This was originally posted to the Adams Morgan Listserv on February 7, 2019, as message #50530, groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/AdamsMorgan/conversations/messages/50530
I have to apologize for not speaking up earlier and taking action on the 11th & Bark dog park fiasco. I did not really take seriously the prospect of a $2.7M plus dog park, until I read an article identifying 5 alternative locations. The time and energy being wasted on this boondoggle is getting pretty silly, tortured and a little shameful. A lot of this has to do with the “you can have your cake and eat it too” nonsense coming from factions of the New Urbanist Smart Growth movement. And their role in Ward 1 becoming such a wasted opportunity, we deserve better from out leadership and ourselves.
Back to the dogs. There are really only two reasonable options for a dog park in the area of 11th & Bark Metro site, The Columbia Heights Green and Bruce Monroe Park and then only in the context of larger public space needs. And would in no way come at the expense of much needed affordable housing and other neighborhood needs as the current privilege and boondoggle driven approaches will.
I’ve learned a lot from former OP Director Harriet Tregoning and DDOT Director Gabe Klein, but there policies are nuts and their impacts on Columbia Heights counter productive at best. They have a lot to do with why almost 10 years later the Ward’s leadership is wasting time trying to come up with sill dog park ideas, while other public spaces crumble around us. They owe us an apology.
BTW, that DDOT plan for 14th St is plain stupid. It’s time to dump Smart Growth.
William