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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Weekend reading: “Taking my talents to South Beach”
The inescapable news in the sports world last week was LeBron James’ decision on where to play professional basketball. James spurned his current (and hometown) team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in favor of joining forces with multiple, talented free agent players in Miami. The hoopla, as well as James’ decision to leave his hometown for greener pastures… Keep reading…
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Midnight swim in the Flickr pool
Here are a few of our favorites from the Greater and Lesser Washington Flickr pool this week: Keep reading…
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How would you improve the Washington Monument area?
In comparison to the relative clutter of some other areas of the National Mall and adjacent parks, the Washington Monument grounds have the opposite problem: they’re a desolate wasteland of grass without shade, amenities, or interesting programming. That wasn’t the original plan. Early concepts for the Washington Monument included a colonnade surrounding… Keep reading…
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Where should the Latino museum go?
Congress has declared the National Mall a “completed work of civic art” and declared that future museums and memorials should go on sites outside the Mall, but that hasn’t stopped them from making exception after exception. Now, the planned National Museum of the American Latino wants to be on the Mall, too, and looks likely to get it. After all, the National… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Moving earth
Politically in PG; And…; Did you feel it?; The line on Purple; An urban Wal-Mart?; Obama vs. sprawl; Oregon to bag the bags?. Keep reading…
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National Park Service defines “important vistas”
The National Park Service has released its new Master Plan for the National Mall. I have only briefly skimmed it so far, but one interesting page deals with the visual vistas NPS deems important. Check out this map: The map’s blue lines are “vistas [that] are identified as contributing features of the L’Enfant Plan of the City of Washington, D.C.,”… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: One step forward, one step back
Good and bad news for Ward 7 development; Germantown ghost bike, investigation; Judge’s ignorance used against cyclists; Moses’ legacy alive at NY state DOT; More in New York; Our artiest, decoest building; Councilmembers Michael Brown?; Way too hot. Keep reading…
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Montgomery zoning solutions, part 2: Mixed-use zones
Yesterday, I discussed the potential zone restructuring in the Montgomery County zoning rewrite. The series continues today with an overview of our thoughts on the mixed-use and commercial areas of the county. These areas are an important part of the county. They are where residents shop and work. But in many cases their design reflects outmoded, unsustainable thinking, with… Keep reading…
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On the calendar: Happy hour tonight on H Street, plus Alexandria tour, open data, BRAC, Connecticut Ave
Tonight is the latest in our series of Greater Greater Washington happy hours. Join us at Biergarten Haus, 1355 H Street NE, starting at 6:30. There are happy hour drink specials until 7:00, but we’ll of course stay longer than that. You can get there by X1, X2, X3, X8, or B2 buses, bicycle, car, or if you have a time machine, go into the future, ride the streetcar, then come back… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Map to the secret
Amtrak as a subway; The secret’s out; “Sweeperscam”? “Robo-snitch”?; Norton news; Use creativity, not ART; Still off the MARC; “Increasingly difficult” to keep up; And…. Keep reading…