Posts tagged Parks
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Northwest Baltimore residents and city officials oppose a proposed parking lot inside a popular park
A proposed parking lot included in the revamp for an aquatic center in Druid Hill Park in Baltimore has garnered opposition from neighboring residents and city officials alike. Keep reading…
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Tysons is finding creative ways to carve out space for parks
How do you build more parks and public spaces in an area that’s constrained on size? Tysons, which only about four square miles total, has a goal of expanding its parkland to meet the demand of a growing population and workforce by 2050. To do that, it’s getting creative. Keep reading…
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How much land is in each quadrant of the District?
How much of each of DC’s quadrants is land? Water? Parks? Military bases? The quadrants aren’t all equal. Far from it. I created this map using shapefiles from DC OCTO to illustrate how the areas differ. Keep reading…
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Tysons may convert the inside of a highway cloverleaf into a park
The highway-riddled edge city of Tysons is on a 50-year mission to transform into an urban center. That means it needs to reduce the cars on the road and add amenities that people in cities are accustomed to, like walkable grid streets, trees, green and public space, and more multimodal transportation options. One way it may transform the area is to convert the Route 7 and Route 123 highway interchange into a large public green space that welcomes people on foot and bike. Keep reading…
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People experiencing homelessness in DC react to benches being removed
Benches near the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in downtown DC were removed in August following complains about “crime.” There were at least seven benches taken from the north side of H Street NW and several more pulled from the south side, plus at least nine removed from the small National Park Service area next to the church. Keep reading…
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After two decades of work, bike advocates celebrate a final link in a Vienna and Tysons-area trail network
A web of trails snake through the Vienna and Tysons area in northern Virginia, but for decades, they didn’t connect to each other, and people even found it difficult to get to area parks by foot or bicycle. Residents set about changing this with a slew of new sidewalks, trails, and bridges designed to link parks and trails into what became the Northern Vienna Trail Network. Keep reading…
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“Sylvan” or “accessible”? C&O Canal lovers argue for their visions of an important space
Should urban spaces be “sylvan” and “riparian” or an “active” “people place”? Is the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal in Georgetown a “treasured” “wild place” or “dangerous and falling apart”? Keep reading…
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The DC Peace Corps memorial goes back to the drawing board
The design for a proposed Peace Corps memorial needs to be reworked, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) recently told designers. NCPC wants the memorial be more modest, to not block views of the US Capitol, and to retain two large trees on the site. Keep reading…
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It’s morel season! Here’s how to find edible plants and mushrooms in urban places
Since morel season is upon us—amidst a warm spell and blooming dogwoods and lilacs—I set out to learn more about this elusive mushroom. It is one of the few edible mushrooms that grow in the spring, and believe it or not, it's possible to find them in an urban environment. Keep reading…
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Congress Heights’ Malcolm X Park: A vital place, despite disrepair
At the corner of Malcolm X Avenue and Martin Luther King Avenue in Congress Heights sits a federal park that’s known mostly to people who live in the area. Officially known to the National Park Service as Shepherd Park, residents have long dubbed it Malcolm X Park—not to be confused with Malcolm X/Meridian Hill Park in Northwest. Keep reading…