzle. Small neighborhood grocers have struggled since the invention of refrigeration, but one still hopes against hope for their return. -And for the return of specialty stores - a boulangerie for bread, fromagerie for cheese, pâtisserie for pastries, a butchers, and a produce market. We are lucky to still have Firehook, Marvelous Market, and the Sunday farmers market. Whole Foods Market demonstrated that a quality food source can feed demand for nearby housing; we hope to see more grocers enter the region. Harris Teeter seems close to opening their first DC store at 17th & Kalorama, and Trader Joe's is being recruited for Foggy Bottom. A new Giant is expected in Columbia Heights, and a new Whole Foods might open there too.

Let's turn west to P St. This little stretch is our most distinct entry, with a bridge connecting us to Georgetown. It passes over Rock Creek Park, but doesn't easily connect to it. For cyclists, joggers and walkers it would be nice to create a better entrance to the city's best parkland.
The city announced intentions almost two years ago to design a better streetscape for P Street. Though a half-million dollars was budgeted for this, the project seems to have been forgotten, with no plans released, no accounting of the money spent, and no improvements in sight. It is good to see the bridge being repaired, but let's also spruce up the short distance between the bridge and the circle.
One wonders what's to come of Dupont's oldest gay bar, Mr P's, now apparently shuttered. Two new arrivals on P St demonstrate alternate visions of our future. One, Quiznos, is a national chain which tries to saturate neighborhoods with homogenous stores; the other, Italian art gallery Capricorno, shows off Dupont as a special place, and strengthens our reputation as the heart of DC's art gallery network.

At 20th and Q, there's a new little retail shop which we can all be proud of. Tabletop opened in Miss Pixie's old home (who will be missed), selling accessories and whatnot with an eye for good design.

To our south, in the former Benetton spot, one sees construction of a different kind of chain - one that folks not only welcome, but beg for: this is the site of the city's first Krispy Kreme. For balance, that block of Connecticut also saw a new independent shop open, the import-trinket shop Himalaya House.

Other noteworthy changes to our south are the new David Greggory restaurant at 22nd and M, and seafood restaurant Fin, which replaced Georgetown Seafood Grill at 19th and Jefferson. Staples took over the 19th & L space from Office Depot, which then opened a new store at 20th & K. Retailer City Sports opened on 19th St between L and M. Underground restaurant Agua Ardiente opened at 24th & M.

Other little changes are scattered here and there. Visions rechristened its lounge as Bar Noir, painting over its fun mural with red and black. The Jurys hotel brought its 19th Street side to stunning life with the addition of Dupont Grille. Another stylish design was unveiled when Health Bar opened, tucked next to Results. BP Amaco opened at 18th and S.

A few changes stand out as especially noteworthy. The Heurich Mansion was finally sold, with the winning bid going to Heurich's own descendants, who then turned the property back into a historic house open to the public. The Phillips Collection started construction of their expansion. The Human Rights Campaign opened their new headquarters building at 17th & Rhode Island Avenue. The Golden Triangle BID orchestrated the installation of several countdown pedestrian signals. Throughout Dupont, the city rebuilt select alleys using attractive pavers.

And underground, control of the former Dupont trolley station changed hands when the U.S. Court of Appeals held that the Dupont Down Under sub-lease holder now had the rights for the entire property. But there are still no plans for development. It is a difficult space, with no easy solutions. Would a gym work? A pool hall? Can someone run a haunted house there next Halloween? And what of the boarded-up trolley entrances? Whatever happens to the space below, it is doubtful all nine entrances will be used. It would be a shame to lose the footprints of the old entrances; rather than destroying them or keeping them fallow, I would love to see kiosks constructed over them. These small street-level spaces could add to our retail scene, with vendors selling flowers, magazines, gelato, coffee, crafts, produce, pastries, etc etc.

Turning our gaze to the east, let's review the changes on 17th St. Last March, Housewares opened next door to the TrueValue store. Restaurant Komi got off to a flying start in the old Vivo space. Caldwell Banker opened a branch, and Subway added another bastion.

The strip with the most activity was once again 14th Street. Three businesses moved east to new homes on or near 14th Street: Wagtime went from 18th Street to 14th & Q, Blink went from 17th Street to P Street, and Reincarnations went from 17th Street to a spectacular new home at 14th & Rhode Island Avenue. Reincarnations demonstrates that the best thing that can happen to a streetscape is to get a store that cares about its window displays.

The heart of 14th Street's amazing renaissance is on the eastern half of the block between S and T. Pulp opened their permanent home, with a changing window display that never fails to amuse and invite. Even El Paraiso Market, just next door, improved its facade. Upstairs, sleek clothing shop Pop opened up. Side-by- side furniture stores Muléh and Vastu opened, looking fun and stylish. And on the corner of 14th & T, Cafe Saint-Ex became on overnight success, while managing to feel like it's always been there. It would be nice if The Black Cat could catch the wave, and open up its empty facade.

Other highlights were the opening of beautiful Thai restaurant Rice, and the opening of Timothy Paul Carpets and Textiles, with its glowing storefront. On P Street, Logan Hardware brought a welcome service, and across the street several businesses opened in The Hudson, most notably cozy Logan Tavern, alongside Starbucks, TCBY and Washington Mutual. Next door, The New Vegas Lounge completed a renovation.

Studio Theatre began a major expansion program. Arena Stage at 14th & T came back to life, hosting several productions. Source Theatre became perhaps the busiest stage in town, hosting Source's own production company plus several others, including Cherry Red. As you know, I've been working with Cherry Red for several seasons, designing props. I've been a fan of theirs ever since seeing wacky shows like "Cannibal Cheerleaders on Crack" and "Zombie Attack," and was saddened to learn this will be their last full season, keeping in mind that the company will still mount productions from time to time.

Behind the 7-11 at 14th and Rhode Island, Metro Cafe will be reborn as Box Life, including a small performance space on the second floor. I fondly recall the last time I went in Metro Cafe's old home with Cherry Red's cast of regulars, gazing at the ceiling, reminiscing over the all the blood and other stuff that accumulated there from old performances.

Next door to Studio, the old Sign of the Lamb building will soon open with a collection of art galleries, including G Fine Art.

We have the makings of a true arts district here, with a range of galleries, theatres, and unique shops.

14th and Church streets is at the center of a cluster of quality residential projects. It boggles the mind to compare 2 years ago to 2 years hence. Rainbow Lofts, Cooper-Lewis, Phaeton on 14th, 1441 Rhode Island Avenue, Lofts 14 I & II, The Metro, The DeSoto, Andover House, and more...
And even 13th Street is seeing major new housing projects, including The Rutherford, 1225 Lofts, Sovereign Circle, The Icon, and The Jefferson.

This year will see the opening of the most beautiful housing project of them all: The Ellington, at 13th and U. We're lucky to get such an important building right across from the Metro station. The same can't be said of the new building on top of the station. With dark tinted windows hiding its presumably-ugly contents, and a near-total lack of decoration on the street corner, this building is a flat disappointment.

Across the street, the Lincoln Theatre added a nostalgic blue argon sign to the exterior; now if only their neighbor Ben's Chili Bowl could replace the dozens of burnt-out yellow light bulbs in their sign.

Nearby on U, Republic Gardens reopened. The 1500 block of U Street gained two cute little retail shops on the south side, Nana and Junction, and Nevin Kelly Gallery on the north. Love Cafe brought sweet life to the corner of 15th and U.

Adams Morgan lost unique retailers Tara's Gallery and music shop DCCD, as well as the automated convenience store Redbox.
But Adams Morgan finally got the punk/goth shop it deserved when Stark Raving Mad opened on 18th Street.
Several new restaurants opened, with my favorites being Mantis, Bulgarian Cafe Sofia, and L'Enfant, which finally perfected that little corner at 18th & Vernon. Sushi lounge Saki, Pacific Sushi, fast-food Peking Garden, Maggie Moo's, and Starbucks also came to Adams Morgan.

The most notable new arrivals in Georgetown were world-class soapy showcase Lush and much-heralded clothing shops H&M and Zara. Over-the-top and overpriced restaurant Mie N Yu also opened. Rose Park played host to a farmers market for the first time. Plans for the Georgetown Waterfront progressed, slowly.

H&M also made big news downtown, where it opened in the old Woodies building. Nearby saw more retail, as mens fashion retailer Jos. A Bank and Chapters bookstore opened. A new magnet for downtown just opened, the E Street Cinema, with 8 screens. An upscale lingerie store is expected at 11th and Penn. More good news is on the horizon: Woolly Mammoth will open its new home on 7th Street this year, and the Shakespeare Theatre is close to building a stage at 6th & F. A massive project will open at 7th & H this year, bringing 14 movie screens, and Jillian's, which will include bowling lanes and other arcade amusements.

Other notable changes throughout the city include the restoration of the Avalon Theatre; the city's first Five Guys burger joint, on Georgia Ave; and the long-awaited first tenant for the old Tenleytown Sears, a Best Buy. Meanwhile, local chain Britches tanked, and Mt Pleasant lost The People Garden, their organic deli/grocery. Rosslyn got a surprsingly hip pool hall when Continental opened, flashing retro style and even giant tiki heads. Outside the beltway, IKEA opened a store in College Park.

Opportunities for this city to continue its momentum are growing. Plans for the wax museum site at 5th and K are still not yet final, and the old convention center offers another golden opportunity. NoMa has already come to life, with the first new residents moving into the amazing new cluster of towers. A major effort is being made to improve the waterfront along the Anacostia.

People often ask why I mention developments in Rockville, Crystal City, and Mordor - I mean, Tysons Corner. These developments affect us. When Crystal City turns its buildings inside out and chooses a pedestrian-orientated design with streetscapes that are permeable and lively, we need to take notice.

Nearby developments bolster our entire community, but they also serve as competition. DC is a very small island, and we have only so many advantages over Maryland and Virginia, and a number of well-publicized liabilities. People vote with their feet, and we're only now beginning to see a reversal of the mass exodus of thousands of people over the last few decades, fleeing the high crime, high taxes, poor services and poor schools.

So much of what we have, we have by accident - our wonderful stock of historic houses, our friendly mix of retail, from bookstores to music to clothes to knickknacks, and from mom-and-pops to trendy national retailers. Well, if not by accident, there are so many factors in our wonderful neighborhood that it's difficult to pin down any one reason. We have vigilant neighborhood groups... we are the heart of the gay community... we have collegiate outposts, and are in the middle of DC's many universities... we are the heart of the embassy community, and the central point for bike couriers... We are convenient for tourists, and offer many of the city's best restaurants. We have one of the region's busiest Metro stops. We are home to several cultural assets.

One consensus of the latest round of developments is that people are sick of driving in their cars for routine trips. Columbia Pike, the Village at Shirlington, Silver Spring... they're trying to build what we already have. But no community stands still, or should. We too should be vigilant about the design of our neighborhood.

We should continuously inspect our neighborhood for opportunities to improve. As architect Daniel Burham advised, "make no little plans."

Let's start our inspection right here in Dupont Circle plaza. In the heart of this park, this lovely fountain is the symbol of our neighborhood. Granted, it's below freezing and there's only one other person here [thanks, Joe!], but on a warm night this is the city's best spot. Let's do something to enhance this fountain. At night, those three cascades of water fall in shadows. Let's add underwater lights to make them sparkle. It's not hard. And adding lights to the concrete basin does not harm the historic statue. The most famous fountain in the world, Rome's Trevi fountain, was given underwater lights centuries after the fountain itself was built. Surely, sometime in the new millennium, a light from the darkness shall spring.

Let's beautify P St with a charming streetscape. Let's find a good use for Dupont Down Under. Let's add bike lanes and make biking an option for everyone.

Let's connect our neighborhood to Rock Creek Park and the National Arboretum - let's add a bike trail connecting these two wonderful parks, using Q Street and R Street.

Let's take care of the little parks in our own backyard. Let's spruce up the little triangle at 20th & Q. Let's cover the Connecticut Avenue underpass - just the little slice south of Q Street - and build a new park over it.

Let's design our streets for pedestrian safety, not for speeding automobiles. Let's look at those wide turning radii which enable cars to turn right without slowing down, and change them to less generous curves.

Let's bridge the two halves of Connecticut Avenue with curb bulbs, which extend the sidewalk at intersections to shorten the time walking in front of cars.

Let's get Metro to stop slapping on more and more names to our stations. I like short names. People do not use long names. The signs on the cars do not fit more than 14 letters.
Stations should be named after the neighborhood they serve or the major cross street, if other lines do not also intersect it.
At the very least Metro needs to decide if it wants to separate names with a dash or slash, and not pick between them randomly, sometimes in the same name, as in "Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan." It is helpful to know which attractions are served by which stations. This should be accomplished by having a 2nd-tier name used in large maps, or in a directory. College students who do not know which station to use without seeing their college's name embedded in the station name should not be going to college; stop adding college names just because there's a school within 7 blocks (unless the station lies within the campus). And if a college is going to get added to the name, let it pay handsomely for the privilege.
In the past few years Metro has slapped on new names for Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church, Ballston, Grosvenor, Woodley Park, U Street, Waterfront, Mt Vernon Sq, and, the only name change Metro resisted (and fought tooth and nail against), National Airport.
Let's improve the aesthetics and usefulness of the system, and rethink naming procedures. Let's bring clarity and simplicity to the stations' names.

Where was I?

Let's break out the shovels, and dig that tiny-but- handy tunnel between Farragut West and Farragut North. Let's give Adams Morgan a true Metro station by bringing the yellow line under U Street, with a station entry under the Marie Reed tennis courts.

Let's fight light pollution by finding a matching lamppost for our classic Washington Globes, but which points downwards.

Let's ensure that the next time sidewalks are rebuilt, we use bricks or pebble aggregate, which is so much prettier than flat concrete.

Let's add flowers to the streetscape.

Behind me, Daniel Chester French included three allegorical figures in his sculpture - the two ladies representing the sea and the stars, and a muscular male representing the wind. These are the means by which sailors navigated their ships. Our task is a distant dreamlike cousin of the challenge faced by the 19th-century admiral memorialized by this fountain, Samuel F. DuPont, but hey, we need all the help we can get. And if the sea, the stars and the wind can help, then let's go for it, as our fleet of ideas sets off in all directions, in seas ravaged by Hurricane Isabel and with a map where the names go on and on and on.

As rising housing prices attest, everyone wants to live near the One Circle; its power is clearly growing. We are all members of the fellowship of the circle. It is our precious circle.

Farewell, and may the blessing of Elves and Men and all free folk go with you. May the stars shine upon your faces!