Posts tagged Repost
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These 1970s-era plans show the Silver Spring that could’ve been
Today, many people might think of Silver Spring as a pretty prosperous place, with a steady stream of restaurant openings, cranes everywhere, and busy sidewalks. But not that long ago, Silver Spring’s future was highly in doubt. These 1970s-era plans from Montgomery County show just how far we’ve come. Keep reading…
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One man zoned huge swaths of the DC region for sprawl, cars, and exclusion
Harland Bartholomew’s legacy demonstrates with particular clarity that planning is never truly neutral; value judgments are always embedded in the objectives engineers set for themselves. Keep reading…
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City planners need to talk about race. The lives of our residents depend on it.
Historic discriminatory urban design practices, such as redlining and restrictive zoning, continue to degrade the health of communities of color. In order to build more equitable communities, planners must better understand and acknowledge this legacy of discrimination — and actively work to undo its persisting effects. Keep reading…
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These historic photos show struggles for social justice in DC
On March 31,1968, DC photographer Phil Portlock sat in the audience at the National Cathedral as he listened to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give what would be known as his last Sunday sermon: “Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution.” Keep reading…
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These beautiful maps show how the region’s population density has changed since 1970
DC’s population growth has slowed since the 2009 boom, but the population still continues to climb. In December 2018, the US Census Bureau announced that DC’s population reached 702,455, officially passing the 700,000 mark. Keep reading…
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Five (mostly rejected) ideas for Metro expansion
Expanding Metro is always a hot topic, and most people know of the Silver Line — part of which is under construction — or the proposed downtown loop. But do you know about the Rosslyn Y, the Brown Line, or the Beltway Loop? Keep reading…
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Here is how school buses looked in 1934
If you were an elementary school student the 1930s, this Dodge school bus might have been your ride. Keep reading…
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How 1920s-era zoning laws separated people from what they love about cities
A video by the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University shares some history of how zoning laws caused decades of construction that separated people from the things they tend to love about city living, such as easy access to shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, and random encounters with diverse people. Keep reading…
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Gentrification in DC isn’t just a black and white issue
Most conventional debates over gentrification in DC position the process as one that replaces long-time black residents with newer, wealthier white residents. Given the context, this framing makes sense: DC has a well-established black middle class and a wealth of black history. However, the reality is a bit more complex — and diverse. Keep reading…
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Richard Rothstein lays out the reality of government-mandated segregation in “Color of Law”
The government’s explicit role in building and enforcing segregation has been largely obscured, and it has done comparatively little to rectify the harm it’s caused to African-American communities — harm which deeply resonates into the present day. Keep reading…