Posts tagged Housing
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Day centers put vital services for people experiencing homelessness in one place
People experiencing homelessness often have no place to go during the day, and figuring out where to find a meal, get an ID card, do laundry, and get started on the journey to finding a home takes a lot of effort and coordination. Day centers can help. Keep reading…
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The DC Council votes for housing for the homeless at Hill East
In a shift from original plans, the DC Council approved a $3.1 million annual rental subsidy for a new 100-unit permanent supportive housing project, known as Hill East Phase I, on Tuesday, November 19. The Council’s original plans, voted on in 2017, consisted of a 91-unit building with 75 committed affordable, but not necessarily permanent supportive housing (PSH), units. Keep reading…
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Marc Elrich opposes Montgomery County’s affordable housing goals
Montgomery County should not plan build more housing that would be affordable for working-class and middle-income families because he does not believe data showing that the county will need them, County Executive Marc Elrich said at a joint press conference on Tuesday, November 12. Keep reading…
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DC held an epic hearing on rent control on Wednesday. Here’s my testimony.
On Wednesday, the DC Council held a hearing on a bill to renew rent control, which is scheduled to expire in 2020. More than a hundred people signed up to testify, most in favor, of the legislation. I was among those who weighed in on the proposal. My testimony is below: Keep reading…
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National links: For a flat fee, get around this German city by bike, car, or transit
Augsburg is the first German city to charge a flat rate for transit and other modes. Democrats don’t want to talk about how destructive cars are. Quito, Ecuador gets a new subway line—and it’s an engineering marvel. Keep reading…
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Democratic presidential hopefuls take aim at housing reform. What does that mean for our region?
At the top of any Washington region constituent’s concerns is the high and increasing cost of housing. Over the past 20 years, increases in house prices have far exceeded residents’ increases in income. These concerns are just as elevated in the metro’s urban core—the District, Arlington and Alexandria—as they are in the suburbs and exurbs. Keep reading…
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Arlington banned rowhouses in 1938, and we’re suffering the consequences now
The Washington region’s dramatic undersupply of missing middle housing is a serious problem. One reason it’s so severe: Arlington once banned rowhouses trying to preserve its suburban character. Keep reading…
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These maps illustrate how public housing was manipulated to segregate DC
Since it was created for white families during WWII, public housing has been used as a tool to segregate cities, and whites in power continued to use it for this purpose as more black residents moved in over the following decades. A recent map project from the historians at PrologueDC illustrates the ways public housing has been manipulated. Keep reading…
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The Comp Plan guides DC’s growth. Here’s what proposed updates say about housing.
When Mayor Muriel Bowser and Office of Planning (OP) Director Andrew Trueblood released citywide targets for affordable housing production by neighborhood planning area, they also made public amendments to the rest of the Comprehensive Plan—all 24 chapters of it. The Comp Plan guides how the city will grow in the years to come. Keep reading…
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DC’s clean energy law requires buildings to become more efficient. How will they adapt?
Nine months ago, the DC Council passed one of the most ambitious clean energy laws in the country that mandates, among other things, that buildings become more energy efficient. Some experts and building owners are apprehensive about the task of adapting to the new regulations, but DC officials say they will facilitate the process. Keep reading…