BicycleSPACE requests your support
See below from owner of BicycleSPACE. Normally I’d summarize this sort of thing as opposed to copy paste verbatim but I do not have PC/laptop access this week and don’t like to type anymore than I have to on an iPad. Anyway, BicycleSPACE is a great business and highly engaged in the community so please consider supporting them at www.missionsmallbusiness.com.
Hello folks,
I need your help. Living Social and Chase Bank are awarding a sizable grant based on the following criteria, and my bicycle shop BicycleSPACE fits the bill perfectly:
Criteria:
• Solid business & management team/owner;
• Well thought-out and feasible growth plan;
• Likelihood to succeed within a two-year time frame;
• Positive impact on local/relevant community (e.g. job creation, meeting an unfulfilled need, etc.) and demonstrated local support; and
• Energy, enthusiasm, creativity and passion for your business.
Though our means are and have been limited, we have gone to extraordinary lengths to provide a place which is friendly, helpful, and active in supporting and building community to make our city better. In our short life-span, we’ve been voted the Best in DC by both the readers and editors of City Paper, we’ve attracted the most Facebook fans of any local bicycle shop, and our YouTube channel has almost 13,000 views. We lead at least six free weekly moderate-paced groups rides where we’re friendly and respectful to both pedestrians and drivers. We host two free weekly yoga classes, bike repair classes, host numerous free events, and provide assistance and financial support to numerous established and new organizations.
Our background is in working with bicycles, and we’re using this platform to make Washington DC an exemplary city for getting around by bicycle. Bicycles help to bring people health, happiness, liberty, and when areas can provide safe infrastructure, bicycles can even help with economic revitalization.
Imagine for a minute if people in the city didn’t need a car, or if couples only needed to own one car. By AAA estimates, each household would save over $8,000 on the average by going car-free or car-light. Now multiply that by all of the households in the region, while considering that people who use bikes as their primary form of transport spend much of their money locally, and you can see the potential economic benefit that bicycles can bring to our neighborhoods. With new local opportunities, new specialty shops, cafes and restaurants will open, jobs will be created, employees will be hired, and profits will be reinvested locally to create thriving, dynamic, and connected neighborhoods. One day, perhaps, we could enable even local manufacturing and production and bring even more jobs back home.
We need 250 votes in just several days to qualify, and then we hope our accomplishments and business plan will speak volumes to the grantors.
If you would like to see this happen, please go to www.missionsmallbusiness.com, click on “Login and Support” and search for bicyclespace to support us.
Many thanks and see you soon,
Erik Kugler
District Crossfit location on NY Ave to be displaced by development
In April we picked up the City Paper story that Douglas Development was beginning to make the rounds to the ANC about a proposed spec office building project on the 600 block of New York Ave NW. That office project continues to move forward and District Crossfit (presumably DC Eagle too) has been served notice of termination of their leases this fall.
The owners of the popular crossfit gym knew displacement was a possibility all along and have been seeking out a new location. Very recently District Crossfit signed a lease for 10,000 SF at 1525 Half Street SW. This will represent a massive expansion and triple the size of the current gym operations. The new location will offer over twice the amount of space for the regular group classes, have a dedicated space for individual workouts, and for the first time ever offer lockers and shower facilities.
District Crossfit's 635 NY Ave location to close this fall
I’ve been a member of District Crossfit for a year and have had great results. Despite the upgrades at the new location I’ll sorely miss the convenience of having the gym be 3 blocks away from my front door. Even gym owner Andrew Killion will have to make the commute from Mount Vernon Triangle to Southwest as he recently signed an apartment lease at City Vista.
WaPo: High-rises replace parking lots in Mount Vernon Triangle
Lori Aratani of the Washingtonpost published an article yesterday about the ongoing transformation of our Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood. The piece includes a hat tip to the Triangle blog and quotes from developers, residents and local office workers.
Planters outside Busboys patio painted to spell IMAGINE
Among the quotes, City Vista resident Sam Shipley states that the neighborhood was a bit like the ‘Wild West’ when he moved here in 2009. Most would agree the neighborhood was already on the upswing by then. The Fun Fair Video fiasco was already resolved by the time I moved to the neighborhood in early 2008. However that first year did include incidents such as Ace Hardware’s windows being vandalized with gunfire and a half dozen or more prostitutes squatting in the sunken patio of the old CAAB building.
Tommy Wells Office Hours
Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells will have office hours on March 8th from 8:00-9:30am at the City Vista Busboys & Poets (1025 5th Street NW). This is an excellent opportunity to gain face time with both the Councilmember and his staff.
Nearby Walmart to Break Ground this Spring
Please welcome Cassie as a new contributor to the Triangle blog. She lives in the Meridian at 5th & Mass and will be writing under the handle MagnifyingMass.
Six Walmart stores are scheduled to open in D.C. in the next few years, and as announced in late 2010, one will be just steps away from our hood. Late last month DC Mud reported that JBG will break ground this spring for the construction of the project on the corner of New Jersey Ave and H St NW. The mixed use complex will house an 80,000 sq. foot Wal-Mart store with 300 apartments above. (editor’s note: I believe DCMud has it wrong and it is actually one block east at 1st & H)
Ward 6 Walmart Rendering
The openings of these proposed stores are with much controversy.
@OccupyWalmartDC tweets: “Walmart intends to open six big box stores in a 68-square mile city. RT if you think that’s too many. #occupydc.”
The user then tweets again: “The city government is complicit in inviting Walmart to exploit DC. Many would shop there, unwittingly undermining their own communities.”
The latter is probably true. Many will shop there. The store will be convenient, cheap, and most likely open at odd hours when other small businesses are closed.
Vida Fitness at City Vista opens Tuesday Jan 24
The new Vida Fitness at City Vista opens on Tuesday January 24th.
For the full press release follow the jump.
Read more »
City Vista Vida to Open by End of Month
According to Vida Fitness twitter feed the long awaited City Vista location should open by the end of January. A pre-sales office is now open at the site at 445 K Street NW.
It has been a long time coming since Results threw in the towel in August 2010.
Holiday Tipping
I received a request from a reader named Sean to revisit the holiday tipping discussion. His building has suggested he make a contribution at a rate of 1/2 of his condo fees to a tipping fund. Is that appropriate?
Below is KimFromTheK’s post on Holiday Tipping from 2009. The comments of that post had some good discussion.
A recent thread has come across our condo’s listserv regarding holiday tipping. This is usually a touchy topic this time of year, as many people may be worried whether they tip on par with others, and tipping is certainly a personal choice.
Who do you tip during the holidays and how much do you give? Your doorman/concierge? Property manager of your building? Cleaning people? Hair stylist? Please share for those who are unsure who to tip and how much, especially given the anonymity of writing it here versus on your condo’s listserv!
Editor’s note: Please refrain from referring to any building employee by name
Changes at Safeway
The Safeway at City Vista (490 L Street NW) has made several changes over the last few months. Early in the year we noticed all the tables and chairs removed from the cafe space as the area was generally only being utilized by the homeless and employees. In July the Fifth Street entrance was closed due to reports of high levels of shoplifting (estimated at ~$11K/mo). A month later the store expanded operations to be open for business 24 hours per day. In September the store began asking to check receipts of customers upon exit to attempt to further squash shoplifting. Many customers felt this to be merely security theater than a meaningful way to curb shoplifting.
In late October Safeway had a mini-marketing campaign suggesting they would have a grand re-opening. I was mailed a reusable grocery bag and information on discounts related to the re-opening day. I was out of town that re-opening weekend and had some skepticism that there would really be much change going on.
On Saturday morning I did visit the Safeway and noticed a series of improvements. I was only in the store for a few minutes but here are my observations of the positive changes:
- Former Cafe space now repurposed for greeting cards. This allows the aisle space the cards previously used to be allocated to product. Seems several aisles have been reorganized.
- Two new Self checkout stations. Not next to the other self-check outs. They are at the other end of the checkout area.
- Refrigerated beer area expanded substantially. Some of the wine aisle space was converted.
What other changes have you noticed? What else would you change? Let’s try to be forward looking and constructive rather than repeating the same gripe about a couple of bad experiences from two years ago.
Mount Vernon Triangle Market closed for winter
The Mount Vernon Triangle Market has wrapped up it’s season. They would like to thank everyone who participated and patronized them the market this fall. They will reopen in Spring 2012.
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