This morning, Vox came across a gem of a photograph snapped by Georgetown Metropolitan. Georgetown Dinette, one of the very few mom-and-pop restaurants in the area, is closing for a few weeks for a “family matter.”

In what we can only expect from the wonderful hole-in-the-wall institution that is this small and homey eatery, the owners put up a sign to explain their absence. They insist that customers suppress the immediate withdrawal effects expected to ensue upon the two-week departure.

Georgetown Dinette, over 25 years old, is just one of those places every neighborhood needs. Run by a vivacious Asian couple, the restaurant specializes in affordable diner food and sandwiches. Their food, however, is far from the highlight. What makes this restaurant is the personality of the owners.

The dinette possess the kind of magical, neighborhood feeling that many Georgetown restaurants lack. Emmy is notorious for her chatty and loving disposition, and as one Yelp user described it, “the warm, boisterous, Korean woman behind the counter…is larger than life.  She runs the front of the house while her husband works the kitchen, and she does it with spunk (one example amongst many: ‘Hey boyfriend, your food ready – I not a waitress!’)”

The sign reads (after the jump!):

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Rumblings and grumblings over the results of the campus plan agreement are still alive and well. Students demand a say in the process and express disapproval over the concessions made by the University, and two days ago, students were given the opportunity to discuss these concerns in a conference call with Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson. Tomorrow, the ANC is meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Georgetown Visitation to open the floor to critics and start a discussion about the outcome of the agreement.

A relatively under-explored topic throughout Vox‘s coverage is on the question of expansion. In the agreement, there is a brief reference to establishing a satellite campus for School of Continuing Studies. This change is projected for next December (2013), with the intent to move 1,000 SCS students “at one or more satellite locations not within zip code 20007. The exact phrasing is to “identify and develop next 100 acres” as one of the long term goals for the university.

Inspired by a recent GM post, our minds began to tinker. Where will Georgetown find these 100 acres? Not only that, but who’s moving? Presumably students in SCS, but the vague language indicates the possibility of pushing other graduate students out as well.

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Lovers of athletic sneakers and swoosh-stamped T-shirts, rejoice! a Nike retail store may be coming to a shopping district near you!

In August, Georgetown Metropolitan reported that Barnes & Noble’s lease on its three-story M Street book store would not be renewed after this year. At the time, there was no information about the identity of the new tenant. On October 7 however, Washington Post business reporter Jonathan O’Connell tweeted, “Two folks in the know tell me a new Nike store will replace Barnes & Noble in Georgetown.”

On Friday, GM reported “on good authority” that Nike will indeed be the new tenant at 3040 M Street. With the M Street Athleta store that opened earlier this month and the relatively new City Sports at the west end of the street, Georgetown is quickly become a paradise for the treadmill diehards and sweatpants-wearers among us. If a Niketown does in fact come to Georgetown next year, Vox is excited to see whether it will look anything like the Manhattan Niketown (pictured above). Even though their kicks may be overpriced, at least the new store could encourage other M Street shops to take their ceiling ornamentation in a more creative direction (We’re looking at you, H&M).

Nike did not respond to a request for comment on the Post and GM reports.

Photo: HighSnobiety

While we await the completion of the H Street streetcar line, now expected to begin running by mid 2013, some area blogs are drooling over the idea of extending the line into Georgetown.

Last week, Georgetown Metropolitan ran a historical post about Georgetown’s cable car history, through the architecture of Georgetown’s own Car Barn.

A day before, Greater Greater Washington drooled over the idea of extending the as-yet-unfinished H Street Streetcar line into Georgetown, ending at the GUTS bus stop at Southwest Quad. In addition, GGW offered the idea of building a satellite campus in Northeast Washington, since the University built its School of Continuing Studies in Claredon.

GGW believes that the extension would create better access to jobs for District residents, and that a campus in Northeast D.C. would create GU jobs in Washington, as opposed to moving out of the city. Streetcars in Georgetown could also bring more shoppers into Georgetown and improve retail business. The post also posts that a Streetcar wouldn’t harm historic preservation, and would decrease congestion.

Getting a Streetcar line to actually run through Georgetown would be quite the feat, given the way that many Georgetown residents reject the idea of a Metro line, and didn’t even want GUTS buses going near their parks.

Photo from Georgetown Metropolitan.

Update: The full report of the Office of Planning is now available after the jump.

The District Office of Planning filed its report to the D.C. Zoning Commission today, recommending that Georgetown University house 100 percent of its traditional undergraduate students on-campus by the fall of 2016, according to the Georgetown Dish.

The Office of Planning recommends that the University accomplish this by “incrementally reducing the [traditional undergraduate student] enrollment […] until the TUS enrollment equals the university-provided housing.” The report obtained by the Dish stated concerns about the “adverse impact and objectionable conditions due to the number of students” in Burleith and West Georgetown.

Unsurprisingly, Advisory Neighborhood Commission chair Ron Lewis told the Dish, “This is a strong, thoughtful, well-documented report.”

This outcome seems to support Georgetown Metropolitan writer Topher Matthews’s theory that the University made last-ditch changes to the plan—including the addition of 250 beds on-campus and reducing the total student cap from 16,133 to 15,000—in an attempt to win over the Office of Planning, and by extension, the Zoning Commission.

If so, it didn’t work.

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If you are looking for a way to enjoy the nice weather and still take a trip down to see a Washington Nationals game, you’re now in luck.

American River Taxi has begun offering a limit scheduled in April and May from the Georgetown Harbor to the Southwest Waterfront and National Stadium.

The ride—which takes about 35 minutes—takes a similar amount of time as a ride on the Metro takes.

A ride on the river taxi is a bit more expensive than on the Metro—$9—but is probably much more enjoyable.

The river taxi was originally supposed to start last year but faced delays.

h/t and image: Georgetown Metropolitan

Last week, the 2010 Census released data for the District of Columbia, showing what appeared to be a significant boom in Georgetown’s population.

The recent data suggests that 1,791 new residents have been added to the Georgetown community, or roughly a 21.01 percent population increase.

Most of this growth, about 1,351 people, appears to have been added to the area between O, M, and 35th Streets. This means there was a 133 percent increase in residents in the area, according to the data.

Aside from the explanation that people are living in masses in the streets, sewers, and under the Lau steps, the population increase is more likely the result of reporting changes. In the 2000 Census, only 53 residents were documented as living in on the two blocks bounded by 36th, 37th, O, and P Streets, and alternatively 35th, 36th, Prospect and O Streets. However, these two blocks have been part of University housing for quite some time, so their residents were likely included in the on-campus count for the census rather than as part of the neighborhood population.

The Georgetown Metropolitan claims that another part of the increase in the neighborhood’s population is the rising number of children in the area, which GM approximates to be around 200 children.

Image: The Georgetown Metropolitan

Based on this graphic, it’s pretty apparent what people come to Georgetown to do: shop and eat.

Georgetown Metropolitan reports that 73% of the businesses in the neighborhood are independent. This percentage drops to 41% only a block from Wisconsin Ave. and M St.

There have also been fewer store closings, but there was still a net loss of 13 stores. The majority of store closings were independent businesses.This year saw the closing of Commander Salamander, and the openings of stores like Madewell, Barbour, and City Sports.

Within the next year, it is reported that businesses such as Brooks Brothers, All Saints, Calvin Klein, Rag & Bone, and Serendipity3 will be opening locations in Georgetown.

h/t, graphic: The Georgetown Metropolitan, Washington Business Journal

According to the Georgetown Current [PDF], a one-time resident hopes to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Georgetown.

The man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, has not yet filed an application with the D.C. government.

“I spent 6 years in Georgetown (1994-2000) living near the intersection of 31st and Q St. NW, where I ran an operation similar to what the new law proposes without a single problem from anyone except the police, with absolutely no regulation,” he wrote in an email to the Current.

After scoping out a few locations, the man claims he found “a willing landlord” who is interested in leasing space for the dispensary on Wisconsin Avenue near the Georgetown Public Library. However, the Current added, he is “open to direction from the community.”

Last May, the D.C. Council unanimously approved a bill to allow certain people to obtain marijuana from the yet-to-be-opened dispensaries. Those with chronic illnesses, such as cancer, gloucoma, HIV/AIDS, or multiple sclerosis, will be eligible to purchase up to two ounces of marijuana per month with a doctor’s prescription.

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For more than a year, rumors suggested that Georgetown Public Library would re-open in Fall 2010. Now, that target date is a bit more specific.

According to a D.C. Public Library representative who contacted Georgetown Metropolitan, the library plans to officially open its doors in October. The re-opening is quite the accomplishment, considering that after a three-alarm fire destroyed the building in May 2007, reconstruction efforts were wrought with legal tussles and finger-pointing.

The fire, which was allegedly caused by heat guns, led to a $13 million lawsuit brought by the D.C. government against a Dynamic Corp., a construction company contracted to work in the library. After the city blamed Dynamic Corp., the company turned around and contested the suit, claiming that the D.C. Fire Department botched the investigation.

Luckily, the lawsuit didn’t ultimately derail the reconstruction process. GM has the rundown of the library’s renovated look, but personally, we’re just happy to see it re-open. (Have you ever seen the library’s DVD collection? It’s a hidden gem, we swear!)