Recent Posts
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Jefferson Memorial next to get security wall
An NCPC staff report on a security perimeter at the Jefferson Memorial contains a fascinating before and after photo set of the area: Keep reading…
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Can pop culture push sustainable mobility?
Popular culture shapes our lives in countless ways, both directly and subconsciously. Since Leave It to Beaver, American popular culture has been deeply rooted in car-centered suburbia. That paradigm may be shifting. There was a time when being carless was tantamount to wearing head gear: totally uncool. Truth be told, that time is still now in many places,… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Less money, more students
Ehrlich’s school funding lacking; Public schools still on the rise; Big city school superintendents’ future uncertain; Hit-and-run near Dupont Circle; Purple Line in November; Developers shifting to Smart Growth; Metro riders impossible to please; Supporting food trucks; And…. Keep reading…
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Gray promises transit and bicycle funding at first town hall
At the first of eight town hall meetings, held Tuesday evening in Ward 5’s Truxton Circle neighborhood, presumptive Mayor-elect Vincent Gray began to flesh out his plans for taking on the District’s challenges and reemphasized his support for transit, bicycling, and affordable housing. The enthusiastically supportive crowd harshly criticized the Fenty Administration’s… Keep reading…
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New Jersey says no to FTA money. What would you build?
It was reported yesterday that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, is expected to kill the ARC Tunnel project. The tunnel would double rail capacity under the Hudson River, and would allow more trains to enter Manhattan each day. Christie, it seems, plans to take the state’s share of the project and devote it to building roads. This means that New Jersey will… Keep reading…
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Historic train stations abound in Washington region
Train stations are the perfect nexus of transit and architecture geekdom. They’re monuments to all the things that urbanists hold dear. Luckily, the Washington area is full of wonderful examples of historic depots, big and small. Just about everyone is familiar with Union Station, but have you seen Point of Rocks? Fredericksburg? Gaithersburg? Here are some pictures of particularly… Keep reading…
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Reforest underused Fort Circle fields to focus on active areas
The National Park Service owns 90% of the parkland in DC. The City Paper recently found this Google Maps mashup charting all the National Park Service properties in the District. Everyone knows about Rock Creek Park, but residents often overlook the arc of parks that form the Fort Circle Parks. The Fort Circle Parks are mostly grassy patches of land with few other… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Doing more on the Mall
Hirshhorn considers garden excavation; Restore sanity and the Mall; MPD Chief has a sweet deal; Quick Complete Streets; BOEE e-voting not secure yet; NoVA will keep Board seats, for now; College towns top for bike commuting; Teacher diversity in Arlington Public Schools. Keep reading…
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Afternoon links: Nauseating news
ARC tunnel dead, NJ will get even more roads; Hurling out of service; She thought it was a tree branch; An indictment of Las Vegas’ City Center; Le Capital Bikeshare; And…; Don’t forget: GGW happy hour Thursday. Keep reading…
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Washington’s first convention center
It wasn’t that ugly concrete behemoth on H Street, completed in 1980, that was mercifully imploded in 2004. No, the first convention center was to the northwest of that, in what is now Mount Vernon Triangle, on the east side of 5th Street NW between K and L Streets. The City Vista apartment and condominium complex now rises there. It was built as a market house in 1875, a grand… Keep reading…