Overheard in DC: Still has a GS

One young woman to another exiting the metro discussing a prospective dating interest:

"Yeah, but he still has a GS..."

DC Loves Gays

Ever since all of the commotion back in April surrounding North Carolina's approval of an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman and President Obama's subsequent public support for marriage equality, I've been thinking about posting on the fact that unlike state of North Carolina (and many others in our union, sadly), the District of Columbia is pretty fond of and good to its gay citizens.  As it happens, it's currently Pride Week here in DC, so I think today's the day I do it!

Fun Fact!  Washington, DC legalized same sex marriage on December 18, 2009.  The law was signed by then Mayor Adrian Fenty, making the District of Columbia the only jurisdiction south of the Mason-Dixon line to allow same-sex couples to marry.  (Holler!)  In addition to this formal governmental stance that gay DC residents deserve the same rights and privileges as straight ones, the District is a pretty gay-friendly place to live.  The Advocate rated Washington, DC the #8 on its 2011 list of "Gayest Cities in America."  (Their calculations took into account a variety of variables, including listed officiants for gay weddings within 50 miles, elected openly gay officials, number of gay and gay-friendly religious congregations, and YellowPages.com entries with the word "gay" in the business name or description.)

DC is certainly not hurting for gay and/or gay-friendly establishments and events.  Ever been to Nellie's?  It's a gay sports bar.   Yes, you read that correctly, a gay sports bar.  It's located in a pretty prime spot too, at the intersection of 9th and U Streets in NW.  Interested in some clubbing?  Head out to Cobalt or Town.  Or check out one of the many gay-themed dance parties, like Mixtape at the Black Cat or She.Rex at Chief Ike's (this one's for the ladies).  Capitol Hill is home to the nation's oldest lesbian bar, Phase 1.  (My bandmate hosts an open mic there on third Sundays that showcases some pretty impressive talent.)

Are you a fan of drag?  DC certainly is.  Drag queens host a Sunday brunch at Perry's in Adam's Morgan.  The city is also famous for it's annual Halloween High Heel Drag Race through Dupont.  DC's drag kings have plenty of opportunities to show off their talents as well, the next opportunity for which will be at DC's annual queer music fesival, PhaseFest.

Do you know another thing that's *so* DC?  Networking.  Kat Skiles, winner of the the 2012 "Best Gay Activist" title from the Washington City Paper took that ball and ran with it, setting up a very popular monthly networking event for queer women called Lez Get Together.  The DC Center, a not-for-profit organization centered around LGBT activism, support, and community, compiles a calendar of a variety of social networking events and opportunities.  My social bible, Brightest Young Things (BYT), also runs Brightest Young Gays, all about queer goings on around the city.  (BYT is hosting a Pride Party at the Howard Theatre this Friday night as a matter of fact!)

In preparing to write this post, I consulted with two gay friends, one male, one female, each of whom expressed to me that they didn't feel free to be who they were in the places in which they were raised and came to DC in large part to "be gay."  Consequently, I'm proud to say that DC is super gay and I'm so happy to live in a city that respects and celebrates diversity and equality of rights and opportunities.

Welcome to the Neighborhood: Columbia Heights

I held off on posting this entry for April because I am now officially a resident of this wonderful neighborhood known as Columbia Heights!  On March 23rd, I closed on a condo on DC's "hip strip" and I couldn't be more thrilled.  When I first moved to DC, I knew very little about the various neighborhoods.  Dupont Circle was the only one with which I had some familiarity.  I ultimately landed in Woodley Park, not knowing anything about it, because I found a wonderful apartment building with great staff and fabulous amenities that was actually in my price range.  Woodley Park is a lovely neighborhood, but it's definitely more residential and less a hub for culture, nightlife, or general "goings on."  The band I started playing with here in DC practices in Columbia Heights in the drummer's basement of his beautiful 1890s row house, so I soon found myself in this neighborhood at least once a week.  After a year in the city, I got a better feel for the various neighborhoods (mostly in NW, but some in the other quadrants as well) and started to feel like Columbia Heights (or CoHi as it is often referred) was more the place I belonged, and here's why.

Columbia Heights is home to a plethora of independent bars, restaurants, shops, and arts and music venues as well as big box retail stores like Target and Best Buy, and a large, well stocked Giant grocery store.  Residents have not one, but two metro lines that run through this neck of the woods as well as a Circulator line and several other city bus routes.  There is a combination of old historic row homes interspersed with brand new high rise condos as well as boutique condo conversions, such as the one I just purchased.  CoHi also has plenty of beautiful outdoor space, including a playground, a dog park, and one of my favorite places in the city, Meridian Hill Park.

The neighborhood known as Columbia Heights extends from 16th Street NW to Georgia Avenue NW (west to east) and Spring Road to Florida Avenue (north to south).  It is surrounded by Mt. Pleasant and Adams Morgan to the west, Crestwood and Petworth to the north, Shaw to the south, and Howard University to the east.

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You can check out this Wikipedia post to learn more about the history of this neighborhood.  A couple of interesting highlights include the fact that Duke Ellington bought his first house on Sherman Avenue and Marvin Gaye attended Cardozo High School, both in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.  I've only lived in DC for a relatively short time, but I do know that it wasn't long ago that CoHi had a less than stellar reputation for safety.  It's revitalization and gentrification began with the opening of a Metro Station at 14th and Irving.  Fun fact: Columbia Heights is DC's most economically and ethnically diverse neighborhood.  Real estate options range from public housing to high end condominiums and fully refurbished row homes and racial and socioeconomic demographics have shifted considerably over the last decade.

Some of my favorite spots in CoHi include:

• Meridian Pint - My favorite bar/restaurant in DC.  Great draft beer selection including plenty of DC Brau and tons of vegetarian and vegan meal options for those of us who are meat-free.  Pool tables and shuffleboard in the basement and a really fun trivia night on Wednesdays.

• The Dunes - A mixed media venue, which according to its web site "morphs easily from art gallery to concert venue to retail pop-up shop to cocktail lounge to private event space."  It's a great space in a fabulous location, situated just above The Getaway restaurant.
• Red Derby - Hipsters of the world unite.  The Derby is the quintessential dive bar that only sells beer by the can.  It's also well known and loved for its awesome roof deck and affordable brunch ($2 mimosas when you order food!)  
• DC USA - For better of for worse, big box retailers are pretty useful and the DC USA shopping center combines so many into one space, including Target, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Best Buy, Payless, Marshall's, Staples, and more.
• Red Rocks - It's consistently crowded, but with good reason.  Fantastic venue to grab one of the best slices in the city (definitely in another league than the Jumbo Slice variety).  My band loves to convene here after Sunday afternoon practices.  It's built in an old rowhome, which definitely adds to its charm.
• BloomBars - A non-profit arts venue on 11th Street where you can attend a poetry reading, participate in an open mic, take a dance class, take part in a drum circle, or engage in any other artistic pursuit you can imagine.
• The Wonderland Ballroom - Drink a beer out on the patio after work during the week at this Alice in Wonderland themed venue, participate in one of the most challenging trivia nights in the city on a Tuesday, or dance your ass off upstairs on a Saturday night.

I seriously could keep going... I really do love this neighborhood and am so happy to now call it home.  I am looking forward to doing a little vintage shopping at It's Vintage Darling and taking a class at Quiet Mind Yoga.  It's also almost time for the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace (a seasonal farmer's market) to start up again.  Are you ready?  I certainly am!  Keep abreast on the latest goings on in CoHi on the New Columbia Heights blog and learn more about this diverse and ever-evolving neighborhood on UrbanTurf's neighborhood profile.

DC 101: Stand Right, Walk Left

There's a learning curve involved with moving to a new city.  How late are the bars open?  When do the buses stop running?  How much will a cab cost me from Point A to Point B?  Over time you absorb local knowledge from your friends, co-workers, or all on your own.  You find out why no one goes to a particular 7-11 after dark and which grocery stores are always understocked.  Moving to a new place involves adjustments to new norms, culture, and laws. In the year I've been in the District of Columbia I can't even begin to tell you how much local knowledge I've acquired about not just city living in general, but DC living specifically.  For instance, the Woodley Park metro stop indicates that it is the stop at which you should disembark in order to go to the National Zoo, but the locals know that the zoo is actually equidistant from the Cleveland Park stop and that the walk from the Woodley Park station to the zoo is entirely uphill.  Those in the know get off at Cleveland Park (A) to go to the zoo (B) and then get back on the train in Woodley Park (C).  (This bit of local knowledge is particularly important to those with strollers, or so I'm told.)


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But if there's one bit of local knowledge that stands out above all the rest, one nugget of DC truth that will remain with you until the day you die, it is the following four words:

Stand Right, Walk Left. 

Let me repeat that in case you didn't get it the first time: Stand Right, Walk Left.  It will become your mantra very quickly if you ride DC Metrorail.  We pass on the left when we're in cars, and so shall it be on the escalators as well.  I'm sure once upon a time I was that annoying tourist who didn't have the system down yet and slowed someone's commute by 20 seconds or so, but rest assured, I am now a learned individual.  Now I'm the jaded local who frustratingly and passive aggressively grumbles, "Excuse me..." as I try to meander my way up to or down from the subway platform through the out-of-towner parents who don't seem to realize you can just as easily stand behind your child on the right side rather than blocking traffic by standing beside him or her on the left, or the gossiping teenagers in town on a school field trip to the visit the Smithsonians who congregate in hoards, even on escalators.

Turns out, the "Stand Right, Walk Left" principle is not universal, though.  It's definitely a remnant of DC's Type A way of life; Seattle, for instance has no such rule.  Seattleites aren't in a hurry; they will wait patiently for the escalator to take them where they need to be.  Washingtonians, on the other hand, can't sit still for a minute. 

So what's the moral of this story?  Come on, seriously?  If you haven't figured it out by now, you'd probably best take the elevator.

Where It's At: Amsterdam Falafelshop

Prior to officially moving here in January 2011, I took many recreational trips to the District of Columbia.  I had a fairly large friend network here and since I fell in love with this city on my first visit, when time would permit I didn't hesitate to hop in the car and head southward to visit with folks in my favorite city.  On one of these visits, my friend, Todd, promised to take me to the National Zoo.  Since I was staying in Fairfax on this particular trip with my friend, Sarah, I met him at his apartment in Arlington and we metroed from Clarendon into the city.  It's funny how before you actually know a place, various parts of town seem so disconnected and you don't quite understand how and where everything fits together.  Now that I'm a resident of not just the District of Columbia, but of Woodley Park, I realize how our afternoon fit together.  We got off at the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan metro stop and walked through Adams Morgan, where I marveled at the beautiful row homes and contemplated the possibility of residing in one of the English basements below them upon my relocation to DC.  It was well past lunch time and we were each fairly hungry, so Todd took me to one of his favorite "fast food" places on 18th Street, Amsterdam Falafelshop.

There are only two things on the menu at Amsterdam Falafelshop, falafel and french fries, and they do each remarkably well.  It's pretty hard to mess this up.  You really only have to make two decisions to place an order: (1) small or large and (2) white or wheat pita.  Once your order is up, however, you have a smorgasbord of toppings at your disposal: hummus, babaganoush, tsatsiki, cucumber salad, hot peppers, and so much more.  The tables have holes cut into them where you can hold your paper cone of french fries.  You can go back as many times as you'd like to the topping bar, so long as you use little plastic cups for your refills.  It's a tiny dining space, but it's got character.  I wouldn't go so far as to say the management has a "soup nazi" attitude, but they can be a little impatient if you arrive at the register and have to him and haw over your order; there are only two decisions to make, after all.  Last Spring, I took advantage of a Scoutmob deal for a free falafel sandwich with my friend, John, and the line was out the door.  It's also a popular late night food destination since it is located in the heart of Adams Morgan and is open until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays.  DC loves Amsterdam Falafelshop and Amsterdam Falafelshop loves DC. Soon, other areas will have the pleasure of experiencing this Adams Morgan treasure; franchising opportunities are now available!

Overheard in DC: State of the Union

The State of the Union address is like the Washington equivalent of the Oscars.

DC Loves Studio Apartments

"It's perfectly normal to have a party in your bedroom!"  --Rachel

The studio apartment - a prominent hallmark of single city living.  One room, many purposes.  As is the case with most major cities, finding affordable housing in a desirable* location is an arduous task.  So what is a young, single DC professional to do to keep a roof over his or her head without being relegated to the wilds of Northern Virginia or Montgomery County?**  The answer is to sacrifice space for place.  The answer is the studio apartment.

Granted, one can find housing on the cheap without living in a glorified shoe box if he/she is down with the roommate thang.  You can find plenty of rooms for rent in very nice row houses throughout the city, but if you're looking for your own place, the studio is the way to go.  The challenge, of course, is how to turn 400-500 square feet (or sometimes less) into "home."  Some things to consider:

• Natural light can really open up a space.  Look for places with lots of sun-facing windows.
• Total number of square feet is less important than how the space is laid out.  450 square feet can look a lot different from one building to the next.
• Keep in mind that you probably are not going to be spending that much time in your apartment anyway.  Between the 9-5 job you work to pay the rent for that apartment, the gym, happy hours, dates, and various social activities, the vast majority of your time inside those four walls will probably be spent sleeping.

My "Living Room"

I think I've done a pretty decent job with my studio in creating distinct spaces (e.g., a "living room" space, a "bedroom" space, a "dining room" space) to minimize the feeling that I live in a single room.  It may seem silly, but psychologically, it makes a discernible difference.

Warming my "house" - April 2011

I also don't let my tiny abode prohibit me from doing one of the things I do best, hosting parties.  While it may seem odd at first to host moderate to large groups of people for gatherings in your studio, it's not quite as weird as you may think.  At a holiday party I hosted back in December, one of my guests joked about how it was *so* DC to throw shin-digs in the room you sleep in.  "It's perfectly normal to have a party in your bedroom," she said.  And she's right!  With so many of us in the same residential boat, it's a non-issue.  If anything, it brings everyone closer together (literally!)

Who says you can't have a fondue party in a studio apartment?

*Desirable can mean either or both of these things: (1) proximal to the places you like to go and the people you like to spend time with, and/or (2) a notable shortage of crack dealers on the corners.

**I kid.  I have plenty of friends who live in NoVa and MoCo and they're both fine places.  :)