Bloomingdale Farmers Market not a given for next year
RED ALERT! According to the Eckington Listserv there is some opposition from residents of the little section of the 100 block of R St to the market so, it is not a given for next year. I can't begin to describe the range of emotions I feel. This market is such a part of my week and a part of my life now. It's where I run into my neighbors, it's where I get my seasonal fruit and salad and eggs. The market make the Mari(e) happy, and my heart sinks at the idea of it not coming back in the Spring.ANC commish Kris Hammond made the comment, "Naturally, residents adversely affected should be heeded; we should be open to alternatives that minimize the negatives." So people of Bloomingdale and Truxton I know we have the brain power to think of solutions to affected resident's parking woes. Please don't let the market be a one hit wonder.
Correction: Not 200 Blk but 100 blk.
Labels: Bloomingdale/Eckington, farmers markets
posted by Mari @ 7.11.07
20 Comments:
From what I've heard on the B'dale listserv, the complaints seem to be about the decrease in parking, to which I say "deal with it."
Parking gets scarce on Sundays when church is in session, and you deal with it. Having easily accessible parking to your house isn't a right.
Oddly enough, I've stopped by the market several times in my car and have been able to find parking fairly easily.
Moving the market is always an option, but I'd think that it would lose some of the synergy that comes along with it being a virtual extension of Big Bear cafe. The market and the cafe feed off of and reinforce each other.
The reason why we just can't tell residents of R Str to 'deal with it' is that I believe you need their lack of opposition to close the whole street off. And the parking problem is that the cars parked Saturday night have to be moved 7am and can't return until 4pm.
I agree that there is a synergy between the market and the Big Bear, which is why I think it was more of a success than the previously failed market on the vacant lot at Florida & N. Cap.
nitpick, marie, it's the 100 block of R street. that said, i know that you have to get a majority of the people on the block to have their block shut down, but that's a tiny block. there are nine houses on the block. there has to be a way we can find parking for these people.
of course, i'd LOVE to be able to park in front of my house on 100 block of seaton, but sometimes i have to go down to randolph to find parking. that's life in the city. sometimes you just have to deal with parking a couple blocks from your house!
to who ever is saying they cant find parking around r street on sunday, well maybe you should talk to the churches about them having menbers coming in from MD/VA and parking all over and illegaly too.
Yes, as the area get more occupied with people who can afford car ownership then there should be less expectations to have a convienent parking on public streets. And we all know that parking is dear during Sunday worship services. HOWEVER, in this situation the residents' (remember these are our fellow NW DC citizens) cooperation (or lack of opposition) is helpful, so that's why their greivences can't be completely ignored.
They will need to renew the permit next year to close the street and they do not need 100% of the neighbors to do so. The market needs a group of interested folks to guide it, grow it and work on these issues. In order to get it started we had at least 10 to 15 people at various times working on the many issues.
There was only one person who seems to have a parking issue on the Eckington list serve -- not even the Bloomingdale List serve.
I drive to the market every Sunday and I have never found a problem getting a parking space within two minutes on the Unit block of R.
The street is open to traffic LONG before 4. Ted usually opens the street open again by 3.
Man, there is always someone in DC who will rain on a parade... or market in this instance.
Let's keep all reasonable people happy but simultaneously realize that there are some really unreasonable people in Shaw.
Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.
-Moto
The next un-initialed, unsigned or unclaimed comment gets deleted.
There is a clean vacant lot by the former cookie's corner store at the corner of 2nd and Elm street NW (i live right next door to it). the store is currently being converted by Simon, the owner of the market at 4th and T, to be a restaurant. He would *love* to have the market in that lot and should be considered as another option if the R street location does not work. I can guarantee you that the residents of the block would be more than happy to have it there as well. Right across the street from the Parker Flats would mean a lot of traffic too... Just a thought.
-eric on 2nd street
you were top quote in the "blog log" section in today's express...
Thanks for the head's up. I get the full Post so I tend to miss these things.
And to Matt, no I'm not paying them.
i quite often visit these neighborhood blogs w/o commenting and find them helpful and informative; i initially gave my thoughts and then removed them for fear of being the fly in the ointment...but i do think i'd like to offer my thoughts on this matter. 'deal with it' or (to paraphrase) 'well, the churches take up parking spaces too!' only exacerbates what i think is a legitimate concern of the 100 block r st. residents; in fact, imho, i believe it's the same sort of apathy that results in the tension that oft-times exists btw old and new residents. hey, i'm as big of a fan of the market as the next newbie, but you cant elaborate on the pride/cohesiveness of the community in such flowery terms in one instance and then have such a limited frame of reference of what it should entail...(unit block seaton resident)
To provide context for my comments as quoted in the blog entry, immediately following the word negative, I wrote:
But right now it would appear that the benefits of the Farmer's Market-- great P.R. for the neighborhood and the tangible and intangible benefits --far outweigh the inconvenience of having to walk 2-4 blocks once during a four-hour period on a Sunday.
The original complaintant is the only person that I know of who has expressed opposition, all the other comments have been pro-market. I found parking near the Market last Sunday (I stopped by on my way to brunch outside the neighborhood).
Here's an elaboration of my "deal with it" comment:
Any positive development in a neighborhood is going to result in an increase in residents and visitors and a commensurate decrease in the amount of parking, so using that as a reason to get rid of or restrict something that has been such a positive development in the neighborhood as the farmer's market would be really short sighted. If you want the positive development, you "deal with" the resulting inconveniences.
Now, there may be other complaints that people have regarding the market, but the only ones that I've been exposed have been parking related. If there are others, I'd be interested in hearing them.
Here are some examples of other things that would likely decrease the parking in the neighborhood. I'd hope that we wouldn't forgo any of them in deference to the desire to ensure a convenient parking place in front of every residence on every block:
* Adding a sit-down restaurant to the neighborhood, or any other business that might draw customers from outside of the immediate vicinity.
* Renovating abandoned houses or apartment buildings into livable residences.
* Holding any event in the neighborhood that would draw folks from outside of the neighborhood, such as readings at Big Bear or community meetings in a church basement.
That's my point. It's nice to have convenient parking, but neighborhoods that always have parking available tend to not be the nicest places to live. The parking is available because there are less people living there and there's nothing to draw people in.
I understand that change can be difficult and that the impacts of change aren't evenly distributed, but there are impacts and there are Impacts. In my opinion, the loss of a few parking spaces for a few hours every week isn't worth obstructing something positive in your neighborhood. I don't attend church in the neighborhood, and I'm inconvenienced every Sunday by the folks who do, but while I might complain about it I'd never go so far as to try to get the churches banned. They're just as much a part of the neighborhood as I am or my neighbors. (Now, I do wish they'd at least obey parking laws, but that's another matter altogether :-)
Unless your house has a garage, odds are you are sometimes going to have to circle the block looking for a spot. It'll get worse as the neighborhood gets better. You'll sometimes have to park on the next block. Or, you'll have to move your car at an inconvenient time because of street cleaning, rush hour restrictions, snow emergencies, etc.
In return, I'd hope that there will be more people out and about on the streets. There will hopefully be less drug dealing to people who come into to neighborhood in their cars with MD and VA tags (and don't stay long enough to take a parking place, thankfully). There will hopefully be less violence and less fear of violence. And we'll all "just deal with it" -- we'll deal with the good as well as the bad.
mark,
i for one appreciate that you took the time to elaborate on " just deal with it".
in my five years in bloomingdale, just one block from the farmers' market i have never once had to circle the block looking for a parking space, or park more than a block from my home. the people complaining about parking.... who are they?!
NLC
As a resident of the 100 block of R, I think it is ridiculous that the market may be removed because maybe 7 people cant park their cars in front of their house on Sunday mornings.
I would like to hear from these people themselves and see if they really have a problem because of parking or because of the market.
There is always TONES of parking in the area and this is and absurd reason to be anti-market... anti a market that has been key to revitalizing the community.
Shame on these people.
Have anyone taken the people of that block into consideration? Yes, everyone enjoys going to the Market on Sundays but what about the people that live on that street? I have read the comments such as deal with it, maybe seven residence complaint about parking, the comment about the church and they may all be true in your opinion but let's take the people on that street into consideration. They are tax payers also so let's not treat them like there opinions doesn't count. Why can't the market be moved to a different street each year? Or why can't we find a vacant lot? Instead of battering the residence of the 100 block of R Street take them into consideration. As for the blogger with the screen name "1st and R", how do you expect for them to voice there concerns when you are hiding your identity?
Everyso often someone posts something on an old posting and I think, gotta close that.
As for the blogger with the screen name "1st and R", how do you expect for them to voice there concerns when you are hiding your identity?
-sayth the person also with a nondescript ID.
The reason why we had this conversation in the 1st place is because some deference is given to the residents closer in. However, just because one or two of those closer in don't get their way doesn't make them 2nd class, but just members in a majority rules Democracy.
Pax Bloomingdalus
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