Posts about Development
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Preservation and Smart Growth can be friends, not rivals
Kaid Benfield, NRDC’s Smart Growth director, looks at the mistrust between Smart Growth environmentalists and preservationists. On the one hand, he points out, some of the most walkable communities are also our most historic, from Paris to Capitol Hill. On the other hand, preservation also sometimes becomes a tool to oppose sustainable neighborhoods, like the effort to… Keep reading…
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Encourage renting and mobility to reduce sprawl
Since the end of World War II, homeownership has been the very embodiment of the American Dream. A variety of government policies and programs have dramatically increased home ownership. But lately, some have been advocating that the government stop subsidizing home ownership, arguing that it locks people to a place, and when the economy goes sour people need the flexibility to… Keep reading…
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Revised Whitman-Walker plans cruising toward approval
After making a few revisions in response to neighbor and historic preservation concerns, the proposed residential development with ground-floor retail on 14th Street between S and Swann is solidly on track for approval. The project retains the historically contributing, former Whitman-Walker Clinic building at the corner of 14th and S, and replaces the other one-story structures… Keep reading…
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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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Cheh: “broad-based support” for Wisconsin Giant project
Many residents of Cleveland Park and the surrounding neighborhoods turned out last night for the first in what could be a long series of hearings on the proposed Giant and mixed-use development at Wisconsin and Newark. Councilmember Mary Cheh, whose ward includes the area, gave a powerful speech in favor of the plan and framing opposition groups as representatives of only a small… Keep reading…
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The Metro Express
Today is the one-year anniversary of Greater Greater Washington’s first transit fantasy maps. One year ago today, I assembled some pie-in-the-sky Metrorail expansion proposals by M.V. Jantzen and Richard Layman into a fantasy map and then another. The links I got from this and subsequent maps was the first big boost to this nascent blog’s readership. In honor of that,… Keep reading…
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Potomac Yard group debates Metro location and auto-oriented principles
Last night, Alexandria’s Potomac Yard Planning Advisory Group discussed the proposed infill Metrorail station at Potomac Yard. The station would anchor a large area of mixed-use development mostly between Jefferson Davis Highway and the GW Parkway. This land used to be filled with railyards, and is now mostly empty space with some big-box retail. The group is only starting… Keep reading…
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How to create a successful urban stadium
DC United intends to build a new 24,000 seat stadium in Prince George’s County. This is a golden opportunity for our region to gain another vibrant, regional, walkable, urban, Metro-adjacent, transit-oriented development. Except on game days, stadiums have been centers of un-activity for the past sixty years. However, they don’t need to be like that… Keep reading…
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Dinner links: development delays and bodily wastes
Staying retired, for now: Development at the Armed Forces Retirement Home is now on hold thanks to the bad economy. (Post via Bloomingdale, For Now) Keep reading…