Posts tagged East Of The RiverRSS
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Get plastic bags out of the Anacostia
Many of the plastic bags from supermarkets and other stores end up in the Anacostia River, clogging up small tributaries, killing fish and birds, and eventually ending up in tiny pieces in our food supply. Next week, Councilmember Tommy Wells will introduce a bill to push shoppers and stores to use reusable bags instead of the disposable plastic bags. Delegate Al Carr of Montgomery… Keep reading…
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11th Street bridges, part 1: The plan
DDOT plans to rebuild the 11th Street bridges, which cross the Anacostia River from the Southeast Freeway to the Anacostia Freeway (295). DC will spend $500 million on the project, with the vast majority coming from local rather than federal coffers. The aging bridges need replacing, but the project does much more than repair the bridges. Keep reading…
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Poplar Point and the Case of the Too-Large Park
The District has been fortunate to receive a “once in a lifetime” gift from the federal government to build a whole new neighborhood on empty, unused land. Poplar Point lies just across the Anacostia River from the Nationals ballpark and a ten minute walk from the Anacostia Metro. A successful Poplar Point development, possibly with a soccer stadium for DC United, would… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Cuts and losses
Chopping the point: Clark Realty is not going to develop Poplar Point. Clark could no longer afford to do the whole project amid the bad economic climate, and DC decided to end the partnership rather than pay a portion of the cost. The city will move forward with the land transfer and EIS for now, prepare the land itself, and then re-bid the development. DC United and the District have stopped… Keep reading…
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Wheeler Terrace: a step in the right direction in River East
East of the Anacostia River lie beautiful neighborhoods like Deanwood, Anacostia, and Bellevue, full of historic houses and tree-lined streets. They’re also DC’s poorest wards. There’s no shortage of land to be developed, and plans like those for Poplar Point and Benning (PDF) have slowly but surely shifted focus across the river to areas that were previously… Keep reading…
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Boxing Day links: bikes, buses and blogs
Ticket dismissed: One of the bicyclists ticketed for riding the wrong way on New Hampshire Avenue by U Street, Sam DuPont, successfully appealed his citation. DuPont argued that “going the wrong way on NH was the only safe way to navigate that part of the city, and that DDOT has recognized this fact in their plans to install contraflow bike lanes on that very block.”… Keep reading…
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Saint Elizabeths: reuse or abuse?
In mid-November, I attended the second St. Elizabeths West Campus walking tour hosted by the DC Preservation League (DCPL). Founded in 1852 as the Government Hospital for the Insane at the urging of social reformer Dorothea Dix and its first Superintendent, Charles H. Nichols, St. Elizabeths’ entire campus was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, designated… Keep reading…
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Streetcar will run through Anacostia, not to Bolling
We now know DDOT’s plans for the Anacostia Streetcar. It will travel from the maintenance facility on South Capitol Street, past Barry Farm to the Anacostia Metro, then continue through downtown Anacostia to Martin Luther King Avenue and Good Hope Road. Keep reading…
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Stretching the streetcar saga
Jim Graham and Chairman Gray filed a disapproval resolution to block DDOT’s transfer of $20 million to extend, or move, the planned streetcar segment. (It’s still not entirely clear if they’re extending it or moving it.) Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Scratching poison ivy in Maryland
ICC’s eviler cousin: Have you ever heard of the CCC? That’s another freeway Maryland is busy building in Charles County to destroy the natural beauty of its southern region. Imagine, DC writes, “building highways to alleviate traffic is like scratching poison Ivy to get rid of the irritation.” Keep reading…
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DDOT moving streetcar toward actual residents
In July, Jim Graham, Tommy Wells, and others on the DC Council were asking some questions about DDOT’s planned initial segment for the Anacostia Streetcar: Why does it run to nowhere? Keep reading…
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Big box retail at Poplar Point?
And Now, Anacostia discovers a WBJ article reporting that private developers are planning big-box retail at the southern edge of Poplar Point, near the Anacostia Metro. According to the article (most of which is behind a pay wall): Keep reading…
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Lunch links: Paint ain’t, 8 debate, rails frustrate
“Paint isn’t a pedestrian safety plan”: Get There reviews the Pedestrian Master Plan and comes out pleased. Some of the best solutions are cheap, like “stop for pedestrians” signs in the middle of the street. Keep reading…
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Afternoon links: more bike safety and streetcars edition
If wishes were offices: At yesterday’s streetcar hearing, David Catania argued that a line to Bolling will create economic development in Anacostia, and that a future extension to National Harbor is in DC’s best interest. Richard Layman delves into this issue more deeply and concludes: maybe, but probably not, and we should have some economic analysis before blindly… Keep reading…
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Connecting communities (or not)
It was Councilmember Marion Barry (ward 8) who had the day’s most relevant quote. “Streetcars are about connecting communities,” he said, as he urged his colleagues to support the proposed 1.3-mile, $43-million Anacostia demonstration streetcar in his ward. There’s only one problem: the proposed line doesn’t connect communities at all. There’s no community on South Capitol… Keep reading…
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Streetcar hearing this morning
I’m testifying at the Council hearing on the Anacostia streetcar at 11 am. I’m scheduled to go first. If you’re interested, you can watch it on cable channel 13 or online here. I’ll put up a post about it as soon as I can find some time. Meanwhile, yesterday’s Post article has good background on the topic, and And Now, Anacostia comes closest to my thinking… Keep reading…
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Meet the new route through DC
If you ask Google Maps how to get from Baltimore to Richmond (or New York to Raleigh, or Boston to Miami), it suggests taking the Beltway around through Bethesda and Tysons to circumvent DC. But that may change. Keep reading…
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Open space versus parks
And Now, Anacostia rebuts Marc Fisher’s criticism of a soccer stadium at Poplar Point. ANA and my commenters make several points, including that the money would be for infrastructure like roads rather than for the stadium itself (unlike with the ballpark), or that Fisher simply prefers baseball to soccer. Ryan Avent, though, is still skeptical. Keep reading…
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Soccer stadium won’t stimulate the economy
Marc Fisher argues that a soccer stadium in Poplar Point won’t generate the same level of economic development as the basketball arena or the ballpark for the simple reason that the arena hosts 200 events a year, the stadium 100, while Major League Soccer stadiums are active only 35 times a year (and football stadiums least of all with only 8 games a year). Keep reading…
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Suburban supermarket and strip mall dropped in Congress Heights
Ward 8, Washington’s southernmost and poorest ward, had not a single supermarket from 1998 until December 2007, when a new Giant opened in Congress Heights. Unfortunately, that Giant looks like it came straight from Atlanta, with seas of parking in front that are never full. Keep reading…