Posts from December 2011
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Weekend links: Breakdown boogie
Music of malfunction; Should Amazon be taxed?; Pop-ups invade vacant lots; Hispanics disproportionately killed on roads; Streetcar purchase drama continues; Reimagining the alley; India plans to sprawl. Keep reading…
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Holiday spirit illuminates a Congress Heights street
For the past 7 years, Barbara Thomas’ home in Congress Heights has lit up the neighborhood with an eclectic abundance of Christmas-themed decorations. In addition to spreading holiday cheer, the decorations have won commendations from police and others. Keep reading…
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Is DC delaying bike lanes with redundant studies?
Sometimes politicians delay otherwise popular projects they don’t support by insisting on more studies before work can begin. In DC, less than one mile of bike lanes were added in 2011. Is this a sign of tepid support for bike lanes from Mayor Gray or other top officials? Former Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich used a “paralysis by analysis” strategy to stall the Purple… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Everything’s fine
Fines for the food trucks; Fines for poor electric service; Seattle police mock injured jogger; Don’t forget the small businesses; Are “discretionary funds” too discretionary?; One strike, you’re out of public housing; HUD gets less sustainable; And…. Keep reading…
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DC Council ethics: C’mon son, we can do better
Tuesday marked just how serious the DC Council is about ethics reform. I am sad to report that they are not very serious at all. Like all besieged governments across the globe that have held power with an insular, corruptible and outdated system, the Council of the District of Columbia is now offering concessions in the hope of easing the unprecedented anger at this crisis. Keep reading…
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Want to be a daytime or Thursday night editor?
Are you good at editing other people’s writing? Do you instantly notice typos or missing commas? Do you find it easy to pick out the key points of an argument? Do you care about making Greater Washington greater and want to help out with volunteer editing? Greater Greater Washington is a labor of love from 10 editors, 2 links writers, and about 36 other contributors (at last… Keep reading…
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Better access to RI Ave Metro would help communities
Despite being one of the original stations in the Metro system, the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood station hasn’t reached the potential of so many others because of a lack of connections into the nearby communities. Simply improving pedestrian access to the station will invigorate otherwise disconnected neighborhoods. In 1976, designers created a park and ride station,… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: 16 fewer cars
Metro pulls cars; DDOT still committed to bike lanes; New use for parking garage; Woodridge wants a main street; How should federal buildings look?; Students could lose parking privileges; DHS delayed; Keep sprawl in Czech; And…. Keep reading…
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Transportation contracts should always require open data
Governments often hire private contractors to operate transportation services or build technology tools. When those projects provide open data as part of the program, customers can benefit at little or no cost. When open data is left out, governments are throwing money out the window. Capital Bikeshare, Zipcar, and many of the region’s local bus systems and vanpools… Keep reading…
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I-695 label returns to DC, but it never really left
DDOT opened the inbound 11th Street Bridge this past weekend. Drivers are already confused, not from the change in the lane split from I-295, but in the route number chosen for the bridge: I-695. Why did DDOT sign the bridge as I-695? This is a question that been pondered by blogs, the news media, and numerous tweets. The confusion got so bad that DDOT wrote their… Keep reading…