Thanks for joining us, gpliving. First, where exactly is "Penn Quarter"? What other names do people use for this area?
Penn Quarter can be loosely defined as the Washington, DC neighborhood that resides between the White House and the Capitol building. It is officially defined as the area of downtown bou
nded by 3rd St NW to the east, 15th St NW to the west, Pennsylvania Ave NW to the south and Massachusetts Ave NW / New York Ave NW to the north. Several years ago, Penn Quarter only went as north as H St NW. But, as Chinatown has waned and new developments (like Gallery Place) have been completed, Penn Quarter expanded north up to Massachusetts Ave NW / New York Ave NW. Penn Quarter can be said to envelop Gallery Place and what is left of Chinatown. Other terms like Downtown and East End have been attributed to Penn Quarter.How long have you lived in PQ? When and why did you start blogging about it?
I have lived in PQ for almost 5 years and I started blogging about the neighborhood in 2006. I started the blog because I was told that I needed a hobby. But, there were a host of other reasons to start the blog. Although, Penn Quarter had officially been a neighborhood prior to 2006, the northern part was expanding and undergoing a revitalization mostly due to the booming real estate market. That development boom brought many empty retail spaces that needed to be filled up and all of the PQ residents were gossiping about what stores would move in. The blog became a kind of public grape-vine where everyone could contribute information on retail developments and be up to date every day. I also felt compelled to share what was happening around me because the neighborhood had virtually no representation on the internet.
What types of people live in PQ today?
This is a great question because when you are walking on the sidewalks of PQ, you see a cross section of the entire DC demographic. PQ is a major transit hub with the Gallery Place and Metro Center metro stations being contained in the neighborhood. There are also several bus routes that pickup at the corner of 7th & H St NW alone. But, once you enter the various apartments and condominiums in the neighborhood, the demographic becomes skewed towards the direction of those who are most able to afford to live in this prime location. Thankfully, there have been affordable housing initiatives that have, for example, enabled artists to own condos in buildings like Mather Studios. But, in most buildings, you will find professionals, mostly single and almost no families. There is a pretty healthy range of ages, from the students attending Georgetown law to the empty-nesters who have downsized their abode.
What are the best things about living there?
The proximity to everything you could want in a neighborhood, both for work and play, and having the National Mall as a neighbor. For example, during the record setting snowstorm earlier this year, several restaurants and bars were still open and I even went to Long View Gallery for DC artists' Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn's public wedding and to a "best of" showing of the 2009 DC Shorts festival. Meanwhile, others in suburbia were left with no power and nowhere to go.
Some people knock Penn Quarter for not having enough character or soul. On their way to a Caps game they see the chain restaurants and tourist crowds and say, 'I couldn't live here.' What do you tell these people to make them appreciate PQ more?
It would be hard to adequately discover PQ when walking the sidewalks with crowds of people 30 minutes before or after a Caps game, for sure. I am not much of a hockey fan, but one of the things that actually drew me to the neighborhood was all of the activity from events, including the Caps games. I can sit in my condo with the window open and tell you whether or not the Caps won or lost a game just by listening to the crowd as the game lets out. That kind of energy rubs off on you, and thankfully for the past few years, that has been a really positive energy when Caps games are involved!
But, the Verizon Center is just one very small piece of the puzzle that makes PQ great because PQ is the cultural center of Washington DC. The Shakespeare Theater and Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery, which have been around longer than the Verizon Center, are two anchors for the cultural side of PQ. But, when combined with the 2nd Shakespeare theater (Sidney Harmon Hall), Woolly Mammoth, Goethe Institute, Spy Museum, and even the National Crime & Punishment Museum, the National Gallery of Art and all of the other museums on the National Mall, you can start to see that there is a lot more to the neighborhood than the restaurants that line one side of the 700 block of 7th Street NW or the Verizon Center which practically shuts down during the summer months.
PQ is also a transit hub as mentioned before. Not only are we living at the center of the metro system, but Union Station is just a few blocks down Massachusetts's Ave. That makes easy access to New York & Boston. You don't need to own a car around here.
Lastly, I cannot leave out PQ's popularity for non-chain and international restaurants. The list of non-chain restaurants starts with Jose Andres' three restaurants in the PQ. And PQ is also finding itself as the first neighborhood in the US that international restaurants want to explore. While those restaurants are considered chain restaurants in other countries, they are every bit as unique as an independent restaurant in the US.
What are the hot topics on your blog these days? What are your neighbors most passionate about?
The hottest topics these days are ones that affect quality of life. The retail scene (openings and closings) is a hot topic, but that scene is starting to level out because almost all of the vacant retail spaces are occupied or are spoken for.
Where do you go grocery shopping? Is a major supermarket likely to open in PQ anytime soon?
We go to the Safeway at 5th & K St NW for groceries. I think the general consensus is that PQ will not be getting a grocery store in the foreseeable future, mostly because there isn't a suitable retail space for one to open up. Factors such as loading dock size and dedicated parking were some of the more unusual requirements that grocery stores have that one doesn't normally consider. The would-be Balducci's retail space on 7th St between D & E was a very specific size and layout for Balducci's and does not work well for more traditional grocery stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. But, the longer that I have lived here, the mental roadblock of having to take the metro to go farther than 5 blocks has disappeared. Now, a 7 block walk is no big deal and I've even found myself walking from PQ to other neighborhoods like Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan.
Please share some of your favorites:
- Favorite bar: Poste (courtyard - during the summer), Iron Horse (during the winter)
- Favorite Chinatown restaurant: Vapiano
- Favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant: Burma
- Favorite restaurant if someone else is paying: while not the most pricey, I'll say that Jaleo is my old favorite, especially with a pitcher of Sangria
- Favorite museum: Smithsonian American Art Museum, 3rd floor
- Favorite (other) DC blog: The Triangle (our neighbors to the north!)
---
Read last month’s interview on Logan Circle with community leader Tim Christensen. Are you a blogger or leader in your neighborhood? Share your expertise with thousands of DC area readers of our newsletter and blog. Contact us today at info@urbanigloo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment