Land Use
Greater Greater Washington writes about where we live, work, and play, why we make the location choices we do, and what forces shape these places.
Many people would like to live in safe, diverse, walkable neighborhoods with access to transit, stores, parks, good schools, and other amenities. While our region has more walkable urban places than most, the demand still exceeds available housing, making these places more expensive (and prices keep rising rapidly).
We must ensure that there are enough housing choices so everyone who wants to live in such a neighborhood can choose to do so. We should ensure that housing in desirable areas is available to people at many points along the income spectrum, and take action to fight segregation. And we can improve the vitality of all neighborhoods by encouraging new retail and amenities to improve the quality of life for all residents.
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Breakfast links: Cheaper, faster
SmarTrip gets cheaper; Teaching goes online; Less gravelly?; House lien sold without notice?; C’mon, exercise! Everyone’s doing it!; Density resembles transit; What was zoning for?; How cars took over; Walkable is expensive. Keep reading…
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Holiday links: Memorial
It’s never too early; Uber legal; Stay away from Wegmans; What DC was like in 1940; No trouble with the maples; How and why of opposition; And…. Keep reading…
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Weekend links: As we mature
Growing pains; Such great heights; Better buses; The city as solar heater; WMATA communimucates; A height limit broken; LA bans bags; Monkey business; And…. Keep reading…
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Citywide historic review is not the answer to ugly pop-ups
Ugly home additions or new construction often lead to calls to expand historic preservation citywide, but our current historic review process is far too cumbersome and limiting. Instead, less stringent design review or neighborhood-specific zoning could help shape development effectively. Last week, Richard Layman provocatively suggested applying design… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: According to a poll
Cameras for money? People think so; Marylanders now strongly for equality; Transit for the people; Yuppified Union Market; Green features vs. bigger sewers; Parks: #5 but should be better; Google Maps for the ancients; And…; Your name at the top. Keep reading…
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100-year old Anacostia abandominium houses crack addict
Don’t be misled. The plywood that covers the front door and one of two front windows of 2010 14th Street SE, a 100-year old home in Historic Anacostia, belies the wide open rear entrance from which drug users come and go with impunity. When George W. Thompson, who bought the house in 1969, died many years ago, his wife, Marie, was also dead. His will left the house to his daughter,… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Common and uncommon
Another indictment; Whose park is it?; CaBi crime; Today in development opposition; DC mayor Franks gets complaints; Don’t bike on me?; Don’t drive the lane; Seniors suspended for cycling; And…. Keep reading…
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Silver Spring townhouses pass one hurdle, face another
With fewer houses and a reconfigured layout, Chelsea Court, a proposed townhouse development less than a block from downtown Silver Spring, got the nod from Montgomery County’s hearing examiner, bringing it one step closer to reality. The County Council next has to approve the project, and they should. Two years ago, Bethesda-based developer EYAbought planned a development… Keep reading…
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Live chat with Matt Yglesias
Please welcome Matt Yglesias, Slate Moneybox economics blogger, author of The Rent Is Too Damn High, and frequent commentator about how regulations limiting development affect cities. Keep reading…
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Without preservation, DC’s boundary stones are in danger
The first monuments of the nation’s capital still stand, after enduring earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, and blizzards, target practice for bored encamped Civil War troops, wayward vehicles, and vandalism. In 1791 and 1792, 40 Aquia Creek quarried sandstones, forming the perimeter of the federal 10-mile square, were placed in the ground. 36 original stones have withstood… Keep reading…