Posts tagged Sustainability
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Hyattsville: the next Bethesda, or the next River Terrace?
Hyattsville has seen a great deal of promising development in the last few years. The crown jewel, the Hyattsville Arts District, has inspired the moniker “the new Bethesda,” insinuating good houses, potential for retail, and transit access. It’s one place in Prince George’s County where elements of transit oriented development are starting to flourish. Keep reading…
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12 Councilmembers co-introduce 5-cent fee for disposable bags
At today’s DC Council legislative session, twelve of the thirteen members of the DC Council all co-introduced the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act. As we discussed last week, this will impose a 5-cent fee on all free carryout bags, paper or plastic, from food and liquor stores. Stores keep 1 cent, or 2 if they offer (as Giant does) a 5-cent rebate to customers who bring… Keep reading…
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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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It’s “Crossover Day” in the Virginia legislature
Virginia’s legislature is now about halfway through their session. The state constitution limits the length of the session to 60 days (90 days for a budget year), and bills have to be passed by today, called “crossover day”, for the other house to consider the bill. Here’s an update on some of the transportation and land use bills for the 2009 session:… Keep reading…
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Oh, right, the environment
Because this is an important issue, I’m splitting the stimulus section out of the lunch links. See the comments there for previous comments on the stimulus. Keep reading…
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Food insecurity in the District
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines “food insecurity” as “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods.” Or more simply, it’s when a family can’t afford a balanced, healthy diet. The USDA reports that 10 percent of DC households are food insecure. Food insecurity and related hunger… Keep reading…
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Why I support the Brookland Small Area Plan
Ryan, a Brookland resident, just sent this to the Brookland neighborhood list. It elaborates on many of the points in his petition calling on the DC Council to approve the plan. Fellow Brooklanders, For the past 18 months, the DC Office of Planning has worked with planners, business people, and residents of Brookland to put together a small area plan for the area around the… Keep reading…
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Ensuring retail and residential diversity in zoning
The DC Office of Planning routinely posts their reports on zoning variance requests. This week, they recommended against approving two requests concerning tricky zoning issues: multifamily conversions and corner stores. Many neighborhoods have numerous townhouses divided into multiple apartments, and many have corner stores in residential districts. Creating new ones,… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: The morning after (the stimulus vote)
Counting our chickens: State and local officials have started discussing how to spend the stimulus money. Maryland’s John Porcari says they’ll prioritize repairs over new projects, which is the right choice; VDOT head Pierce Homer wants to pay for repairs and some of the delayed projects, meaning potentially more freeway widenings or new freeways. Most likely, according… Keep reading…
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Supermarket chains blind to walkable urban business opportunities
Many of DC’s supermarkets turn long, blank walls toward the sidewalk. This space represents an enormous missed opportunity for retailing. Supermarkets like Manhattan’s Fairway line their sidewalk frontage with produce stands. This draws customers into the store who see an appealing mango as they walk by, go inside, and end up buying a few items. Clearly, they’ve… Keep reading…