Red tape. uploaded to flickr.com by ebergcanada
What a month. We went from celebrating spring to hatred and name-calling, and that was just among the City Council members. May has been a pretty exciting month for us Hill residents. I’ll cut right to it and save the rants about the weather (though it is a bit muggy these days, no?).
What did we learn this month?
We learned that the Hill is filled with opinionated, passionate individuals who often have no issue sharing their thoughts through anonymous or quasi-anonymous comments on our website. These same folks are quick to take up arms for the cause of keeping Capitol Hill as one cohesive neighborhood. Yes, the redistricting report was issued and few folks seemed happy about it (except perhaps Jack Evans). Marion Barry threatened to sue. Tommy Wells fiercely denounced the taking of parts of his realm.
While not official until the final vote, the redistricting looks like it will actually happen and there’s a good chance a portion of Hill East will be parceled off to Ward 7. Residents are understandably upset about this. I wasn’t a DC resident in 2001 when this happened last, but I can imagine every ten years this comes up like a thorn in the Council’s behind. In the meantime, should we start calling the Hill East Ward 7 area “New Anacostia?”
THIH covered the redistricting process from a number of angles — affecting schools, guest columns from Councilmember Wells and ANCs, and the big protest and march to Eastern High School.
So, um, did anything else happen in May? Of course it did. We ate our redistricting sorrows away at the new Hello Cupcake on Barracks Row. We told you of our new-found love of bikram yoga, undoubtedly a reaction to redistricting stress. We learned there’s a lot of love and hate for street closures on behalf of the many runs on the Hill, including the Capitol Hill Classic each year. Honestly, can this run even happen next year if part of the Hill is sent to another Ward? Do they allow runs in Ward 7?
We learned a lot of people share the feelings of one of our authors when it comes to the self-aggrandizing of one particular Hill cook. And a lot of you don’t. Some of you love his burgers and pizza. Some of you don’t. One thing is for certain though — DC’s status as a food town may or may not be second tier, but burgers and pizza won’t contribute to its elevation to the inner circle. If you want to increase the quality of this “small pond,” you need to stock it with some trout and sunfish and not snakeheads. Perhaps the tongue-lashing was just anticipation stress due to the redistricting.
What will June have in store for Capitol Hill? More redistricting drama? More humidity? And why do I crave a cupcake wrapped in a slice of pizza and served with a side of fries? Stay tuned.
Let’s not call it “New Anacostia”, I’d like to sell my place in a few years and think it’s crappy if I have to market it that way because I missed the “real hill” by a block.
Katie: Not that it matters in the scheme of things (it doesn’t) but that part of town was never a part of the Hill. Realtors started calling that part of the city the Hill to sell more houses (probably like your realtor did), it was never the Hill, much less the “real hill”, and not even inside the historic district. It’s only in the past few that people started really calling it that, as if ashamed of it’s real identity (not that it had much of one in catchy name). But fret not– free that part of the city from the Hill, come up with a great name for it (like Atlas District), and it will end up doing better for it!
For years it’s been known as the far, and in some peoples minds less desirable cousin to the Hill, distant hill-east. Let it be known as it’s own great area! It’s sort of sad that you’re already thinking about marketing your home, and sad that people think that way, but if you do, maybe you should take your marketing dreams bigger and rebrand that whole area.