Recent Posts
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DC tries for a citywide transportation plan. Will it be good?
Today, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) took the cover off a new initiative called Move DC, a year-long process to build a comprehensive transportation plan. They have a big event planned for February 9, a rudimentary online poll, and promise more to come. The District has many smaller transportation plans, like the Bicycle Master Plan, Pedestrian Master… Keep reading…
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Muriel Bowser unsure on parking minimums, corner stores
Wednesday is the final ward-based community information session for the zoning update, in Ward 4. This is a particularly important one as Councilmember Muriel Bowser seems undecided on, or leaning against, proposals to reduce parking minimums near transit or to permit corner stores in Petworth, and confused about the specifics of the proposal to let homeowners rent out a basement… Keep reading…
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Let’s Choose DC posts candidate answers on crime
This week, Let’s Choose DC — a partnership of Greater Greater Washington, DCist, and PoPville — asked candidates for the April 23 at-large special election about crime. We asked the candidates: Chief Lanier and Mayor Gray have made a lot of the drop in homicides, but other crimes — assaults, robberies — remain stubbornly high. How should… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: New ways to live and move
Uber takes a taxi; Babe’s gets the nod; Bike to Obama; A national VMT tax?; Call them the Washington Deforesters; Will school closings save money?; An affordable little neighborhood; “Embarrassing” anti-dooring law?; And…. Keep reading…
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Like a big city, Tysons will be a transit hub
Tysons Corner has more office space than downtown Baltimore, Richmond, and Norfolk put together. It should be the center its own large transit network. The Silver Line and express buses on the Beltway HOT lanes are good first steps, but in the long run Tysons is going to need more routes, connecting it to more places. In the long run, Tysons needs something more like this:… Keep reading…
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Mapping underwater mortgages shows shocking divide
The Washington Post created this astounding map of the places where the greatest percentage of mortgages are “underwater,” or owe more than the home’s current value. Keep reading…
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8 ½ minutes to cross the street
When you get off the northbound bus at Route 355 and Shady Grove Road in Rockville, it takes 8½ minutes to cross legally to the other side of the street. Along the way, you traverse 28 traffic lanes. Just last week, two pedestrians were severely injured crossing the street at this intersection. I went there Saturday to look around. When I explained what I was interested… Keep reading…
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Can we get more proportionality in criminal justice?
I was heartbroken to read that Aaron Swartz, a 26-year-old Internet freedom activist, author of RSS, and Reddit cofounder, killed himself on Friday. I’d met Aaron a few times; on April 6, 2009, he emailed me to ask about books he should read on city policy issues. Aaron clearly suffered from depression, but his family, law professor Lawrence Lessig, and many others are also… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Pray
Tax break for empty church land?; Washington’s boom, poorly explained; Tysons gets buses; More condos are bad, say condo owners; Suburban officials criticize DC; Tide turning on driver responsibility?; Metrohenge Dupont is today; Amtrak eyes new bridge and tunnel; And…. Keep reading…
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Streetscapes in the Flickr pool
Here are our favorite new images from the Greater and Lesser Washington Flickr pool, showcasing the best and worst of the Washington region. Keep reading…