Recent Posts
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Here’s your last chance to speak out on DC’s zoning update
Have you testified on DC’s zoning update yet? The DC Zoning Commission is holding another round of public hearings in each ward to get feedback from voices across the city that have not been heard. DC is working on a new zoning code for the first time in over half a century, a process that’s already taken over 5 years. In what could be the last set of hearings, the commission… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Go and stop
Automatic train operation coming back?; Putting the brakes on sprawl; New DC Library chief weighs in on MLK; DC gets Trumped; Under their thumb; As goes Lincoln Heights; Trucks and the city; And…. Keep reading…
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Join Chris Zimmerman for a live chat next Thursday
After 18 years in office, Chris Zimmerman will step down from the Arlington County Board in February. Next Thursday at noon, join him for a live, moderated conversation about his accomplishments in Arlington, where the county’s headed, and his future role at Smart Growth America. Zimmerman has been a defining leader in transportation and smart growth in our region, serving… Keep reading…
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US streetcar boom takes off in 2014
Three other American cities in addition to DC will open new streetcar lines this year, and at least 12 more cities are expected to advance construction on lines that will open later. Keep reading…
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First-year teachers, part 3: Training is important, but all new teachers need on-the-job help
In the first two parts of this series, we surveyed various routes to teacher certification and discussed the challenges of learning to manage a classroom. New teachers also need targeted coaching, opportunities to collaborate with and observe experienced teachers, and help with lesson planning. Keeping order in the classroom may be the toughest skill for new teachers to master,… Keep reading…
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See how housing and transportation costs hold the poor back
Everyone’s spending habits are basically the same. But rising housing and transportation costs hit low-income households hardest. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Time for some traffic problems
Stuck in a jam; A world without farecards; Bikeshare riders brave the cold; Waiting for renewal; Fairfax forgoes McMansions for paintball; The war on rats; Foreign investment drives DC real estate; Metro’s track work schedule; And…. Keep reading…
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“Sneckdowns” reveal the street space cars don’t use
Every time it snows, vast sections of city streets remain covered by snow long after plows and moving cars have cleared the travel lanes. These leftover spaces are called “sneckdowns,” and they show where sidewalks or medians could replace roads without any loss to car drivers. Keep reading…
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First-year teachers, part 2: How do you learn to keep a classroom from spiraling out of control?
Yesterday, in the first part of this series, we examined three different pathways to teaching. Today, we look at one of the biggest challenges for any new teacher: classroom management. One veteran of Teach for America (TFA), now in his third year of teaching at a DC charter school with a high-poverty population, says that what’s needed for effective classroom management… Keep reading…
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College Park’s mayor takes Smart Growth to school
Andrew Fellows came to College Park from Silver Spring in 1991 as a grad student at the University of Maryland and never left. Now mayor and newly elected to a third term, Fellows wants to draw staff and faculty back to this college town, all while making it more environmentally sustainable. It’s Thursday morning at the Starbucks in College Park, perhaps the main thoroughfare… Keep reading…