Forest Hills Connection || News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood
Covering Forest Hills, Van Ness, North Cleveland Park and Wakefield
by Marlene Berlin Starting this winter, DC Water is set to undertake the rehabilitation of the century-old Soapstone Valley sewer system. The goal is to keep the sewer pipes whole and harden them against erosion and other severe weather impacts for decades to come. The design of infrastructure projects such as these is determined in […]
by Marlene Berlin Trees are looking parched, with curled up leaves. Plants are wilting. But we are not in a drought, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). COG’s July 15th report on the region’s water supply declared it so. The report acknowledges below normal precipitation in the preceding 30 days, and that […]
After Kathy Sykes, a certified Master Gardener, submitted her opinion piece calling for a pesticides ban in DC, we had some questions for her, including: Are weeds in a grass lawn the main target of herbicides? Is lawn fertilizer harmful to humans? And what are some alternatives? Here are her answers. Herbicides are a type of […]
by Kathy Sykes “Mommy, what does this sign say?” asked a 3-year-old child who was sitting on our lawn, taking a break from gardening with me in the treebox on Appleton Street. Her mother immediately picked her up, whisking her away from the hazardous grass as she read the sign: “Caution, pesticide application. Keep off.” […]
Connecticut Avenue in Van Ness could be greener – in every sense of the word. A key phase of the process to make that happen is kicking off June 30th with a virtual public meeting. DDOT is the host, and the agency tasked with designing a Van Ness streetscape that is both more attractive and […]
UDC’s popular Master Gardener program will be welcoming its next group of trainees on September 1st, and it’s accepting applications from June 14th to July 18th. What is a Master Gardener? Someone who has been trained in sustainable urban gardening practices and goes on to volunteer in their communities on garden-based projects. In this neighborhood, […]
DDOT is hosting a public kickoff meeting in a few weeks for the Van Ness streetscape improvement project. Remember that? The three blocks of Connecticut Avenue between Van Ness and Albemarle Streets have been targeted for stormwater control and aesthetic improvements for well over a decade. The Office of Planning has produced no fewer than […]
The volunteer team that’s been removing invasive plants at Broad Branch Stream has lately been fighting a bamboo invasion, or as team leader John Burwell calls it, “this ‘bamboozling’ menace.” Burwell gave us an update on the work. The transplanted Pinehurst Project crew has been working in Broad Branch between 36th Street and Linnean Avenue […]
Public meetings in the next couple of weeks will discuss some major projects of major import to Rock Creek and Soapstone Trail users and neighbors, and to Connecticut Avenue users and neighbors. All of these meetings will conducted virtually. March 16th – Soapstone Valley sewer rehabilitation The last time DC Water provided an update, we […]
Less than a month before a DC-ordered deadline for stormwater mitigation, ANC 3F sent the Van Ness Burger King franchise back to the drawing board. In exchange for a nine-year zoning variance that allows the continued use of the parking lot beyond the drive-thru, Potomac Foods Group agreed in 2018 to repave it with permeable […]
