Living in southern New Jersey meant that we had to drive anywhere we wanted to go, so when I turned 17 all I wanted was the autonomy that my driver’s license and a car would bring. I drove to school, to work, to the community pool a half mile away, to the Wawa around the corner, to the grocery store, to the mall, really anywhere I ever wanted or needed to go.
When I arrived in DC at age 27, I was not quick to give up my driving ways. I drove to the grocery store just a few short blocks from my apartment, and I regularly drove to the Metro stop that was a half mile away. (It was, after all, an uphill walk home after a long day of work!)
Then I moved to Capitol Hill.
I drove to work downtown and to Safeway in southeast. I drove to dinner on 8th Street. I drove to and from Virginia for anything from cat food to shoes. However, my neighborhood was starting to change. There were bars, like the Argonaut, nearby that we could walk to for dinner, along with venues like the Atlas, the H Street Playhouse and the Rock & Roll Hotel. Then came and more bars and then restaurants. Then everyone else realized there were great things happening on H Street, and suddenly I was left circling for a parking space any time I came home after 7pm.
So we put down the car keys and decided that we could walk or ride to wherever we wanted to go. And while 17-year-old Kyra would laugh at the idea of leaving her car parked in the driveway, 33-year-old Kyra loves weekends like this past weekend, when she and her lovely daughter, Anabel, can walk to the park, Eastern Market and the grocery store on a Sunday afternoon and then head back out to dinner or just stay at home and watch all of the people walk by.
I love, love, love being about to walk to work. I am not sure I would ever want to spend time commuting in a car again.
I have not driven to a job in 20 years. I shed metro and have been bike commuting–rain or shine–since September 1. I love it and I just love walking out the door to go shop or grabbing a bike share to get up to H.
Hey Kyra,
If you have trouble finding parking, you should petition DDOT for resident only parking on your block. Your neighbors on 10th & 11th St have already done so. I presume you already have Residential Parking there, but if not here’s the petition for that http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/On+Your+Street/Traffic+Management/Parking/Residential+Permit+Parking+Petition
The Resident Only Petition is similar and you can probably get it from your ANC or if you contact DDOT.
While I am quick to complain about parking, this really wasn’t meant to be about the parking issues. (Aside: Without round the clock enforcement does resident only really help?)
While parking issues helped me to put down my keys, I have to say that I’ve really started to enjoy our longs walks or bike rides. My daughter loves to be out and about, and it’s great alone time with my daughter and husband and without the regular distractions of the car (wifi, phones, radios).
We still drive our car, but more often that not we take advantage of the fact that we are lucky enough to leave our car at home…. even on chilly days like today.
Yes, it was a nice post about not having to worry about parking, but if you want to actually do something to improve your parking situation, I thought you might like to know that this is an option.
No, it doesn’t mean everyone will follow the rules, but it increases the chances of it. It is much easier for the city to ticket someone who is clearly in the wrong in a resident only spot than someone who you have to check back to see if they are still there in two hours as required by regular residential parking. And you can extend the hours into the night and to Saturday as well, which is nice.
the notion of petitioning ddot to increase residents only parking is one that causes me great concern.
i tried to go to the bank of america on the hill last month. there were no parking spots on penn, and when i drove to through the neighborhood to look for parking i saw the residents only parking, even though there were plenty of spots. i want to park legally and not risk a ticket. i couldn’t find a spot in a few circlings of the block, so i left.
i won’t be going back to that branch. shame, since i have also been using national capitol bank for 15 years. i may have to switch that too. i don’t want my banking to be a challenge.
in my neighborhood in 20001, we have a few bars and a few coffee shops. residents are trying to get residential parking here too. i will fight this. i want other people in the city to come to my neighborhood and spend money, even if they choose to drive. street parking in a city is not just for nearby residents. it is also for the residents of the entire city, and for visitors. i pay car registration and taxes. if i want to go to someplace on the hill, i should be able to park on the street if there is an available spot.
you want to start restricting the use of sidewalks next?
@driver/walker – National Capital Bank has a parking lot.
I hate driving. I live in VA, inside the Beltway (it was supposed to be a temporary thing but it’s taking longer than expected to find acceptable housing in DC), and it takes me an hour and a half to get to work every morning. You Capitol Hillers don’t know how good you have it!
Kyra, where in so. jersey did you live? i have lived here for over 30 years but i find myself missing the farm!
I grew up in a town called Cherry Hill (West side and proud!).
My family moved to a lovely golf course community in Gloucester Twp. when I graduated from high school. It was such a nice place, I bought my first home in the same community, just on the other side of the golf course.
While I do miss home, I don’t miss driving everywhere. It’s nice to get out and walk, and our neighborhood makes it possible to do just that.
I grew up about 15 minutes east of Cherry Hill. Heading up there on Wednesday! It’s the sort of place where, if you’re walking down the road without a dog, people pull over to ask if you’re ok. 🙂
When my kids were little and we’d be driving back to so. jersey (millville) they’d watch the farmlands and scrubby pines roll by and say “Miles and miles of nothing!” Even if you did walk, there was nowhere to go except the Wawa. Oh how i wish i could walk to a wawa on capitol hill!
nichole,
true, thanks for the reminder. i guess i could park there and head to Bank of America. still annoying. what about days i’m not using NCB? still park there? seems wrong to me, much like reserving parking for residents within a block of commercial areas.
it makes me feel that the residents don’t want me there. fine. hint taken. i don’t live on the hill so i can eat shop and bank elsewhere.
@driver/walker
Within a few blocks of the area there’s a Metro stop, CaBi station, a good half dozen bus lines, and a Circulator stop. There’s also ample parking within, say, a three block radius.
Most of the parking is not free, but neither is Metro, CaBi, or the Circulator system.
driver/walker, seriously? I patronize the Wachovia, which is on the same block, as well as some of the other businesses along that stretch of Penn Ave. I’m a non-resident and find parking there to be a breeze! If not on Penn Ave there’s always spaces on one of the side streets.