Posts by DW Rowlands — Contributor
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Best of 2022: Mapping the Washington region’s activity centers
A Brookings Institution senior research assistant explains how they labeled and mapped the Washington region in their recent study of the nation’s activity centers. Keep reading…
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The fascinating story of DC’s aqueducts and reservoirs
Have you ever wondered where the District’s drinking water comes from or puzzled over why the McMillan reservoir is located in the center of the city, far from the water sources that supply it? GGWash contributor Elliot Carter’s DC Underground Atlas showcases the history and engineering of this hidden underground world. Here’s a taste of what he found. Keep reading…
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How the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad and the Penn Line shaped the region’s suburbs
Much of DC beyond the original L’Enfant city and Georgetown consists of “streetcar suburbs,” namely late-19th and early-20th Century communities that grew up around streetcar lines. While electric streetcars didn’t extend to Maryland until the 1890s, Washington’s first steam railroad line, to Baltimore, opened in 1837, and commuters from Maryland rode trains into the city as early as the Civil War. Keep reading…
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Here’s how neighborhoods west of Kenilworth Avenue in Northeast DC became isolated from the city
The neighborhoods of River Terrace, Parkside, Mayfair, Eastland Gardens, and Kenilworth in Northeast DC are isolated from the rest of the District by the Anacostia River to the northwest and DC Route 295 to the southeast. While these neighborhoods are very isolated and contain some of the lowest-income Census block groups in the District today, they were sited to take advantage of direct transportation routes to downtown and built for higher-income professionals. Keep reading…
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A 1944 proposal for a DC streetcar subway would have been the largest in the US
In 1944 there was a proposal for a DC streetcar subway that would be twice as long as other US systems. Keep reading…
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Mapping the Washington region’s activity centers
A Brookings Institution senior research assistant explains how they labeled and mapped the Washington region in their recent study of the nation’s activity centers. Keep reading…
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What lies beneath DC? Many more tunnels than you might think!
Have you ever wondered what’s under your feet in the District? Everyone who rides Metro regularly has some sense of where the subway tunnels in the region are, but may not know that DC also has a number of former streetcar tunnels, currently-used railway tunnels, and a collection of road tunnels as well. Keep reading…
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Advocates have pushed for a subway in DC since FDR and WWII
Between 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected, and 1941, when the US entered the war, the District’s population rose by nearly 50%. This spike in population led to overloaded buses and streetcars, as well as severe automobile congestion. The city was in desparate need of transportation alternatives. Keep reading…
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Branch renovations and a pivot away from books: Prince George’s County libraries since 2000
The story of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System in the 21st century is a story of renovations and replacements, and a pivot away from printed books and toward more electronic services. Keep reading…
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The 1970s tax reform initiative that debilitated Prince George’s County libraries
The 1960s and 1970s saw major growth in the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS). But at the end of the 1970s, that growth ground to a halt when residents passed a racially-motivated referendum limiting the county’s taxing authority. Keep reading…