Posts tagged Cat:history
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Where DC once banned black people from living
One of many pieces of America’s shameful racial past was when racial covenants forbade people in certain areas from selling their houses to an African-American family. DC had these in several neighborhoods, particularly Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Petworth, Park View, and Bloomingdale. Keep reading…
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DC’s downtown could have been more like L’Enfant Plaza
Poking through the archives of the Washington Post, Tom at Ghosts of DC found a plan to sink several roads in downtown DC into trenches, build tunnels, and create a large underground parking structure beneath a big plaza where Freedom Plaza now stands. Keep reading…
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Where DC used to bar black people from living
One of many pieces of America’s shameful racial past was when racial covenants forbade people in certain areas from selling their houses to an African-American family. DC had these in several neighborhoods, particularly Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Petworth, Park View, and Bloomingdale. Keep reading…
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Were you there when the region was still building Metro?
My dad worked for the Urban Mass Transportation Authority, now the Federal Transit Administration, in the late 1970s. As a result, my family went on several tours of the new transit system. My mom recently brought me this promotional item from a tour in 1980 or 1981. Keep reading…
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Downtown DC could have been more like L’Enfant Plaza
Poking through the archives of the Washington Post, Tom at Ghosts of DC found a plan to sink several roads in downtown DC into trenches, build tunnels, and create a large underground parking structure beneath a big plaza where Freedom Plaza now stands. Keep reading…
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DC Home Rule almost had… nonpartisan elections
During Hurricane Sandy, I passed the time by reading the legislative history of the DC Home Rule Act. This 1973 bill, which gave District residents the right to vote for local leaders who can make local laws for the first time in 99 years, established the system of government DC has today. But what might have been? Congress considered a lot of different alternatives for Home Rule. Keep reading…
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How far has bicycling come since 1979?
The year was 1979. The Iranian Revolution led to oil shortages and long lines at the pump. Maryland Governor Harry Hughes proposed rationing gas. Levittown drivers rioted when gas prices rose to a whopping $1 a gallon. And large numbers of people tried bicycling to work. Peter Harnik wrote an op-ed in the June 23, 1979 Washington Post about the sudden rise in bicycling: On Wednesday… Keep reading…