Recent Posts
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On the calendar: Streams of consciousness
Want to build One City, learn about ecological sustainability, visualize the city with technology, discuss balancing preservation with innovation, or support bicycle advocacy in the region? These good causes and interesting events are coming up: DC Neighborhood College’s “One City Community Leadership Forum” is taking place both Friday night and… Keep reading…
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Improve campus life to fix Georgetown town-gown relations
The Office of Planning’s recent recommendation to require Georgetown University to house 100 percent of undergraduates on campus would both severely damage Georgetown student life and fail to achieve the campus plan opponents’ objectives. A better approach would be to make campus a more desirable place to be. If Georgetown improved student gathering spaces,… Keep reading…
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More map contest results, part 1: A geographic base
Our Metro map contest resulted in some innovative and unique ways of looking at the system map. But of the 17 maps we received, only one moved from a diagrammatic to a geographic style map. Map Q, by Michael Sypolt, manages to keep downtown relatively uncluttered while still adequately demonstrating the distance of the suburban terminals. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: NoVA small cities, MD universities think big
Alexandria flirts with CaBi; Falls Church flirts with density; UMD won’t fight campus Purple Line; LaHood mediates in Silver Line; Struck in Loudoun, crushed in DC; Stop breaking fake ground; MTA clears up photography spat; Population shift necessitates housing shift; And…. Keep reading…
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Underground parking enables better public spaces
In an article last week, Post reporter Katherine Shaver suggests that the prevalence of structured parking in Montgomery County signals a “cultural shift” and an “urban turn” for what many claim is the “perfect suburbia.” What’s missing, however, is that the rise of underground garages means we can still accommodate drivers… Keep reading…
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Redistricting wouldn’t matter if wards weren’t mini-empires
Redistricting has generated a lot of ire, as it does every ten years. The DC Council should redistrict more impartially, but redistricting also shouldn’t matter as much as it does. There are many ways that the ward boundaries matter far more than they should. Capitol Hill residents, for example, were afraid moving Eastern High School into Ward 7 would impair their ability… Keep reading…
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I Wish This Were… in Dupont Circle, part 2
On Monday I started this series with the first three spaces in Dupont Circle that I’d like to see improved. Three more proposals follow. Scattered around Dupont Circle are the remains the old stairwells that led to the now-abandoned trolley station. There are a total of 9 stairways, now all boarded up. What’s the best use for these spaces? Keep reading…
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DDOT proposes Eckington bike lane, commissioner opposes
DDOT wants to help people on bikes traverse R Street in Eckington with sharrows and a one-block contraflow lane. ANC commissioner Sylvia Pinkney is organizing a petition to oppose the project, but some of her fellow commissioners and neighbors don’t share her distaste. R Street has an existing bike lane west of Florida Avenue, but there is a gap in Eckington, where people… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Lots of hot air
Operation Cool Breeze not so cool; You can photograph the Baltimore light rail; Can Stessel unsuck Metro communications?; When jurisdictions vie for federal agencies; Induce and reduce the same thing?; Chinatown bus crashes, killing 4; Longer commute, shorter life; Former officials do the darndest things; And…. Keep reading…
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Replace paper card fares with a single fare table?
Spend any time in a Metro station and you’ll see them: Befuddled tourists, trying to decipher the fare table posted on the ticket vending machine. Often, they know where they want to go, but Metro’s complicated format gives them three different choices on how they should pay. They have to refer to another table to figure out which one is correct. It’s akin to… Keep reading…