The Temperance Alley Garden has announced that at the end of September 2023, its current land will be turned into townhouses. On their website, the U Street Neighborhood Association has announced they will be hosting “regular workshops & gatherings where people can share their curiosities and grow, together” until the end of their lease. Josh Morin of the Temperance Alley Garden planning committee said these events aim to celebrate the impact the Temperance Alley Garden has had on people, along with sharing important information on growing plants and produce.

“We just open the gates and invite people to come in and learn about gardening,” Morin said.

Along with being able to grow things, there is a sense of camaraderie in community gardens. Toni Christiansen has experience using a green space garden and has grown some produce plants of her own. Christiansen said that when cooking, she prefers using fresh produce for taste and health reasons, but it can be expensive to buy fresh produce in grocery stores. She also said that using items from your garden ensures the quality of the produce and vegetables you consume.ĚýĚý

“When it comes out of your own garden or a community garden that you are growing with a bunch of friends and neighbors,” Christiansen said. “You know what is actually going into the soil. You know when the produce is being picked and you know how fresh it is.”

Christiansen said access to a community garden also decreases food waste. Often, produce bought from grocery stores will go bad before people can eat it and are forced to throw it out. Christiansen said that picking produce and vegetables from a reliable source on your own time will decrease the risk of spoiled food.

“If you have a community garden or have your own garden, you can basically go out and pick what you need for that meal. There is very limited waste involved,” Christiansen said.Ěý

Temperance Alley Garden is one of many urban farming initiatives in Washington, D.C., that allows individuals to grow their own produce within a city area. Temperance Alley Garden recently partnered with the non-profit group Farm the District, whose goal is to provide and increase healthy, fresh food within urban areas. They also have the desire to educate and inspire future urban farmers to be able to grow their own produce as well, and have done activities ranging from understanding compost, growing mushrooms, and learning to see plants on a spiritual level, which is an educative workshop Morin leads.

But along with learning about plants, Morin said it’s important for urban agriculturists to understand how and where they can grow their produce in a city. The Temperance Alley Garden is a temporary location due to the legal obstacles in permanently converting an empty lot into a green space. Morin said that Farm the District has had to move from other locations in the past due to the landowner wanting to renovate the space into something different. Morin said neighborhood community members need to be active and care for the overall landscape, not just the gardens, to create a well-run and meaningful “agri-hood.”Ěý

“If we’re committed to bringing nutrition-dense produce to neighborhoods that are traditionally underserved, if we’re committed to having the positive effects of a vibrant ecosystem,” Morin said. “If we want the benefits of bringing green space and nature and agriculture to our city, we need to become experts at how development and property ownership work in the city.”

Part of revitalizing a neighborhood through gardening is done on a deeper level than turning an empty lot into a green space. Katherine Pfeiler is a horticulture hobbyist and has experience growing all types of plants, from succulents to flowers to produce plants. She has a psychology background and has researched the impact plants and gardening can have on people, especially in urban settings.

“There is a level of self-fulfillment and actualization by incorporating nature into your day and seeing literally the fruits of your labor,” Pfeiler said, then added with a laugh, “And the vegetables of your labor.”Ěý

Pfeiler said that while being in nature, such as walking in a park, can be beneficial; it’s far better to interact with nature. When you care for the environment and green space, Pfeiler said, “there’s definitely an internalization of being part of the human community and being part of the natural cycle of things.” Pfeiler noted that working with dirt and organic products can also boost your immune system and benefit your mental health.

“When we don’t interact with the system of nature we have a disjointed idea of the significance of economics and day-to-day stuff,” Pfeiler said.

Like many green space initiatives within cities, the Temperance Alley Garden is only a temporary space. The community garden is available for a few years before it’s eventually taken down and replaced by something else. And while the growing experience can be beneficial in itself, its temporary status poses long-term problems. Pfeiler said that produce plants are very specific about light, making it hard for individuals to safely transfer the items they’ve grown in a community garden.

The significance that community gardens can have goes deeper than creating an aesthetically appealing green space. Morin and Pfeiler said that being in touch with nature and appreciating your role within it gives an individual a better sense of appreciating their surroundings and community members. Community gardens provide a way to draw people together as a whole.ĚýĚýĚý

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It’s common in large cities to walk down the street and see tiny pieces of trash littered on the sidewalk and road. Cigarette butts, used napkins, and even drink cans are just a few of the numerous types of rubbish found in almost every D.C. area. While these may seem like inconsequential pieces of trash that could be an annoyance at most, people littering in their communities can create major problems for everyone that lives there.

Brad Edelman is the Chairperson of the Beautification Committee for the Logan Circle Community Association (LCCA). Part of his and the Beautification Committee’s goals is to make the neighborhood look nicer by cleaning up the streets. Edelman said he got involved with the committee when he wanted to find a way to help keep his neighborhood clean and found out about the LCCA’s quarterly clean-ups. After joining the group, Edelman and the other members decided to bump the clean-ups to once a month and encourage residents to be involved in helping maintain their community.Ěý

“What made me join this group was I saw people arguing on the neighborhood website about trash on the streets,” Edelman said. “Does anybody, instead of complaining about this, want to help clean up the neighborhood?”Ěý

The clean-ups have been going on for around four years now, and Edelman said the experience has been both rewarding and sad because of how much trash they’ve picked up during clean-up days. He said they had picked up more than 400 pounds of trash during these monthly events in the last couple of months. Ěý

“We clean it up, and then before the end of the week, there’s trash all over the place,” Edelman said.Ěý

Another way Edelman and the Committee encourage keeping their neighborhood clean is by spreading awareness. Edelman said a lot of litter occurs when people put loose trash in their garbage cans, making it more susceptible to falling out while a garbage truck is driving on its route. Edelman said that he has noticed that certain streets around Logan Circle that aren’t usually a main walkway have more trash either because the public trash cans that used to be there have been removed or because the areas are more residential and don’t receive street cleanings. Edelman said he wants to encourage people to pick up trash when they see it and get involved because “when people live in a nicer place, they care about it more” and are likelier to work hard at keeping it clean.

Local resident Jake Carson said he’d noticed the litter problem in D.C. but hasn’t been sure what to do about it. He said he would like to see something done so the community can stay clean and healthy. Carson said he is concerned about how litter increases exposure to rats and other pests that can carry diseases and risk people’s health.  Ěý

“Sadly, litter is a big societal problem that doesn’t get talked about enough,” Carson said. Ěý

Terrill Haigler, a community activist in Philadelphia, has first-hand experience and seen the impact that littering has on cities. A former sanitation worker, Haigler said he became an activist after seeing how there weren’t advocates for sanitation workers. One of the biggest challenges to the job was the amount of litter on the ground that could range from being nuisances to safety hazards. Certain neighborhoods in the city had fewer trash cans than others, increasing their amount of litter, and Haigler said he has an assumption as to why that is.Ěý

“The assumption is that in more Brown and Black areas of the city, there’s been an intentional disinvestment, and the beautification of those neighborhoods and zip codes,” Haigler said. “So why put trash cans there because they feel like people don’t care anyway.” Ěý

But it can come across as residents being uncaring in the eyes of officials in charge of trash can placements and street cleaning routes because studies have proven that residents in areas with litter and lack of cleaning can be mentally impacted by their surroundings. Haigler said that a study by Eugenia South in 2018 demonstrated that people’s care for their neighborhood and mental health increase when their surroundings are taken care of. South’s study looked at 500 vacant lots and the mental health of residents around those lots after a third of them were completely beautified and received a “green makeover,” another third received a trash pickup, and the final third were left untouched. South’s study revealed that “residents’ feelings of depression decreased by 68%” when the lots around them were given a green makeover.

“When you wake up to a clean street and trees and all those kinds of things, it affects you mentally, emotionally, physically,” Haigler said. “You actually release positive endorphins when you live in a clean neighborhood…It has a whole effect on the whole way of life.” Ěý

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On October 13, a Johnny Rockets opened on 1501 Rhode Island Avenue, inside the Holiday Inn hotel. This Johnny Rockets is a first for the well-known franchise, containing menu items from a sister FAT Brand restaurant called Hurricane Wings. Along with being the first hybrid Johnny Rockets, this location is ground-breaking in another way. It’s the first location to be co-branded with a hotel.

General Manager Satiha Seheaoui has been with the Holiday Inn hotel for 22 years. She said that while some hotels have Johnny Rockets items, this is the first one that offers the full bar and is available for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Seheaoui said this location was chosen because its proximity to everything and its high occupancy rate of 80% to 100%. She estimates that at least 500 people eat at the Holiday Inn for breakfast while visiting D.C. for cherry blossom season, and the Johnny Rockets will be available to guests for breakfast.

“We’re excited,” Seheaoui said. “And our guests will be pretty excited too.”

Along with offering classic Johnny Rockets food and the featured Hurricane Wings items, this location pays tribute to the ‘traditional’ design created in 1986, with some modern twists. The bright red walls feature vintage-designed posters that work with retro-themed tables and booths to place patrons in an older time. Music of the past blasts from speakers as the smells of burgers, fries and grease fill the air.

Chris Heaton is the director of franchise operations for FAT Brands and was present at the location’s grand opening. He said that even though the Johnny Rockets were spread out in different countries and unique locations, such as theme parks and casinos, they were all united by the franchise’s consistency in quality. Heaton said the mission statement for Johnny Rockets is “to provide great burgers, fries, shakes and fun” while providing a unique experience for international tourists and domestic visitors alike.

“It feels like home a lot of times,” Heaton said about receiving repeat hotel guests. “We make connections with the guests. It’s one of the things I always push the servers on; the personal invitation to return… It just makes that connection. I know today our world, it’s not something we do enough of.”

While the connection and welcoming environment is part of the Johnny Rocket’s brand, Heaton said it’s also to make guests feel at home in the hotel and want to stay there again on their next visit. The restaurant being on location of the hotel also draws in more foot traffic for the Holiday Inn, increasing their marketing pool.

“The Symbiotic Relationship Between Hotels and On-Site Restaurants,” an article in Forbes magazine written in 2019, looked at this dynamic in a New York hotel called Luma and its restaurant partner, Ortzi. In the article, Luma’s General Manager Kate Martin explained that providing a full-service, quality restaurant allows guests to “enjoy a standout meal without leaving the building.”

For many small businesses and restaurants, tourists are an important part of their patronage. As Seheaoui said, the Holiday Inn hotel can be almost completely full during D.C.’s biggest tourist seasons, the fall and Cherry Blossom season. From the few weeks since opening, there have already been numerous repeat customers due to the Johnny Rockets being available for breakfast to dinner, which means less tourists leaving their hotel location for meals.

Local resident and Johnny Rockets fan Paul Clouse said he enjoys traveling to new places but likes staying in places that have a touch of familiarity. Clouse said that a hotel like this Holiday Inn would be appealing to him because it’s a familiar brand with a popular restaurant he knows and trusts.

“While I am more inclined to search for local cuisines while traveling,” he said. “I would definitely stop by the Johnny Rockets if it was in my hotel.”

Hotels and restaurants have always held a close relationship, as the U.S. Department of Labor showed in their Careers in Hospitality brochure. The Hospitality Industry, according to the brochure, consists of the restaurant and food services industry and the hotel and lodging industry”, uniting them under one metaphorical roof. With more hotels partnering with restaurants to create on-site eating, there is great potential for change within the hospitality industry.

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Libraries have played a key role in providing access to reading materials that are educational, diverse and creative. Not only do they allow the general public to freely borrow books, but most libraries feature fun community events and educational programs that provide opportunities to learn important life skills. With book banning rising throughout the nation, local libraries are having to support their communities even more with their resources.Ěý

According to a July 2021-June 2022 study done by the free speech advocacy group, Pen America, there have been around 2,532 instances of individual books being banned. In the first eight months of 2022 alone, the American Library Association has recorded 1,651 unique titles that were challenged. This is already an increase from the previous year, marking it as the highest number of banned books tracked since the last twenty years. The majority of the banned books are written by or tell diverse stories and have been the target of multiple groups since 2021.Ěý

At the end of 2021, the ALA recorded the top five most challenged and banned books in libraries, schools and universities. On their list, the first three books, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, and All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson were predominately targeted for “LGBTQIA+ content, and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images.” The reasons for the fourth book, Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez, was due to depictions of abuse and the last book, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was banned for violence, anti-police messaging and indoctrination of a social agenda.Ěý

George Williams, the media relations manager for the D.C. Public Library, said one of the ways the local libraries show support is by participating in Banned Books Week, an event that celebrates literary freedom. Libraries nationwide can participateĚýin Banned Books Week as they share and promote stories with readers.

Most of the programs that are offered in the D.C. Public Libraries are designed to instill community camaraderie and a love for reading that goes beyond banned books. Williams pointed out some of the resources at the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw location that do this include access to computers and wi-fi, study rooms and a supply of multiple books, audiobooks and movies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw library was able to offer contactless book pickups and provided COVID tests toĚýthose who needed them.

“It’s important to note,” Williams said. “A library is relevant and important even if it doesn’t offer programming.”Ěý

Williams said that a priority of the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw library is to teach literacy at a young age. Events such as the two-year running Evil Laugh contest, the Dinosaur Roaring contest and librarian-led story times are a few of the many ways librarians make books appealing to children. Early literacy, according to Williams, helps children progress in their education while also helping them realize that reading can be for pleasure.

President of the American Library Association, Lessa Peyalo Lozada, agrees that encouraging literacy for all ages is important. Lozada said that literacy at a young age is also “foundational to a productive & democratic society,” and should be encouraged.

“Literacy and learning labs are common, but not as common as we would like them,” Lozada said about the services that provide educational opportunities for the public.

According to Lozada, the libraries prevalent today have grown community hubs that offer services and resources when people need them. Libraries encourage people to learn about essential life skills, while also allowing them to have hard conversations, such as discussing banned books.

Lozada described the process of getting a book banned. It starts when an organized individual challenges a book, either in a school or public library. While each library is different, the overall process is similar in that the challenged book will be read and reviewed by either librarians or a board of trustees before making a decision.Ěý

Lozada said that she’s noticed most of the challenged books are LGBTQ stories and stories written by people of color. She said that she finds banning books to be a disservice to the community as a whole because it silences diverse books and doesn’t give all people the chance to tell their stories.

“The most important thing is for folks to recognize that the library is for everyone,” Lozada said. “If you don’t see yourself in the library, your library workers are there to listen and make you feel seen.”

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ĚýAfter the last congregation residing in Grace Reformed Church had to leave in 2019, the building has remained empty and abandoned for nearly four years. The 120-year-old church has kept its stunning exterior despite nature’s harsher elements and displays a plaque attributing Grace Reformed Church as Theodore Roosevelt’s primary place of worship. Despite the outside of the church’s near-perfect preservation, the inside tells an entirely different story, one that mirrors a lot of abandoned properties in the city.

Vacant properties are not a new issue for Washington. In 2017, the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor investigated the management of the Vacant and Blighted Property Program.The audit revealed in a report the major issues of the program such as communication errors with the Office of Tax and Revenue, along with not following legal requirements in monitoring vacant properties. Aside from a loss of revenue, the report also described the frustration community members felt “when their repeated complaints do not produce results.”

Jace Jedlicka, a bartender at Commissary and a local resident, has noticed that there are more vacant buildings since the COVID-19 pandemic. Commissary is located on P Street, which is in between Grace Reformed Church on 15th Street and two abandoned restaurants on 14th Street. Jedlicka said that he’s interested to see if the city has plans for future development when it comes to the abandoned buildings.Ěý

Jedlicka said that Commissary takes precautionary measures to keep their space clean and rat-free, such as minimizing alley-trash and utilizing regular garbage pickup. It is because of the staff’s hard work to stay clean and efficient that the restaurant has been able to mostly return to normal after having to adjust to quarantine in 2020.Ěý

“Having abandoned buildings doesn’t particularly help,” Jedlicka said about maintaining a clean street.Ěý

Howard Salpeter of Jason Martin Group real estate describes how Washington has an abandoned property epidemic. The D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs have flagged an estimated 3,000 vacant buildings since October 2020. Salpeter said that vacant properties are taxed five times more than regular ones and can be difficult to find buyers.

Ěý“Throw in a historical component, it takes twice as long,” Salpeter said.

ĚýWhen a building, such as Grace Reformed Church, has historical significance, it can discourage potential buyers planning a major renovation. Salpeter said that the historical component requires that the outside of the building must stay the same, regardless of what is happening on the inside. Companies who renovate old buildings and turn the interior into apartments or offices are free to redesign, so long as the outside isn’t touched.

ĚýHowever, that also means the inside of these historic properties can be left unchecked, creating bigger problems. Salpeter said that unless someone reports the property to the city or the owner, issues out of the public eye can continue to fester inside empty buildings. The initial audit report from 2017 pointed out the community impact vacant properties could have such as “deteriorating buildings; fewer neighbors and eyes on the street; magnets for illegal activity” along with health concerns like a growing rat population and trash.Ěý

ĚýOn August 18th, DC Health held a community meeting to discuss the rat crisis in the area. A matter of concern was the continual empty state of the Grace Reformed Church. Rats were living in the vacant space and using it as the perfect breeding ground within the area.Ěý

ĚýMichele Molotsky is the District Bridges Program Manager for Logan Circle Main Street. She said that while there has always been a rat problem in D.C., the rodent population has grown during COVID-19. For 14th Street specifically, the undisturbed interior of Grace Reformed Church has added to the problem.

Ěý“Rats need food, water and a place to live to thrive, so an empty building is a great place for a rat to live if it’s next to a restaurant,” Molotsky said.

ĚýMolotsky said that although she knows the church’s owner has been working on hiring an exterminator for the building this year, the problem will continue while the property’s status is vacant. She also said that the number of empty buildings has increased since COVID-19 when businesses either went under or had to downsize.

ĚýBoth Salpeter and Molotsky said that while landlords continue to wait for the highest bid and the city allows property taxes to build without payment, the vacant properties remain unchecked and unmonitored, until it reaches the point where one building’s problem crawls to its neighbors.

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