Recent Posts
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Should Union Station’s Great Hall be less great?
Union Station’s Great Hall is one of the city’s most fantastic public spaces. It is beautiful, engaging, and lively. And somebody wants to tear a couple of giant holes in its floor. Earlier this week, Washington City Paper reported on a proposal to cut holes in the Great Hall’s floor in order to provide better access to the basement food court, and to replace… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Stay positive
Anacostia streetcar not running; In case you missed it; Gentrification goes to school; In the public input department; Not in my skyscraper’s back yard; What gives pastiche a bad name; Transit even conservatives can love; And you thought the Beltway was bad. Keep reading…
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Is blocking negative SmarTrip balances really necessary?
WMATA announced a surprising set of changes to SmarTrip: riders will no longer be able to “go negative” a few dollars, like they can today. Why is WMATA making this change? At a recent meeting, the Board asked for the price of SmarTrip cards to be reduced from $5.00 to $2.50. According to many groups that serve low-income riders, the price of a SmarTrip card is a burden… Keep reading…
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Washington’s first sidewalk cafe
A modest, four-story storefront once stood near the corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW overlooking Washington’s first sidewalk café. From an illegal gambling parlor to a trendy 1960s discotheque, the building saw much in the way of what Washington had to offer for nighttime entertainment. It began its colorful career in about 1872, although according… Keep reading…
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Defeat poverty by investing early in our children
The surest way to break the cycle of poverty in D.C. is to start where it begins for so many in our city, at birth. We need to give our youngest and most vulnerable children the support and resources they need to thrive and have a bright future. As the mother of two young children, I can expound endlessly on why it is the morally right thing to do. But in this difficult economy, it also just… Keep reading…
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What to do with Arlington’s vacant retail space
The age-old wisdom in business is that when you can’t move inventory, you lower your price. Developers in Arlington want tenants in vacant retail space, but the price isn’t right. Before approving rule changes for ground-floor commercial space, Arlington County needs to ask some hard questions. Over at the TBD Neighborhoods blog, Rebecca A. Cooper writes that… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Politics and public input
Standoff in the synagogue; Exclusionary zoning; Rate the road diet; Food truck finality; The next TOD hotspot; Corman in the mirror; Couches on wheels no more. Keep reading…
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Beauty and the Beast, in buildings
Sometimes we debate whether buildings are beautiful or ugly. I’m certain I’ve found an example where no one will disagree that a gorgeous building has been replaced by something hideous. Jaime passed along this Denver Post series of color photos from 1939 to 1943 compiled from the Library of Congress’ collection. Photo number 57 in the series shows… Keep reading…
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Too that noticed I’ve
A recent xkcd comic is very appropriate: Keep reading…