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Post by Problem of Dog on Jun 9, 2014 12:18:59 GMT -5
Would make sense. That's not a particularly desirable plot for commercial or residential development, really. Still wouldn't provide the school much square footage. The question of "what would you put there?" looms large in any such discussion. It is not a convenient location for commuters, it is not particularly convenient to campus, and neighbors already aggrieved by GDS traffic would surely protest any intensification in use (such as running shuttles, even the small Wisconsin Avenue route ones, on a regular basis). The only realistically beneficial use for the University that I could see coming out of this space would be to massively expand the size of HoyaKids. On the one hand, this would inevitably be met with protests as well. On the other hand, it would be difficult to argue that such a move would somehow represent a radical departure from the status quo. Then again, West Georgetown residents were not unsuccessful in arguing that using the old Wormley School as a school building would be an abomination and would lead to dogs and cats brunching together at Filomena. Final verdict: not worth the fight. The space will probably be turned into some more high-end condos with a view of the Potomac that'll go for $1.8 million each. If the condos are low rise like the other developments on MacArthur, I can't imagine that there will be any views of the Potomac. And to get views of the Potomac, there's no way the neighbors would approve a development that big.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Jun 9, 2014 13:15:04 GMT -5
If the condos are low rise like the other developments on MacArthur, I can't imagine that there will be any views of the Potomac. And to get views of the Potomac, there's no way the neighbors would approve a development that big. The rear of GDS abuts the old Glen Echo trolley right of way, which is now a quasi-maintained trail. I took a walking tour of it a couple of weeks back, led by a guy (Brett Young, the author of the linked piece) who is trying to get the trail restored. From where you're standing on the trail next to GDS, you can easily look down on the canal and the Potomac. Unfortunately, GoogleMaps hasn't done a StreetView of the trail, and the 15-minute walkthrough showing what the trail looks like when you traverse it in the linked piece skips past that area because the trail actually ends right there at GDS and you have to go around on Clark Place to rejoin it at Potomac Ave & Q Street. Actually, if you look at that stretch of Potomac Ave. right up to where the bridge connecting the ROW used to be, it's the same elevation as GDS. So you can see that while the trees may block your view of the river from street level (when there are leaves on the trees), one or two stories up will give you a view of the river.
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TC
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Post by TC on Jun 12, 2014 9:45:46 GMT -5
The "what would you put there" question is what has doomed so many prospective purchases with short term thinking and a lack of vision - Visitation, Mount Vernon, etc. Times and needs change. I'm going to repeat what I said in that other thread - if a haunted Native American burial ground that's also a Superfund site becomes available and is kinda within walking or busing distance to campus, the University should buy it up quickly.
Allowing condos to go up just means more voters you have to fight for every other project you create in the future.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Jun 12, 2014 15:57:48 GMT -5
What about putting tennis courts, baseball/softball, and a track and field there?
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Post by LizziebethHoya on Jun 12, 2014 19:18:35 GMT -5
And/or consolidating all offices that don't need to be on campus there to free up space for professor's offices and student study spaces.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Jun 13, 2014 8:23:10 GMT -5
Allowing condos to go up just means more voters you have to fight for every other project you create in the future. Didn't you hear - we have a "Georgetown Community Partnership" now. We're all friends! Seriously, though, as much as those of us who are University partisans may dislike some of the appeasement that went into the Campus Plan deal and the GCP, our working relationship with the neighbors is now many times better than what it was - or what it could be. Compare that to, say, American University, where we have this gem: ANC member acknowledges punching American University official at community meeting"Slowinski... said he felt he didn’t get to fully complain at the meeting..."
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Nov 6, 2014 23:30:45 GMT -5
Some nice renderings here of the green space that they intend to create as part of the Jes Res and Northeast Triangle dorm projects:
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thebin
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Post by thebin on Nov 10, 2014 12:52:53 GMT -5
I should know this...but what is all that forest land behind McDonough/Yates? Federal parkland? Obviously it is a non-starter, but damn it would be nice to just be able to buy 10 or 20 acres of that land to put to good use. Its not doing anything as is.
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Post by aleutianhoya on Nov 10, 2014 13:30:04 GMT -5
Yes, it is. It's Glover-Archbold Park. There were actually land swaps proposed for that land for purposes of building roads and a mayoral mansion at various times, but obviously none occurred. As you note....ain't gonna happen.
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thebin
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Post by thebin on Nov 10, 2014 14:23:17 GMT -5
Is it an actual park, which is to say do people actually use it? Are there paths, benches, water fountains, etc? Always seemed from my very limited view that it was just un-used land. Not sure what the purpose of conserving that if a international university who already borders that land and who is the largest private employer in the District wants to make good use of it. Icreases the tax base, provides jobs, improves the land in every way. And yes I might as well be complaining that the sun rises in the east. Can't we make some sort of a citizen's eminent domain claim? Just start building!
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Post by aleutianhoya on Nov 10, 2014 15:18:58 GMT -5
It's not a "ball fields and playgrounds" sort of park, but there is a fairly utilized walking/jogging path that runs along a stream for a number of miles. It's forest with a trail through the middle. I think it connects somehow with the Capital Crescent trail at its southern terminus. As memory serves, there may be some community garden space in there somewhere, too, but that may be much further north than the area that you're hoping to use the Homestead Act to lay claim to.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Nov 10, 2014 16:23:10 GMT -5
The trail that runs through it was used as part of the Homecoming 5K route (what happened to that this year, btw?). It's a nice enough path. It does connect to the Capital Crescent Trail through a supremely sketchy tunnel underneath Canal Road.
Not sure what the actual usage is, but no, we're not going to be paving over permeable parkland anytime soon. Not should we - DC has a bad enough stormwater problem as it is. And, of course, it's politically a non-starter for about a billion reasons: you saw how strident the neighborhood opposition was to Georgetown using a road it already owns and uses, located on its own land (albeit one with a scenic easement on it), for GUTS buses. RIP Loop Road: you weren't meant for this life.
Anyone, University growth will have to find other means and learn to operate within the existing constraints. There's a handful of opportunities within 20007 that could be feasible - I occasionally fantasize about purchasing the Alexander Graham Bell Building and putting something awesome in there - but "the next hundred acres" is gonna have to be somewhere else.
I have to say, I've heard some preliminary plans for Lot A and am not thrilled. Those surface parking lots on the north side of campus are crying out for conversion to more productive uses.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Nov 10, 2014 16:24:09 GMT -5
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bmartin
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Post by bmartin on Nov 10, 2014 22:11:16 GMT -5
Glover Archbold Park is a ravine along Foundry Branch from Tenleytown to the Potomac. It is on the Rock Creek Park map. www.nps.gov/rocr/planyourvisit/upload/rocrmap1.pdfSeveral stormwater pipes empty into the branch from both sides, so like much of Rock Creek Park it is an efficient urban stormwater runoff system disguised as a natural park. The Glover Park section from New Mexico Avenue to Whitehaven Park is the most heavily used section, and a popular place for people to let their dogs run off the leash. There are side trails to Battery Kimble Park and Palisades and toward Dumbarton and Rock Creek Park. You can make a nice circuit route using the Capitol Crescent/C&O path to Palisades Park to Glover Park and back to Georgetown staying in the woods the whole walk except a few street crossings.
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thebin
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Post by thebin on Nov 12, 2014 16:51:17 GMT -5
THat sounds like something that will get very little use and will be generally pretty ugly. Just doesn't seem a wise use of space. But at least the prime months for using such a space are when school is out.
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Post by hilltopper2000 on Nov 12, 2014 17:54:15 GMT -5
I had the exact same reaction. We are giving up valuable and limit green space that everyone can enjoy for a eye-sore than roughly 20 students will enjoy four or five times each year. Just silly.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Nov 12, 2014 20:26:42 GMT -5
I don't know I would've enjoyed a beach volley ball court. I was just on Nova's campus and they have 2 courts near their soccer field in an area with basketball courts, and picnic benches and I was thinking that I wish we had that at Georgetown.
Very jealous of all the space nova has, but on the other hand they're out there not in a city with nothing around them, which has it's own draw backs.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Nov 13, 2014 11:05:30 GMT -5
FWIW, according to FLHoya, the beach volleyball courts in Crystal City are constantly being used, even in the cold months. The handful of times I've been by the ones in Ballston, near Wahsington-Lee High School, they've never been empty. There may be more pent-up demand than we realize. *shrug* That green space isn't doing much of anything now, so maybe it's worth a shot.
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thebin
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Post by thebin on Nov 13, 2014 13:13:30 GMT -5
I had the exact same reaction. We are giving up valuable and limit green space that everyone can enjoy for a eye-sore than roughly 20 students will enjoy four or five times each year. Just silly. Beach volleyball courts look nice when they are in Santa Barbara or Rio sitting at the shorebreak....But in a northeastern city it will look like a huge messy sandbox that 6 months out of the year, in the heart of the school-year, just reminds people of how NOT at the beach they are. A silly extravagance we don't have the space for. Every parcel like that should be landscaped aggresively and stocked with park benches, fountains, etc. I think beautifying the campus for all is a higher priority than providing a niche sport activity for a very small minority. There are LOTS of things for students to do at the Hilltop, there are not lots of nice green spaces. And I just can't accept that those things are being used much at all from Nov-April when chances are they are more mud than sand.
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PhillyHoya
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Post by PhillyHoya on Nov 13, 2014 15:20:53 GMT -5
The land in question is already mud for most of the year because people cut across it instead of using the provided paths.
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