Posts tagged Comprehensive Plan
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How DC can build more homes in exclusive neighborhoods west of Rock Creek Park
It’s hard to build nearly anything other than a single-family house in DC’s wealthiest and most exclusive neighborhoods. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s stated goal to build 36,000 units of new housing in DC by 2025 is likely to run up against the fact that neighborhoods west of Rock Creek Park, which are zoned nearly entirely for single-family homes, don’t allow denser types of homes by default. Keep reading…
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The DC Council took a very tentative step to legalize apartments citywide
Many local housing advocates have been waiting for almost a year and a half to see how the DC Council would react to the newly-rewritten intro of the Comprehensive Plan. The Comp Plan guides future growth and development, and the intro (called the Framework element) is important because it lays out the vision for the rest of the document. Keep reading…
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Five things Phil Mendelson changed in the Comprehensive Plan Framework
Fifteen months after the public hearing on the DC Comprehensive Plan framework, council chairman Phil Mendelson released a proposal for changes to this first chapter of DC’s guiding document. Here are the main things he changed. Keep reading…
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The Comp Plan is about to be baaaack. Here’s what’s happening.
On Tuesday, July 9, the DC Council will take the first of two votes on the Framework Element of the Comprehensive Plan. This is the first chapter of DC’s massive Comp Plan and the subject of the epic 13-hour hearing all the way back in March… of 2018. The Comprehensive Plan is a 600-page document that supposedly guides all of DC’s growth and change, from housing to education to trash pickup. It’s most important on land use, since it sets policies that zoning boards must follow. Keep reading…
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At a Reston forum, 5 supervisor candidates range from hostile to cautious about development
The Reston Citizens Association hosted a forum on April 23 for candidates vying to represent the Hunter Mill district, which covers Reston and Vienna in Fairfax County. Most of the questions focused on issues specific to Reston, which is in the midst of a heated debate over new development, zoning code updates, and the future of the community. Keep reading…
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DC will set targets for housing, including affordable housing, in all 8 wards by this fall
At her second inaugural address, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser called for DC to add 36,000 new housing units (and 240,000 in the region), and set targets to ensure each neighborhood plays its part in meeting this need. On Friday, she released more details of what her administration is going to do to get there. Keep reading…
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Long-term visions, immediate needs: What we learned at the GGWash forum with Andrew Trueblood
As the District grows and changes, its leaders need to balance the needs of current residents with the needs of residents in the future. The Office of Planning is “the only agency in the DC government really charged with thinking about the long term,” said Andrew Trueblood, the Office of Planning's acting director, when he introduced himself at the GGWash Forum Tuesday night. Keep reading…
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Newly proposed DC Comprehensive Plan language prioritizes affordable housing and preventing displacement
It’s been almost seven months since the epic spring hearing on the DC Comprehensive Plan, a planning and land use document that guides how the city will grow for years to come. Yesterday, the DC Office of Planning (OP) released an “additional assessment” of the bill under consideration and offers new suggested language to the DC Council. Keep reading…
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Some in this gated community are trying absolutely everything to stop a new DC apartment building
Recently a group of neighbors along 16th Street NW, many from a gated community called Beekman Place, applied to downzone an area near Meridian Hill (Malcolm X) Park in order to stop a nine-story building from being built… despite the fact that the buildings across the street are almost the same height. Keep reading…
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Hey WaPo, it’s not a debate: we need more homes
Recently the Washington Post published an article entitled “In expensive cities, rents fall for the rich - but rise for the poor.” With a headline like that, it’s easy for opponents of YIMBYism (which broadly calls upon expensive cities to build more homes) to declare victory. But YIMBYism isn’t wrong — we’re just letting the margins dominate this debate. Keep reading…
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Here are the top five issues you said GGWash should advocate on
The GGWash community cares about walkable, equitable urban places — that’s what we write and read about every day. We also take action when the right opportunity arises and do our best to take our cues from you, faithful readers, on what issues are worth organizing about. Keep reading…
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Our primary endorsements for DC Council in wards 1, 3, and 6: Brianne Nadeau, Mary Cheh, Charles Allen
In three of the races for DC Council in the June 19 Democratic primary, Greater Greater Washington’s Elections Committee has decided to endorse Brianne Nadeau in Ward 1, Mary Cheh in Ward 3, and Charles Allen in Ward 6 for renomination based on the strength of their responses to our questionnaire. Keep reading…
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How many homes are currently stuck in DC courts?
Right now in DC there are thousands of homes and hundreds of affordable homes stuck in the courts. Numerous recent lawsuits challenging approved Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) are winding their way through the DC Court of Appeals. Keep reading…
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Three months of organizing urbanists, and one historic night (morning) - GGWash housing digest
We're through the first three months of the year and a lot has been happening. Take a moment to catch up on historic preservation, competition over a football stadium, growth in Reston, redlining, segregation, and more. Keep reading…
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Hey DC YIMBYs, need data for your arguments? Here it is.
Urbanists and YIMBYs in DC have been making some of the same arguments for a long time: we need to build more homes, studios and one-bedrooms help and don’t hurt, too much of DC is zoned like a suburb and that’s exclusionary. Ever wish you had more to back that all up? Well have we got a report for you. Keep reading…
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Urbanists say the darndest things: Highlights from last week’s Comp Plan hearing
Last Tuesday the DC Council held a hearing on the Comprehensive Plan, and it was pretty epic. More than 275 people signed up to testify and the hearing lasted well into the morning of the next day. What was also epic was the fact that over 50 urbanists from across the city showed up to testify, many staying late into the night. Keep reading…
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What’s more important, “neighborhood stability” or affordable housing?
At the Comp Plan hearing Tuesday, many people spoke about the need for building homes, including affordable ones, and protecting residents against displacement. But the hearing also laid bare a fundamental disagreement about what's more important: Creating needed housing, or “protecting neighborhood character”? Keep reading…
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DC’s big “carbon neutral” pledge will require big changes around town
The District of Columbia will be carbon-neutral and climate resilient by 2050, under a pledge that Mayor Muriel Bowser made while attending the North American Climate Summit in Chicago last December. This ambitious pledge is just the start of a long journey ahead. Keep reading…
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Reactions from last night’s epic, historic, really godd*mn long DC Comp Plan hearing
Early this morning (3:41 am to be exact) the gavel banged on what proved to be a DC Council hearing of historic proportions. More than 275 witness were signed up to testify about amending the DC Comprehensive Plan, the second-most witnesses ever in the history of DC Council hearings. Keep reading…
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Election links: Governor Northam weighs in on a key congressional race
This week Northam names his pick in Virginia's contentious 10th congressional district, Bowser delivers the final State of the District of her first term, and candidates across the region make the case that we can somehow have affordable housing without adding many homes. Keep reading…