ThayerAvenue.com

…have the neighbor’s nephew do it. When all the attention turned to primary roads, JD’s nephew came to town with his snow plow to make a little extra money. When there was nothing going on, he took care of our block of Thayer. They even helped shovel out driveways. Awesome.

Suck it, Bonifant!

Also, I am shocked at the number of people that got out and drove in this. If you went out and got stuck like some of these people, I have one word for you: schadenfreude.

Attention people of Earth: Speed bumps are there for a reason. And it’s not to pull a Dukes of Hazzard move.

Half of the 700 block of Thayer was flanked by police vehicles last night when, just after 6:00, someone (according to eyewitnesses) decided to test the limits of the traffic calming devices. Luckily, the driver walked away with minor injuries. Not sure if the other car helped cause the flippage or if it was just a casualty of war, but let this be a lesson: Slow the hell down, people. There are no less than 12 kids living within four houses of this mayhem. Assuming speed did cause this, I have absolutely NO sympathy for the driver.

Thanks to D Stegmeier for the photos.

The lights are on and people are home. I went by last night and spoke to the new manager. His family owns a few stations in the area, and he’s hoping to start garnering neighborhood business again. Not sure what happened to the old owners, but this is a vast improvement. The gas prices are competitive, the garage is waiting on some equipment and certification, and the store is CLEAN. I don’t know if you ever went by and had to walk up to the window to get something, but the only reason I went before was proximity (and a pay-at-the-pump feature that the Bonifant station severely lacks).

Go. Buy some gas. Walk inside and grab a soda or something. I’d like these guys to stay around for a while.

As many years as I’ve been here, and as many times as I’ve walked or driven by Thai Market, I have been in but two times - both to pick up take out food from the counter on the left. Those of you who have been or walked by and looked know what I’m talking about. I always thought the food was okay, and we preferred to go to Thai Derm. Everything changed when I went exploring this weekend.

Finding a comfort zone
One of my biggest fears walking into the store was that I would be totally overwhelmed, not know what I was doing, and look like a total cracker. I did, but that’s okay. I went in initially to get ingrdients to make chicken panang. I assumed I would need panang curry paste and coconut milk, but there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cans of curry paste. And rows of cans with coconuts on them that may or may not contain milk.

I sucked it up and asked the woman at the front counter for help, and she didn’t even bat an eye. Walked right to the red penang curry paste in the “Wall of Tin” and handed me the proper stuff (click the thumbnail images for larger pictures). When I asked what coconut milk to get, she walked me over to where it was, handed me a can and said, “This is exactly what you need.” Done. I trust her implicitly now.

I asked her about the sweet little crunchy things we sometimes get on top of mango and sticky rice at Thai Derm. She nodded in understanding and said, “mung bean.” Took me to a different section and handed me a red bag filled with dried beans. *Not* what I was expecting, and I think she saw it in my face. She carefully explained how the beans needed to be soaked, as with any dried beans, but then here’s the kicker: chuck ‘em in the deep fryer until they’re crispy, golden, and delicious. I’m really starting to like this woman.

Exploring Thai food beyond the takeout menu
Now that I had established a certain comfort level, I began to explore on my own. If you’ve ever had Thai coffee, you know how delicious that dark brew and sweetened condensed milk can be. Not only did I appear to find the coffee secret (Café du Monde Coffee and Chicory), I found something we regularly shop for and have trouble finding. We make cold coffee concentrate, and the best stuff for that is chicory coffee. Whole Paycheck rarely carries the caffeinated kind, so this is like a Festivus miracle for us.

Starting to get adventurous, I looked at what appeared to be popular snack foods. Have you ever had Tom Yum soup? It’s that amazing lemongrass soup served at most Thai establishments, sometimes with chicken or shrimp - one of my all-time favorites. Well, the swell people in Thailand decided to take that flavor and turn it into a crunchy shell around peanuts. Really. This stuff rocks. As does the packaging. And then, last but not least, Headless Ching Chang Anchovy with sesame. Crunchy little fish with a sweet and spicy glaze, spinkled with sesame seeds. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

Given that I didn’t buy the coffee, all this still came up to less than $9.00. Very impressive. Chicken panang is going on this weekend, and I’ll be back for more. You should go. And put yourself in their hands. Trust me on this.

Thanks to an alert ThayerAvenue.com reader for this info - and the photo.

Tuesday morning saw some interesting police activity on Thayer Avenue. While the photo above gives some immediate context (with that god-awful house at the corner of Houston and Thayer on the left), the thumbnail below will take you to a much larger image. This is the end of the activity, unfortunately, as everyone was getting back in the vans, but reports indicate there were at least a dozen or so officers, clad in black bulletproof gear with large automatic weapons.

They walked a bit down Thayer from where these vans were parked, “inspected” a house, and then left. Appeared they simply stayed on the periphery and had some discussions about what to do, or perhaps debated the merits of early-20th-century residential architecture. Who knows. But it didn’t appear to be anything requiring firearms discharge.

If anyone has any more information on what the hell is going on in our ‘hood, would love to hear it.

It seems like the news keeps flowing in da ‘hood nowadays. First of all, many of you might know that Marimekko up and left in the middle of the night from their retail spot at Georgia and Ellsworth. And the Pyramid Atlantic store on Ellsworth closed as well. Luckily, this creates a good opportunity for us.

Rumor has it (on good authority) that the Pyramid Atlantic store will be moving into the old Marimekko space. Because this is a “prime” location, Pyramid will be able to stay there until a new, full-time tenant can be found for that corner lot. No more shifting around to the retail whims of the season. As many of you know, Pyramid has had to give up their space for the Halloween store on a seasonal basis, so now that won’t be an issue.

On an equally interesting note, the Silver Spring Halloween store, operated by Spencer Gifts (surprise), is the second highest grossing store in the country. Yeah, you heard that right. At least that’s what we’ve learned here. The highest-grossing store? Times Square in New York City. Amazing, huh? Still confirming such rumors, but they appear to be true.

About that Easley Street Apartment Building…
The Silver Spring Penguin reported yesterday about many of the changes going on at the Silver Spring Towers, bounded by Easley St., Fenton St., and Thayer Avenue. To be specific, the story is titled “Easley St apartment building to get makeover.” I love the Penguin. Don’t get me wrong. They have the most dynamic, doughnut-loving, intern-friendly newsroom in the area. But it’s time for Thayer Avenue to put the smackdown on the address situation. Sure, there’s a lame, Easley Street street number, but the most important address of Silver Spring Towers is on Thayer Avenue. It says so right there: 815 Thayer Avenue.

If you don’t believe me, ask the riders of the 20 bus to and from Hillandale (and the Silver Spring metro). Where is that aluminum and glass canopy for the bus stop going? Yup - Thayer Avenue. Where did someone get shot a couple of years ago? Easley. ‘Nuff Said.

And now, for the brainstorm
Marimekko is empty. Pyramid Atlantic is moving in. I think that’s great, but eventually, DTSS management has to find a full-time tenant for that prime corner space. There’s certainly been some discussion about prospects, but let’s get serious about courting the righ retailer

• Bar/Restaurant. Then we could all live together forever, right? Frankly, I’d much rather open up the movie theater below the Golden Flame with food and drink, but something hip and trendy where people can be seen from Georgia Avenue might have its perks.
• Gelato. I think this has some teeth. Have you been to the gelato place in Bethesda? I would go out of my way and stand in line for that shit.
• Cupcakes. I have to say, I’m not on board with the trend. Maybe it’s because I haven’t had the right one(s), but the competition with CakeLove would never fly.
• Dunkin Donuts. Great idea, but between Starbucks and (the soon-to-open) Fractured Prune, I’m not sure it would work. Part of me, though, says YES.
• Apple Store. This is my first choice, but because of the pillars in the space, Apple won’t do it. End of story. And it’s probably best for my budget if it’s more difficult to get to an Apple store from my house.

Things that can and can’t work abound. Thoughts from the peanut gallery?

Wow. Has it been that long since my last post? Embarassing. Granted, I have been on vacation and, you know, doing stuff, but it’s about time we got back to things.

Come back to ESSCA
I did manage to make it to the April ESSCA meeting. You people should get serious about attending. We were looking at the architectural renderings of the new transit center, and one Einstein in the room came out with, “That sidewalk looks like the slippery bricks all over the sidewalks here. Is that what that is? If it is, then you better get a good lawyer, because next time I slip and fall I’m gonna SUE!”

I know the sidewalks are slippery, and people are trying to do something about that, but (A) it’s a drawing, and (2) there are much more constructive ways to convey that sentiment. Yeesh. For all the hilarity in real time, follow the Twitter stream (@essca).

The Veteran on the Plaza
Have you looked closely at the fence banner that barricades the turf area where Veteran’s Plaza is being developed? Take a good look. You’ll see some nutty stuff like this:

I don’t know who this dude is, but I’m guessing someone told the designer “make sure you put a veteran in the image.” Nice touch.

Code Enforcement Issues?
At the risk of sounding like some of the nutjobs I make fun of at the ESSCA meetings, there seems to be an overabundance of people (residents?) at this house on a regular basis.

For the record, there are six cars in the driveway/yard. Some of the people in the neighborhood have started complaining, so I looked up the property on the MoCo Housing site. No infractions listed, but if you personally know how many people are living here, send me some scoop. You may remember this place from an early post/rant. Yes, the fence still looks like shit.

Congratulations to the Navarro Campaign
Mad props to Nancy Navarro for winning the Democratic Primary for the open MoCo District 4 seat. She beat out Ben Kramer by just over 60 votes. Now on to Republican Robin Ficker in the May 19 general election. Thomas Hardman finished off his unsuccessful bout in the Democratic primary by saying he won’t run for another public office. I guess that leaves more time for him to write long-winded posts on local blogs.

Last, but not least…
Happy Star Wars Day! May the 4th be with you.

It’s only been this year that I’ve started taking Metro regularly to work (just because the current/temporary contract I’m on is in a different location). While my walk from the King Street metro is uneventful (thanks to the uninspired architecture and construction efforts of the Carlyle Group), I always enjoy my walk from the Silver Spring metro back home (minus the panhandlers, of course).

The savory smell of Jamaican beef patties at Negril is usually the first sensory stimulation, but the music eminating from Roadhouse Oldies always picks up my pace and puts a smile on my face.

May is National Historic Preservation Month, and Silver Spring Historical Society President Jerry McCoy recently sent me a link for the “This Place Matters” Campaign from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He submitted a story talking about how Roadhouse Oldies matters to him, and I encourage you not only to read it here, but to support this great Thayer Avenue business.

Thanks to Jerry and the Historical Society for all their efforts.

Reader, commenter and Thayer Avenue resident David S. took it upon himself to learn more about the demographics of Thayer Avenue by delving into publicly-available census data and compiling some interesting information. Here is a brief snapshot from the larger document which can be downloaded below.

According to the 2000 Census, 2570 people (1220 males and 1350 females) live along Thayer Avenue between Fenton Street and Dale Drive. The median age of Thayer Avenue residents is 37 years old.

Thayer Avenue consists of 1155 housing units and, as anyone who lives or has visited Thayer Avenue knows, the housing stock is a mix of detached houses and apartments. Census blocks 1002, 20006, and 3003, consists mainly of apartment buildings and have an average of 324 housing units per census block. The other six census blocks along Thayer Avenue consist mainly of detached houses and have an average of 42 housing units per census block.

Thayer Avenue is home to 1260 households (a household includes all of the people who occupy a hosing unit) and 545 of these households consist of individuals living alone. Another 116 households consist of non-family members living together. (A family includes a householder and one or more other people living in the same household who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption). 545 families live on Thayer Avenue and 157 of these families consist of married couples with children under 18.

According to the 2000 Census, Thayer Avenue’s population is 46% African-American, 32% White, 18% Latino, and 7% Asian. In addition, 7% of respondents indicated that they are of 2 or more races. American Indian and Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders comprised less than 1% of the Thayer Avenue population.

Are there any apparent demographic differences between those Thayer Avenue residents that live in apartments and those residents that live in detached homes?

The differences do not appear to be appreciable. The total non-white population of the census tracts where apartment buildings predominate is 70%, whereas the total non-white population of the blocks where detached homes predominate is 61%. The average household size of the residents in the blocks with mostly detached homes is 2.23 persons whereas the average household size of the apartment dwellers is somewhat smaller (2.10 persons). The ratio of families to the total population in both areas is similar.

If the 2000 Census’ data is still relatively accurate, than Thayer Avenue’s residents comprise a portrait of America’s diversity. We’re younger and older, single and coupled, living alone and living with family members, and we’re a cross-section of races and ethnicities. If data on income, national origin, and languages spoken were available at the block level, it is likely that there would be many differences in these areas.

The documents below show comprehensive census information and track maps relative to the information above. I highly recommend you look to see the specific area maps and caveats to the data.

Thayer Avenue Census Data (165K MS Word doc)

Thayer Ave Excel Data (24K MS Excel doc)

Thayer Avenue’s newest resident: Eleanor (Nora) was born Monday, January 28th at 8:15 a.m., at a healthy 7lb. 2oz and 20 inches long. Everyone is healthy and happy and very proud! Many congratulations to David & Rhona. Can’t wait to see the whole family out and about!