Cemeteries we built for ourselves, increasingly after 1830, were places with winding roads and picturesque vistas. The idea being that you leave behind the mercantile world outside the gates and enter into the space where you can meditate, where you can come into contact with spirituality and concentrate. They were quite important spaces for recreation as well. Keep in mind, the great rural cemeteries were built at a time when there weren't public parks, or art museums, or botanical gardens in American cities. You suddenly had large pieces of ground, filled with beautiful sculptures and horticultural art. People flocked to cemeteries for picnics, for hunting and shooting and carriage racing. These places became so popular that not only were guidebooks issued to guide visitors, but also all kinds of rules were posted.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/03/our-first-public-parks-the-forgotten-history-of-cemeteries/71818/

Cemeteries Have been used as parks and outdoor gather spots for many years. In fact that is the design of congressional cemetery. So no it is not disrespectful...it is being used as it was designed to be used.

Anonymous wrote:Oh my God, people. Don't buy a plot at Congressional if you don't like their policy. But don't nitpick something from afar that you have no idea about.

+1! Actually, CC is comparatively reasonable with plots in the $4-8K range. Look here: http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/burials-and-services.asp

Otherwise, if you've never seen it, come down and visit J.Edgar and Clyde and Sousa!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather have a quiet place of reflection for the life memories I built with the person. And not have to step over the poop to place fresh flowers on the grave.

No one is stepping over poop. Try again

How do you know that NO ONE is stepping over poop? Have you scooped ALL the poop? Of ALL the species?
And I don't want noisy gentrifiers interfering with my quiet meditation at a grave either. Some things should be kept sacred.

Then I hope you and your loved ones are buried in a family cemetery on your own private property. You will need a tall fence too.

I don't really like dogs at all and they gross me out, especially their poop. But the improvement upkeep of CC in the years since this program started has been phenomenal. I love to take my kids there for sledding in the winter. If a cemetery taking up valuable real estate in a hot neighborhood were not meant for some community events, I suspect you would be moaning about it being a waste. I don't know where you get your stridency about what is or isn't acceptable activity for a cemetery. If cemeteries in, say, Anne of Green Gables weren't open half the plot points in those books would have no setting!

My stridency is from my personal belief. I do not prefer to go sledding in cemeteries. I also don't live in an overpopulated city. While I don't forsee myself being buried with the U.S. congress, we do have a private family plot and property where many relatives that have passed remain. We do NOT stand on their graves even when we go to visit. This isn't an uncommon practice. You should have respect for others beliefs and considerations.

For me - no sledding, no dog waste areas, no Pyscho concerts! Trees, memorial gardens, ponds, yes. Open to someone that wants to host a Grateful Dead concert? No.

So basically you don't even live here. Thanks for your input on our local cemetery, Missouri.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering how the OP knew that everybody at the cemetery watching the movie was a "gentrifier". Did the OP ask everybody their address, income, and when they moved in?

Because nobody was walking dogs there or watching movies there until the gentrifiers arrived in the area.

Rather, they were shooting up and having sex there. I'll take the gentrifiers.

Well they asked how the OP knew that everybody at the cemetery watching the movie was a "gentrifier" so I answered it for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering how the OP knew that everybody at the cemetery watching the movie was a "gentrifier". Did the OP ask everybody their address, income, and when they moved in?

Because nobody was walking dogs there or watching movies there until the gentrifiers arrived in the area.

Rather, they were shooting up and having sex there. I'll take the gentrifiers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They were watching Psycho.
How urban of them.
Since all they really care about is being hip & urban.

And bike lanes, craft beer, and curated beards. And SUPping and charcuterie. And their rescue pets.

I love to ride my bike in bike lanes, and to drink craft beer.

Does that make me a hipster?

Go take your hip urban outdoor movie watching event to Arlington National Cemetery and see what happens to ya.

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering how the OP knew that everybody at the cemetery watching the movie was a "gentrifier". Did the OP ask everybody their address, income, and when they moved in?

Because nobody was walking dogs there or watching movies there until the gentrifiers arrived in the area.

Anonymous wrote:

They were watching Psycho.
How urban of them.
Since all they really care about is being hip & urban.

And bike lanes, craft beer, and curated beards. And SUPping and charcuterie. And their rescue pets.

I love to ride my bike in bike lanes, and to drink craft beer.

Does that make me a hipster?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather have a quiet place of reflection for the life memories I built with the person. And not have to step over the poop to place fresh flowers on the grave.

No one is stepping over poop. Try again

How do you know that NO ONE is stepping over poop? Have you scooped ALL the poop? Of ALL the species?
And I don't want noisy gentrifiers interfering with my quiet meditation at a grave either. Some things should be kept sacred.

Then I hope you and your loved ones are buried in a family cemetery on your own private property. You will need a tall fence too.

I don't really like dogs at all and they gross me out, especially their poop. But the improvement upkeep of CC in the years since this program started has been phenomenal. I love to take my kids there for sledding in the winter. If a cemetery taking up valuable real estate in a hot neighborhood were not meant for some community events, I suspect you would be moaning about it being a waste. I don't know where you get your stridency about what is or isn't acceptable activity for a cemetery. If cemeteries in, say, Anne of Green Gables weren't open half the plot points in those books would have no setting!

My stridency is from my personal belief. I do not prefer to go sledding in cemeteries. I also don't live in an overpopulated city. While I don't forsee myself being buried with the U.S. congress, we do have a private family plot and property where many relatives that have passed remain. We do NOT stand on their graves even when we go to visit. This isn't an uncommon practice. You should have respect for others beliefs and considerations.

For me - no sledding, no dog waste areas, no Pyscho concerts! Trees, memorial gardens, ponds, yes. Open to someone that wants to host a Grateful Dead concert? No.

Great! Then make a giant donation to the Congressional Cemetery. Offer to take over the funding and operation of the cemetery. This is not a random group of "gentrifiers" camping out. The organization that operates this cemetery is running these programs. The dog walkers are paying money and donating time to help keep up the cemetery. You, on the other hand, are just bitching and moaning about something you clearly don't know anything about.

Eh. Maybe you're correct. I'll go find a Kim Kardashian thread.

I recently visited Congressional Cemetery with my daughter for a school project. Although I've lived in DC for more than 20 years I'd never heard of or seen the cemetery before.

During the course of our time there, we had to walk all over the cemetery grounds looking for various graves. While I was initially surprised to see the dog walkers, I didn't notice any poop or disrespectful actions on the part of dogs or their owners and the gravestones/plots seemed in good enough shape. The presence of dogs in no way inhibited our ability to take a peaceful walk through an interesting historical locale.

The cemetery is huge and clearly needs funding sources to keep it up. I thought the dog walking scheme seemed innovative and a win/win/win for the community: 1) money for the cemetery's upkeep; 2) a good place for a nice peaceful walk; and 3) drug dealers and prostitutes kept at bay by said dogs and dog walkers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather have a quiet place of reflection for the life memories I built with the person. And not have to step over the poop to place fresh flowers on the grave.

No one is stepping over poop. Try again

How do you know that NO ONE is stepping over poop? Have you scooped ALL the poop? Of ALL the species?
And I don't want noisy gentrifiers interfering with my quiet meditation at a grave either. Some things should be kept sacred.

Then I hope you and your loved ones are buried in a family cemetery on your own private property. You will need a tall fence too.

I don't really like dogs at all and they gross me out, especially their poop. But the improvement upkeep of CC in the years since this program started has been phenomenal. I love to take my kids there for sledding in the winter. If a cemetery taking up valuable real estate in a hot neighborhood were not meant for some community events, I suspect you would be moaning about it being a waste. I don't know where you get your stridency about what is or isn't acceptable activity for a cemetery. If cemeteries in, say, Anne of Green Gables weren't open half the plot points in those books would have no setting!

My stridency is from my personal belief. I do not prefer to go sledding in cemeteries. I also don't live in an overpopulated city. While I don't forsee myself being buried with the U.S. congress, we do have a private family plot and property where many relatives that have passed remain. We do NOT stand on their graves even when we go to visit. This isn't an uncommon practice. You should have respect for others beliefs and considerations.

For me - no sledding, no dog waste areas, no Pyscho concerts! Trees, memorial gardens, ponds, yes. Open to someone that wants to host a Grateful Dead concert? No.

Great! Then make a giant donation to the Congressional Cemetery. Offer to take over the funding and operation of the cemetery. This is not a random group of "gentrifiers" camping out. The organization that operates this cemetery is running these programs. The dog walkers are paying money and donating time to help keep up the cemetery. You, on the other hand, are just bitching and moaning about something you clearly don't know anything about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather have a quiet place of reflection for the life memories I built with the person. And not have to step over the poop to place fresh flowers on the grave.

No one is stepping over poop. Try again

How do you know that NO ONE is stepping over poop? Have you scooped ALL the poop? Of ALL the species?
And I don't want noisy gentrifiers interfering with my quiet meditation at a grave either. Some things should be kept sacred.

Then I hope you and your loved ones are buried in a family cemetery on your own private property. You will need a tall fence too.

I don't really like dogs at all and they gross me out, especially their poop. But the improvement upkeep of CC in the years since this program started has been phenomenal. I love to take my kids there for sledding in the winter. If a cemetery taking up valuable real estate in a hot neighborhood were not meant for some community events, I suspect you would be moaning about it being a waste. I don't know where you get your stridency about what is or isn't acceptable activity for a cemetery. If cemeteries in, say, Anne of Green Gables weren't open half the plot points in those books would have no setting!

My stridency is from my personal belief. I do not prefer to go sledding in cemeteries. I also don't live in an overpopulated city. While I don't forsee myself being buried with the U.S. congress, we do have a private family plot and property where many relatives that have passed remain. We do NOT stand on their graves even when we go to visit. This isn't an uncommon practice. You should have respect for others beliefs and considerations.

For me - no sledding, no dog waste areas, no Pyscho concerts! Trees, memorial gardens, ponds, yes. Open to someone that wants to host a Grateful Dead concert? No.

Sounds like you have the right place picked out for you. Others may prefer something different.

Anonymous wrote:Poop is everywhere. I went to visit my grandfathers grave in July. The stone was covered in bird shit (despite having regular visitors) and there was deer shit nearby. When you are buried in the ground, shit is going to happen.

Actually, on the contrary. You don't give a shit!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How do you know that NO ONE is stepping over poop? Have you scooped ALL the poop? Of ALL the species?
And I don't want noisy gentrifiers interfering with my quiet meditation at a grave either. Some things should be kept sacred.

It's those disrespectful squirrels again, isn't it?

The squirrels AND the pigeons. SMH. No respect.

Poop is everywhere. I went to visit my grandfathers grave in July. The stone was covered in bird shit (despite having regular visitors) and there was deer shit nearby. When you are buried in the ground, shit is going to happen.