Southeast/Anacostia Circulator MetroLine?

The Sierra Club Sustainability Happy Hour at Uniontown brought friends and strangers who are oddly enough, intrigued by Anacostia's transit and environmental issues.



I decided to make an appearance just to check out the hidden environmentalists lurking in Anacostia. Needless to say, there were not many. But, some of us fired up a discussion about what it would take to get WMATA and DDOT to support a "Southeast Circulator" Line. A few have discussed the possibility of an "Anacostia Circulator" and it got me wondering...

Who would benefit from a Southeast Circulator and where would it go? Would it be short-term (until the street cars arrive) or long-term? Would long time Anacostia residents see the Southeast/Circulator Line as empowering or threatening? Would the low cost of a circulator benefit low-income residents, students and elderly?

Imagine a route that leaves the Anacostia Metro every 20 minutes during rush hour? From the metro, it goes up to MLK Jr. Ave, through Good Hope Road to Alabama Ave turning down Penn Ave down and onto Minnesota Ave Metro and back. This would depend on variables such as ridership, time, costs etc. But I think it could work!

A Southeast Circulator would be an amazing leap for Anacostia. It would improve mobility, access to commerce, safety issues, decrease pollution and the use of cars during rush hour. As it stands, getting from one edge of SoutheastDC to the other requires way too many long waits, bus hops and line jumps.

The Sierra Club is a great org for bringing together mindful and advocacy-itching environmentalists that support issues like this. Southeast residents can get in on the green action by swinging through the Sustainability Happy Hours across the city or becoming a member of the Sierra Clubs Southeast Chapter!


For more info on the Sierra Club and Anacostia Transit Advocacy contact:
Irv Sheffey
202-575-1469
irv.sheffey@sierraclub.org
www.sierraclub.org

Sustainable Transportation Happy Hour @ Uniontown Bar

Monday, March 28 at 6:00 p.m., the Sierra Club’s Washington, D.C. Chapter will hold a transit happy hour at Anacostia's new Uniontown Bar and Grill (2200 MLK Ave. SE), located only a short walk away from the Anacostia Metrorail station and several Metrobus routes.


Photo credit: Davie Jameson

Please join fellow sustainable transit advocates to have a drink and informally discuss ways to improve transportation in the District. The happy hour will take place on Uniontown's ground floor.

The Sierra Club plans to hold periodic happy hours in different neighborhoods across D.C. If you would like to suggest a location for a future happy hour, please contact Jason Broehm, chair of the Chapter’s transportation committee, at jason.broehmdc.sierraclub.org.

Virginia is for Lovers (and Haters)

DC is a great city, with great people, but all too often I hear people criticizing Virginia. We DC-folks love to look down our noses at our rural cousins. But rural Virginia has something that DC does not- acres and acres of uninterrupted peace! No sirens, no threat levels, and most importantly no traffic!



Virginia gets a bad rap by us DC'rs and I thought I would have an open mind by checking out Virginia's hidden natural gems and the Appalachian Trail.



Windy creeks and ominous trees


Simple country-style home


Hiking just 2 of the 2500 miles along the Appalachian Trail


View from the top.


Who needs the Weather Channel?

Mysterious Rock Formations


Trekking and hiking through the idyllic backwoods of Virginia is a great way to spend the last days of winter and escape the hustle and bustle of DC.

The Missing Link? HIV/AIDS and Anacostia

Something is missing at the Max Robinson Center. I stopped by the center on MLK Jr. Ave to learn about all the options for someone seeking HIV/AIDS testing, treatment and information. The center is a few blocks from the Anacostia metro, extremely accessible, and the staff are helpful. But still, something is missing. Where is the compassion, care and connection to the community?



The center just feels like a disconnected grey structure and doesn't offer a passionate link to the everyday lives of people in Anacostia who are at risk for HIV infection. I asked about programming and outreach to which a representative said they had none, that is not their role. HIV/AIDS testing centers don't seem to prevent the ever-increasing prison population or the in-home dysfunction that breeds risky sexual behavior.



The center is funded through Whitman Walker and is a valuable asset to Anacostia, but also a grim reminder of the state of health in Ward 8, which had the most people diagnosed with HIV in 2007.



Due to the nature of their services, maybe the Max Robinson Center shouldn't be a social watering hole. Still, I sense that there is a missing intervention that digs deep at the roots of HIV in Anacostia. Pain, prisons, and trauma can't be solved with a pamphlet, free condoms and a mouth swab. Beyond the rhetoric of safer sex, how can we create a healthier way to exist in Anacostia? How do we peel back the layers of poverty, dust off the dirt of trauma and cleanse the pain of perceived destitution?

The Max Robinson Center is an important part of Anacostia's identity and offers valuable services ranging from Trauma Counseling to Stress Reduction. But we, as a community, must also present a shift in how residents view their ability to live in a healthier, cleaner, and more uplifting neighborhood.




The Max Robinson Center (Whitman Walker Clinic)
HIV/AIDS Testing, Mental Heath Screening
2303 MLK Jr. Avenue
Contact: James Johnson
202-797-3522

The Revolution Will Not Be Vandalized

Calling all "street artists"! Please take time off of your regularly scheduled, late-night vandalizing to grace Anacostia's ignored and blighted walls with your artistic genius. Your payment will be in the form of celebrity and adulation.

I want Anacostia to be creative. Yes we need commerce, but we need the arts even more! Just look to any big city and you'll see how the arts can shape a neighborhood.

My trip to San Francisco's Haight/Ashbury offered up an endless scene of graffiti exhibitions and hopefully some ideas.


Street Art has a way of resurrecting a lifeless corridor and painting personality onto an abandoned vehicle.


Iconic Pop Culture references fused with celebrity worship.


Just Like A Dream


Nesta - Grafitti Artist


The Ladies of Haight/Ashbury




After pounding the pavement, I finally found the socially acceptable art.


Haring


Designer Social Messages?






Just like every major city, San Fran has its issues. Homelessness is pervasive, and unlike DC, homelessness comes in all flavors.


San Fran, geographically stunning, creatively supported and offers great examples of what we can do to bring imagination to Southeast DC.

Peace Corps at The Hive

Learn about the world and check out all the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers living East of the River. I will share my experience serving in Central America and hopefully bring some lively dance grooves to warm up the busy beehive.