Posts from August 2018
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U Street almost became strip malls and office parks — here’s how
Planners in the 1950s wanted to replace large swaths of central Washington with freeways. Canceling those plans saved the city not just from the freeways themselves, but also from an equally stunning plan to demolish thousands more blocks alongside said freeways and “renew” them with a suburban landscape of strip malls, office campuses, and apartment towers. Keep reading…
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DC’s new protected bikeway on K and Water streets punches above its weight
The importance of building a regional trail network is obvious to people who walk and bike the regions trails. But in this video, I ask a different question: Who is this new bikeway serving? Keep reading…
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Breakfast Links: Marginal maintenance for DC’s public housing
Maintenance languishes in DC's public housing. DCPS test scores show progress but the achievement gap remains. City leaders and experts share lessons learned from Amazon HQ2 bidding process. Keep reading…
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Why do Barry Farm and DC General residents fight to stay even in bad conditions?
Residents of DC General and Barry Farms share a lot of common concerns. Their homes are crumbling. Their environments are toxic. And they don’t trust DC’s plan to fix it. Keep reading…
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Baltimore shuts down its docked bikeshare, in favor of Lime and Bird
Baltimore is shutting down its problem-plagued public bikeshare system, and will instead allow up to 2,000 Lime and Bird bikes & scooters. Keep reading…
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DC is incentivizing driving by subsidizing parking for its employees
Despite its goals of reducing car commuting and carbon emissions, the District of Columbia is undercharging hundreds of DC government employees for workplace parking and allowing hundreds more not to pay for their parking spaces at all, a new report from the Office of the DC Auditor shows. Keep reading…
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Breakfast Links: Most drivers failed to look for cyclists in a Toronto-based study
An eye-tracking stuy in Toronto found that most drivers didn't check for pedestrians before turning off a main road. Lime and Bird will each operate 1,000 bikes and/or scooters in Baltimore, replacing the city's own bikeshare program. National Airport experienced more than an hour of darkness during a power outage on Wednesday evening. Keep reading…
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Quincy street in Ballston now has a protected bikeway. Check it out in this video.
Arlington has installed a new protected bikeway on Quincy Street, in Ballston, between 9th Street N and Glebe Road. Check out this video from Bike Arlington. Keep reading…
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Hey WaPo, it’s not a debate: we need more homes
Recently the Washington Post published an article entitled “In expensive cities, rents fall for the rich - but rise for the poor.” With a headline like that, it’s easy for opponents of YIMBYism (which broadly calls upon expensive cities to build more homes) to declare victory. But YIMBYism isn’t wrong — we’re just letting the margins dominate this debate. Keep reading…