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: Opposition of the week
Wal getting green, not too green; Big growling over Big Bear; Down by the riverside; A less icy Crystal City; King coming to the shore; Do you like the 15th Street cycle track?; Open bike lanes. Keep reading…
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Montgomery’s zoning issues, part 2: Uses
Montgomery County is working to rewrite its aging and complicated zoning code. In the last installment, I discussed problems with our zones. This post looks at issues facing allowable uses. Zoning codes determine which land uses are or are not allowed to operate in each zone. Montgomery County’s code deals with allowable uses by organizing them into tables or lists. Each… Keep reading…
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Montgomery’s zoning issues, part 1: Complicated zoning
Recently, I discussed the effort underway in Montgomery County to rewrite an aging zoning code. Over three decades, the code has grown unwieldy and hard to use. Thirty-three years of additions and amendments has left the code with a mess of outdated provisions, orphaned words, and a baffling table of permitted uses. Many of the problems with the code stem from shortsightedness… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Colors and signs
Stand over there; Green means park; New signs for New York; Local AAA now says “share the road”; Yes! to Fairlawn; Since when is it about accountability?; Purple Line will run big in election; McDonnell backs tolls. Keep reading…
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Park Police overprotect on Earth Day
The National Park Police had a large, disruptive and unnecessary presence at the Earth Day rally held on Sunday, April 25. A couple of contributors who attended the rally felt the Park Police’s actions seemed at best silly or, at worst, oppressive. The rally was held on the National Mall between Madison and Jefferson Streets just a little bit east of the carousel. … Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Suburbs change, state DOTs don’t
Not your parents’ suburbs; VDOT is hot, Halsey is cold; Fix Metro funding, and not by pulling it; Transportation Row?; Cost of killing Holden: $4.3 million; Paris “reconquering the Seine”; NYC and Boston like to share; Do cities need more density?. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Let’s dance
Yup, a Barnes Dance; The sordid saga of 1922 3rd; AAA national doesn’t hate bikes like AAA Mid-Atlantic does; Not a crash at all; Jellef will stay with Maret, get lights; Temporary housing in the backyard? Why not?; Keep buying produce, Bethesda; Walk! ing! Town!. Keep reading…
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Will Tysons halfway plan bolster or doom the future city?
A few anti neighbors aside, Fairfax County leaders and advocates broadly agree with the goal of transforming our nation’s largest and most successful suburban office park district into an urban city, where most residents and workers travel in ways other than single-passenger vehicles. But nobody has done this before on such a scale, and there is less consensus on how, exactly,… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Warping Metro
Maryland is a “deadbeat”; Debating “peak of the peak”; Republicans for tolls and against new lanes; Bad times on some buses; Free streetcars? Maybe some places; Your friendly bike lane PSA; Eyes on the street FTW. Keep reading…