Posts about Development
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Breakfast links: Cuts and losses
Chopping the point: Clark Realty is not going to develop Poplar Point. Clark could no longer afford to do the whole project amid the bad economic climate, and DC decided to end the partnership rather than pay a portion of the cost. The city will move forward with the land transfer and EIS for now, prepare the land itself, and then re-bid the development. DC United and the District have stopped… Keep reading…
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Time to end newspapers’ anti-hyperlink policies
Journalists and bloggers have been talking about the future of newspapers this week, amid huge revenue declines from the New York Times and Gannett. The Baltimore Examiner is closing. Despite strong growth in newspaper Web sites, many newspapers still cling to one relic of the dead-tree world: refusing to link to outside sites or point readers toward sources of more information. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: take the train, save a life
New commute stats: A recent MWCOG survey discovered that one-third of residents of DC, Arlington and Alexandria take transit to work, and ten percent walk. Region-wide, five percent take transit and seven percent walk. 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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JHU Life Sciences Center: show me the transit!
Johns Hopkins University wants to expand and update its Shady Grove Life Sciences Center to meet the needs of the 21st Century. JHU owns the 100-acre Belward Farm in West Gaithersburg, and Montgomery County is developing a plan for the area. It aims to change the campus from its current form as a “sprawling, single-use, auto-oriented area” to a place that can be “more… Keep reading…
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Fort Totten development plans pedestrian street
Earlier this month, DC officials announced another economic development deal to sell an unused parcel of public land for development. This parcel is very close to the Fort Totten Metro station, an area that has seen very little transit-oriented development despite its location on three Metro lines. Based on the publicly-released drawings, the project is working hard to create… Keep reading…
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Wheeler Terrace: a step in the right direction in River East
East of the Anacostia River lie beautiful neighborhoods like Deanwood, Anacostia, and Bellevue, full of historic houses and tree-lined streets. They’re also DC’s poorest wards. There’s no shortage of land to be developed, and plans like those for Poplar Point and Benning (PDF) have slowly but surely shifted focus across the river to areas that were previously… Keep reading…
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Fight for your right for a vibrant Wisconsin Avenue
Tonight, the Cleveland Park ANC (3C) will debate the controversial Giant PUD at Idaho and Wisconsin. Both supporters and opponents of the PUD have been working to flood ANC Commissioners with letters. If you live in 3C, please email your Commissioner to ask him or her to support the Giant, and attend tonight’s meeting at 7:30 at the Second District Police Station on Idaho Avenue… Keep reading…
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North Capitol study plans “gateway”, disappoints neighbors
The “North Capitol Street Urban Design & Transportation Study,” sponsored by the Office of Planning, DDOT and NCPC, aims to to transform the freeway-like North Capitol street into an attractive gateway to DC from the north. At a public meeting last night, though, neighbors mostly heaped criticism OP for the narrow scope of the study and for their other frustrations… Keep reading…
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Arlington’s TDR program misses Montgomery’s high standard
Arlington recently created a Transfer of Development Rights” (TDR) program. It’s a good start, but so far, it leaves out some of the most valuable components which have made Montgomery County’s a model successful program, protecting the county’s rural and historic land in a way that works for farmers and developers. Though they have existed for nearly… Keep reading…