Georgia Avenue- Northbound on Bus 70

My house is only 3 blocks from Georgia Ave, yet my acquaintance with the bustling Georgia Ave/Petworth Neighborhood came in three parts this summer, including of course…a bus ride.


1.) In June, the Washington Post had a FrontPage article called Breathing New Rhythm Into Tired Streets; Yoga Studios Signal D.C. Gentrification. The article features a new studio called Yoga House, which opened on Georgia Avenue in the Petworth neighborhood in October. It used Yoga House as a case study to prove that the Petworth neighborhood was about to begin the gentrification process.

My favorite quotation was what the Yoga instructor says her friends asked her, "They ask if it's safe to park their car. It's 'the 'hood' for them."

I won't go into the moral dilemma this article posed for me, which stayed among my mental headlines at least throughout June. But suffice to say, I don't live too far from Yoga House and I practice Yoga…

I did go to Yoga House, not to practice, but on an investigation. It was closed, but it was my first experience on Georgia Ave. that I can recall. And to be honest, it was quite different from Colombia Heights, Mt. Pleasant or Adams Morgan, my usual summer stomping grounds. More specifically, the way I was addressed while walking down the street was quite different…I was happy when I got back to 14th.

2.) My friend Jack is pretty hip to DC culture and history. Once when we were talking about adventures on the 54, he told me the real action happened on the 70 line, which runs down Georgia Ave. He said the 70 and 71 are notorious for crazy stories and that it used to only run about every half hour, so when the bus did finally come, people were always running after it and scrambling not to miss it.
According to Metro’s bus timetable for the 70 line, it is now scheduled more than twice an hour and spans diagonally through the city from the SW Waterfront to Silver Spring, Maryland. However, Jack was right about its legacy. There is a local theatrical production called The 70, which bares witness to the Georgia Avenue legacy. The acting director commented, “… being on the 70 Bus, the truth comes out of people…when they’re not around government buildings or authority. People are very honest. You learn a lot through everyone.” Too true…my friend.

3.) Yesterday was my third encounter with Georgia Ave; facilitated via Bus 70. Well, the good news was that I finally got to ride one of those double-length buses that I never see on the 54. But somewhere between P Street and Euclid, we heard an extremely loud BANG! Honestly, I thought it was a gun shot, and it was so close that I flinched. Everyone kinda froze and started trying to figure out what it was. The bus driver stopped the bus in the middle of the street. Finally someone said he thought he saw a girl throw a rock at the bus, then run off down a side street. The older folks grumbled and the driver started rolling again.

Why would someone throw a rock at a bus?

…….And thus my summer introduction to Georgia Avenue and Route 70.

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“The bus is the great equalizer in our city. A lawyer and a homeless person are equal when they are on the bus. There are no distinctions made, they are simply bus riders.” -DreamCity Theatre Group’s “The 70”