Brandon Green Companies launches new real estate website with blog

Brandon Green Companies a top-tier real estate firm in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, just relaunched its website. I helped write and edit the text, create the site’s architecture, and decide on the design.

While the whole site was rethought, the most significant additions are the capabilities to search all market listings and get a free comparable market analysis of a home’s value, and the blog.

I’m especially excited about the latter—Brandon and his team have an interesting and informed perspective on the real estate market in Washington, DC; Northern Virginia, and Maryland; now it’s available to everyone.

(And Brandon Green Companies isn’t just a client of mine; I’m a client of his. Brandon helped me sell my condo a few years ago. If you’re looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate, you can’t do better than Brandon and his team.)

What do you want to know about Washington, DC?

By no means am I out of fodder for my Gridskipper posts, but some of my best (and most read) entries started as ideas from other people. And, as the future of Gridskipper is a little uncertain, I figured I’d ask again for any suggestions for blog posts (they can be either map-oriented, which highlight the best six to 12 of a particular kind of establishment, or a more in-depth feature).

If you’ve read Gridskipper, you’ll know that contributors have a lot of leeway in what they write about, so don’t worry if your suggestion is bizarre.

The Jewish sightseing guide to DC

One day last week I was walking by the White House and saw a small crowd gathering for the lighting of the National Menorah on the first night of Hanukkah.

It got me thinking that DC has a fair amount of Jewish-centered sites that don’t get the attention that a lot of other attractions do. Hence:

The Jewish Sightseeing Guide to DC

Getting revenge on DC restaurants that have made me sick.

Whilst I usually enjoy researching my Gridskipper entries, writing this post caused me to relive some not-so-good times—although I did get a bit of revenge:

DC Restaurants That Made Me Sick

In case the title doesn’t make it obvious, the post does get a little graphic (it is Mean Week on Gridskipper after all).

Crack use in Washington, DC

Please keep in mind that I researched this article online and by driving around Washington, DC, with my windows up—no money exchanged hands and no products were consumed:

Where to Buy Crack in Northwest DC

I got the idea to write this piece when I read and saw a graphic description of a drug deal in a posh and trendy Northwest DC neighborhood (I won’t link to the account here, but it’s the first site I mention in the Gridskipper post).

My views on America’s drug policy notwithstanding, it’s absurd that the DC police are so inept at controlling a problem that is associated with more severe crimes, such as homicides. If you search online for some of the addresses I mentioned, you’ll see that they are also murder sites.

I also was surprised at how prevalent crack is in Northwest; usually drugs are a problem associated with the rest of the city. Or maybe I was just ignorant.

On another note, while scoping out some of the venues I reviewed, I was taken aback by how accurately HBO’s The Wire depicts areas where drugs are sold: guy standing on the corner, another guy sitting a few doors down (probably with the stash), and downtrodden folks milling about.