Pleasant Plains Strives To Make a Name for Itself
By Ann Cameron Siegal
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, October 17, 2009
District residents and community groups are working to get one Northwest neighborhood some recognition -- because few people even know it exists.
E. Gail Anderson Holness said her community of Pleasant Plains is "the bull's-eye of D.C." Holness, who serves on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission for Ward 1, moved to Pleasant Plains more than two decades ago because of its proximity to Howard University. She graduated from Howard's law school in 1981. "Some neighbors have been here over 40 years," she said. "Their children grew up with each other."
Defining Pleasant Plains is not an easy task. Its boundaries shift depending on who is describing them. Real estate agents use narrower parameters than the community's civic association does, probably for marketing purposes. Nearby communities, such as Columbia Heights, have names that are better known.
Located north of Florida Avenue and east of Sherman Avenue, Pleasant Plains has brick, dormered Wardman-style rowhouses and Federal-style houses, including many with front porches set 20 steps or more above street level.
The bustle of Georgia Avenue seems to melt away on the residential side streets. Residents gather at small local hangouts, such as Sankofa Video and Books, Soul Vegetarian, and the Howard Deli -- a fixture in the community since the 1930s.
In the 1700s, Pleasant Plains was the name of a large colonial estate stretching from present-day 16th Street NW to Howard University and owned by the Holmead family. Over time, chunks were parceled out, eventually becoming the neighborhoods of Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights and Park View. Today's Pleasant Plains is what was left over, said Sylvia Robinson, a resident and co-founder of the Pleasant Plains Neighborhood Network.
Jo Strowder and Margaret Weusi bought their home more than a decade ago. "It's brick with hardwood floors, a sunroom, a finished basement and parking in the back," Strowder said. Because of shallow bedrock, not all Pleasant Plains houses have basements.
Strowder said she appreciates the camaraderie on her street -- an atmosphere that reminds her of her childhood in the 1950s and '60s. "Residents are concerned about keeping their properties up," she said. "We holler across the street and water each other's yards."
A year ago, Ian and Sarah Pienik moved next door to Strowder and began transforming their steep hillside into a garden. Ian Pienik rattles off the name of each neighbor who donated plants for the project. Strowder, whose own yard has a plethora of thriving plants, said of the Pieniks, "These two are setting the pace as far as yards go."
The Pieniks bought a fixer-upper because they wanted to put their own thumbprint on the house, Ian Pienik said. "There's a Mount Pleasant feel to it," he said.
Efforts to revive what Holness referred to as "a community's community" are multifaceted. Residents are relying on individual initiatives to define their neighborhood. For example, since the Pieniks landscaped the tree boxes in front of their early-1900s house, others on the block followed suit.
Robinson, a former computer analyst, grew up a few blocks away in Petworth. She is now working to create ties that bind Pleasant Plains residents together -- keeping them abreast of civic issues and encouraging them to become active members of the community.
Catalysts toward that end include the Pleasant Plains Civic Association, the Emergence Community Arts Collective and Mentoring Works2, all part of the neighborhood network.
Darren Jones, president of the civic association, grew up in the neighborhood and bought his own home there in 1993. "My family has always been involved in the community," he said. He graduated from Banneker when it was a junior high school, and his niece recently graduated from Banneker High School.
The arts collective arose from Robinson's dream of creating a center where neighborhood residents could get to know and learn from one another. During the two years of work it took to get the once-dilapidated building at 733 Euclid St. NW into shape, she found a volunteer spirit she hadn't expected. What started out as a request for one weekend of assistance turned into a lot of volunteers contributing more than 650 hours of manual labor.
Robinson also discovered the house had an extensive history helping women and children through difficult times. For three decades, beginning in the 1930s, it was the Meriwether Home for Children. Today, the "Emerging Women" exhibit tells the story of those connected with the building's mission.
The arts collective opened in 2006 and hosts art classes, social activities, educational seminars and support groups.
Mentoring Works2, which also started in 2006, engages local youths in community service projects. It is devising a network for door-to-door newsletter delivery. "One of our biggest obstacles [to community networking] is communication," Jones said. "Many of our older residents aren't connected to e-mail."
The Pleasant Plains Neighborhood Network is also working on a walkable heritage trail that will highlight 18 points in the neighborhood's educational, industrial and business past. Residents are being proactive in trying to define the incoming Howard Town Center along Georgia Avenue, rather than leaving all the decisions to developers. Emerging as Pleasant Plains "want-to-haves" are small, sustainable businesses; sit-down restaurants; and a grocery store. "We don't want to see big-box stores," said Jones. Plenty of those are available in nearby Columbia Heights.
New landscaping and speed-control measures are slated for Sherman Avenue, which has become a major commuter route as drivers bypass Georgia Avenue. A planned tree-lined median strip will reduce Sherman Avenue to one lane of traffic in each direction, returning that street to a neighborhood boulevard rather than a thoroughfare. With all the changes on the horizon, Strowder said she stays in Pleasant Plains because "there's so much going on in this little microcosm of a community, including all that's available at Howard." In fact, a lot of Howard alumni live in this neighborhood, said ANC Commissioner Thomas Smith, a Howard grad himself. Pleasant Plains is "a melting pot within a melting pot," said Smith.
Jones, a reference librarian at the Library of Congress, said, "This is a great place for public transportation." Robinson, who doesn't own a car, agreed, listing the four Metro stops within walking distance. (They are Georgia Avenue-Petworth, Columbia Heights, U Street and Shaw-Howard University on the Yellow and Green lines.)
For Holness, Pleasant Plains will continue to be difficult to define "until you name something after it." There are celebrations for Columbia Heights Day and Georgia Avenue Day. "Maybe it's time to have a Pleasant Plains Day," she said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/16/AR2009101600084.html
Pleasant Plains
Saturday, October 17, 2009
BOUNDARIES: Park Road NW to the north, Florida Avenue NW to the south, Warder and Sixth streets NW to the east, and Sherman Avenue NW to the west. (The civic association extends the western boundary to 14th Street.)
SCHOOLS: Harriet Tubman Elementary School, Park View Elementary School, Garnett-Patterson Middle School, Howard University Middle School of Math and Science, Banneker High School, Cardozo High School.
HOME SALES: Thirty-one houses are on the market, from $149,900 (for an as-is shell) to $519,700, according to Sheila Cross Reid, president of Avanti Real Estate. The median selling price over the past few months was $334,800.
WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE: Four Metro stations on the Green and Yellow lines, shopping, restaurants, Columbia Heights, the U Street corridor.
WITHIN 10 MINUTES BY CAR: National Zoo, Rock Creek Park, George Washington University, the White House.
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Pleasant Plains residents on Fairmont Street NW share plants to landscape their steep front yards.
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