SYMHM: Melty, Steamy TGIF July 22 Edition
News from Dupont-Logan-U Street.
By Michelle Lancaster. You can find her on Twitter @MichLancaster.
“Young Adults” Drive D.C. Growth
Two quick thoughts: one, the term ‘young adults’ seems patronizing, pedantic and befitting R.L. Stine books rather than college graduates with shiny new jobs; two, Courtland Milloy was onto something with that ‘creative class’ diatribe on the growth of young people in the district. Now, the real story — The Washington Post reports that Census data indicates young professionals in their 20’s and 30’s were responsible for almost all of the city’s growth. Shaw and Logan Circle are two areas that attracted the new, younger residents. Apparently, the city is becoming fun! Obvious jabs at the “no, really, we are cool” bit aside, this population shift should mean interesting things as ANC’s and the City Council deliberate decisions that will impact the future of our schools, transportation, housing and businesses.
14th Street –1911 and 2011
Business Insider has been running a series of photos around D.C. that juxtapose historical photos with present day facades. It is a fascinating look at the city, and worth a review of the entire album. But we’re partial to a shot of 14th Street. What is the same is far more intriguing than the differences… and the commenter is right. That facade is terrible.
Kal Penn’s Mugger Sentenced
Kal Penn, best known for his movie roles but most recognized in D.C. as one of President Obama’s aides, put another end to his time in the city. He was present at the sentencing of his mugger, who received 40 months in prison. As the The Washington Post reports, Penn was mugged in the heart of Borderstan (15th Street and S Street) at gunpoint in April 2010. Penn did not speak at the hearing, but his written statement describing the incident was one of the items cited by the judge during the proceedings.
Honest Tea Finds Honesty Lacking in Dupont Circle
Perhaps that is a harsh assessment — after all, the experiment with an unmanned tea station asking people to leave a dollar if taking a tea found us to be 91% honest. But we still came in 10th of the 12 participating cities, WJLA reports. But hey, the District was two points higher than last year and we beat out New York! That percentage went down from our first report in SYMHM, so please tell us it wasn’t our readers bringing the percentage down after we told you about ‘free’ tea.
Resurgence of Start Up Tech in D.C. City Limits
Washington City Paper and Lydia DePillis get the credit for a great piece on new tech start ups, their focus on D.C. as a base of operations and their disdain for the Reston-based establishment. It’s a good book-end to the census information, and good news for city coffers who stand to collect additional money from new residents and new businesses. I bet we have a few as readers, as I’ve had two startups as neighbors in the ‘hood.
