Posts about Development
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Plus ça change, NIMBYs
Yesterday I discussed Safeway’s plans to rebuild the Georgetown (“Social”) Safeway from a suburban style with a parking lot in front into an urban style fronting the sidewalk and (too much) parking behind. Transbay Blog has similar story from the West Coast from the Safeway in the Rockridge area of Oakland, California. There’s the same terrible suburban… Keep reading…
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Housing and a sense of place for the West End
Not all neighborhoods oppose any creation of new housing. In the West End/Foggy Bottom area, the old row house neighborhood has largely disappeared, replaced with large office buildings and hotels. Being right near downtown, greater density makes sense, but creating a commercial monoculture does not. Keep reading…
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New walkable Giant vs. “late commercial moderne”
Here are notes (MS Word) from Wednesday’s meeting about the Wisconsin Ave Giant. “The group of people that came out seemed rather evenly divided between those who wanted Giant to stop delaying and just build the new store and those who wanted to have Giant do things that they simply will not do,” such as make a smaller store or build even more parking than the development… Keep reading…
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HUD building up for landmarking
HPRB just released the agenda for June 26. Among the buildings slated for landmarking is the Department of Housing and Urban Development building at 7th and D Southwest. This is one of DC’s Brutalist buildings, whose lack of engagement with the streets create the desolate feel around L’Enfant Plaza. On the other hand, if there’s an iconic Brutalist building that… Keep reading…
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Making upper Georgia Avenue a great street
The DC Council held a hearing this afternoon on the Upper Georgia Avenue Great Streets Plan. Georgia Avenue is a long, continuous commercial corridor with some successful shops, some vacant ones, and many in between. Keep reading…
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Cooling community in Petworth
Prince of Petworth comments on the strong community feeling during the heat wave from residents without air conditioning sitting on their porches. As Petworth’s average income rises and houses are renovated, will that spell the end of the front-porch culture? Keep reading…
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VA-11 candidates on traffic, transit, and density
Tomorrow, Democrats in most of Fairfax and northern Prince William County will vote for a nominee to run for the Congressional seat in Virgina’s 11th district, currently held by Tom Davis. Since Northern Virginia has been trending Democratic and the Republicans lack a top-tier candidate, there’s a good chance the Democratic nominee will win in the general. Keep reading…
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Google announces “mixed-use” campus, may be just more sprawl
Google is headquartered in an artistically funky but still fairly ordinary office complex in Mountain View, California. Like every other office park for miles around, there are a few fairly low-rise office buildings surrounded with parking and atop more parking. There’s nothing but swamp, an amphitheatre (surrounded by lots of parking) and more office buildings for miles… Keep reading…
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Suburban sensibility in Silver Spring submission
Yesterday, I wrote about the historic preservation fight underway in Silver Spring as a developer seeks to add more housing right near downtown Silver Spring. There’s a strong dose of NIMBYism in the drive to landmark the existing Falkland Chase low-density apartments, but as commenter Dan Reed pointed out, there’s also a strong dose of bad design in the proposed redevelopment. Keep reading…
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Silver Spring taxidermy
Historic preservation can mean a lot of things. To some, it’s about keeping a vibrant, architecturally interesting neighborhood and ensuring pieces of a coherent whole aren’t ripped out indiscriminately. To others, it’s about maintaining a few significant pieces of notable architecture, like an art museum for buildings. And to some, it’s about stopping… Keep reading…