Recent Posts
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Will preservation be a tool of blatant anti-development?
Opponents of a redevelopment project at Colonel Brooks’ Tavern next to the Brookland Metro are turning to historic preservation as their latest anti-building tactic. Lydia DePillis reports that ANC 5A has nominated Colonel Brooks’ Tavern and the adjacent houses to be designated as historic. The timing of this is quite suspect, since a Planned Unit Development… Keep reading…
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Wall at Brookland Metro serves as a canvas for a memorial
While Washington is home to numerous stately memorials to national figures, murdered Redskins player Sean Taylor has his own unofficial memorial in the form of graffiti at the Brookland Metro station. A few days after Taylor was killed in Miami, Florida, a spray-painted memorial mural appeared on the wall of the CSX rail line adjacent to the Brookland Metro station, where it… Keep reading…
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Google Transit still “very close”
WMATA CEO Richard Sarles said a launch of trip planning on Google Maps is “very close,” but declined to give a specific timeline. This project has frustratingly remained “very close” for more than a year. A December email from Victor Grimes in WMATA IT said they “anticipate going live by mid-January.” That deadline has long passed. the… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Jobs and education for DC
Ensuring jobs for DC’s own; Graduate School to anchor waterfront; DC area dorms among best and worst; Metro faces serious backlog; Zero real plots against Metro; ANCs eschew liquor bans; PG may lose development oversight; From the desk of Vince Gray; And…. Keep reading…
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Afternoon links: The next generation draws on the last
What Mad Men would say about trains; LaHood pushes “next generation” of mobility; Neighbors decry child care center; Why Garber supports a landmark nomination; Lessons from a failed iPhone theft; ANC commissioner won with 1 vote; Gentrification looks much different in West Hollywood; And…. Keep reading…
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“BRT creep” makes bus rapid transit inferior to rail
Can the US make Bus Rapid Transit work as well as Latin America? Tanya Snyder asks that question in GGW and Streetsblog. BRT systems in places like Bogota and Curitiba have narrowed the gap between bus and rail, producing BRT lines nearly as good as subways. If they produce such great BRT, why should American BRT be considered the little sister of rail? The answer is something… Keep reading…
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Discovery’s “secret garden” should be reopened to public
The danger of public spaces in private hands is that they can cease to be public spaces entirely, especially when fears about crime or safety arise. Yesterday, I was hassled by a security guard at Discovery Communications’ headquarters in downtown Silver Spring for taking the photo of their Sensory Garden at right. The garden, dedicated to TV host Steve Irwin, is one… Keep reading…
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Kennedy Center guard bullies patron for parking a bike
Last week, a guard at the Kennedy Center threatened to steal my bike if I dared to park it on the sidewalk. I had arrived by bike to see a show, and found that the rack on F St was already crowded, and didn’t look especially sturdy. I walked nearby to a sign post and began to lock it up. A guard (pictured right) approached me, yelling at me that I could not park my bike there. I insisted… Keep reading…
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DC Water increasing impervious area charge, water rates
DC Water is seeking to raise water rates approximately $6.50 per month for FY12 to fund its Clean Rivers Project and pay debt service on its 10-year $3.3 billion capital improvement budget. The largest portion of the rate increase comes from a higher impervious area charge (IAC), a fee assessed on property owners for surfaces that rainwater cannot penetrate. The utility… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: The security-industrial complex
For and against bag checks; TSA in trouble with Amtrak; Don’t single out DC’s students; “Public space” still private; Wells, Brown oppose late-night cuts; Sulaimon wants Congress involved; Why bike to work?; Wisconsin Ave Giant could start soon; And…. Keep reading…