Recent Posts
-
OP responds to zoning update “misunderstandings”
A representative of the DC Office of Planning responded to Topher’s summary of the C100-OP debate on the zoning rewrite and a number of comments on our earlier articles, especially concerning the possibility of allowing commercial uses in residential zones. Below is their statement. There has been a good deal of debate on this blog concerning the comprehensive zoning… Keep reading…
-
Govs, Gray hastily jump on BOT’s WMATA bandwagon
Last night, following a conference call between Governors O’Malley (MD) and McDonnell (VA) and DC Mayor-Elect Vince Gray, a press release went out seeming to endorse the recommendations in the Board of Trade’s report on WMATA governance. The press release from the offices of the three executives seemed to endorse the report’s recommendations, including… Keep reading…
-
Breakfast links: Dispatches from Fairfax
Fairfax of the future; Fairfax County parent forms bike train to school; Fairfax parks win gold; Blacks still struggle with employment in DC; Learning from Fear/Sanity; Should we consult original architects on redesigns?; Motorists usually at fault in bike crashes; Eliminate mortgage interest deduction; Cleveland can’t enforce city regs against big banks. Keep reading…
-
Civil debate shows common ground on the zoning rewrite
Last night, the Citizens Association of Georgetown hosted a debate between the Office of Planning’s Travis Parker and the Committee of 100’s Nancy MacWood over the proposed zoning code rewrite. While I anticipated a fight between two rival ideologies, what actually took place was a very respectful, high-minded, and detailed discussion. Travis Parker explained… Keep reading…
-
Will Wal-Mart be urban? Part 2: New York Avenue
Ever since Wal-Mart announced earlier this week that they intend to build four stores in the District of Columbia, the question on the mind of urbanists has been: What will they look like? This is the second of a four-part series examining the urban design of each proposal. The first part looked at the Brightwood location. Today: New York Avenue. This proposal occupies most… Keep reading…
-
The story behind Georgetown’s street grid
If there is one thing that people love the most about Georgetown, it’s the small blocks filled with 18th and 19th century homes. But how exactly did it come to be that way? Much of the land that would eventually become Georgetown was originally granted to a Scotsman named Ninian Beall in 1703. Beall named this 705 acre plot of land the Rock of Dumbarton in a reference to his native… Keep reading…
-
DD’ohT! Signs of the times
We have a short but sweet DD’ohT! this week from a tipster along Connecticut Avenue, where DDOT has two conflicting signs at the intersection with Hawthorne Street, just south of the National Zoo. Keep reading…
-
GGW debates: the Height Act
The 1910 Height Act, while it has made Washington’s skyline distinctive, is not without controversy or drawback. While it’s unlikely that there will be any changes to the height restriction anytime soon, the issue came up for discussion earlier this month after a New York Times piece marked the act’s hundredth anniversary. In the spirit of friendly debate,… Keep reading…
-
Breakfast links: Good news in MoCo
Hans Riemer for better transit, smart growth; New central MoCo middle school; First look at DC Wal-Marts; Arboretum to destroy azalea exhibit; Flood wall on Mall not enough; Third Church project gets JBG money; TSA policies could have deadly consequences; Bike hate in the Big Apple; And…. Keep reading…
-
Afternoon links: Irrational conduct on roads
Ur doing it wrong, traffic engineers; Bikes should defer to irrational drivers; BART has farecard cheating problem; How walkable is your VA or MD city?; Why is urbanism liberal?; Revisiting the flawed Urban Mobility Report; Bus driver recovers ghost bike. Keep reading…