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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Support a sustainable Tysons
Later this month, residents, businesses, and planners around Tysons Corner will release their plan to convert America’s archetypal edge city into a walkable, mixed-use, transit-oriented community. The Coalition for Smarter Growth wants to make sure Fairfax’s supervisors know that citizens will support a plan to create sustainability and reduce auto dependence… Keep reading…
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Transportation across the nation: New York City edition
Lots of good stuff this week on Streetsblog, NYC’s analogue of GGW and an inspiration for creating this site. Keep reading…
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Accessory dwelling debate comes to MoCo
Montgomery County allows accessory dwellings, but homeowners must first obtain a “special exception” from zoning authorities. That’s a time-consuming and burdensome process. It’s no surprise, therefore, that in a county of about a million people, there are only 162 accessory apartments, most in Takoma Park and Silver Spring. Keep reading…
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Summer Streets: Next year in Washington?
I was just in Savannah over Labor Day weekend. Savannah has great parks—in addition to its great squares, its central Forsyth Park combines formal fountains, children’s playgrounds, and wooded glades for relaxation and recreation (we saw a group playing Blind Man’s Bluff as we walked by). Keep reading…
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Library victory in Shaw, Brooklanders still fighting for trees
In 2004, DC closed the the Watha T. Daniel library in Shaw and several other libraries, to replace the aging buildings with new, modern facilities. Though the interior drew some criticism, neighbors widely praised the open, airy glass design as a huge improvement over the prison-like, concrete, Brutalist original library. Keep reading…
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Parking minimums irrelevant to Georgetown waterfront
At the Zoning Commission hearing on parking minimums a month ago, opponents of parking reform argued that removing minimums would cause widespread chaos. Barbara Zartman, of the Committee of 100, used her neighborhood of Georgetown as an example of a neighborhood built without minimums. She was trying to argue that Georgetown’s traffic and parking difficulties were a consequence… Keep reading…
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A field guide to NIMBYism
I sometimes refer to those opposing any change as NIMBYs, though that’s not precisely accurate. The term NIMBY originally referred to those who wanted projects like highways, airports, or waste disposal facilities (LULUs) but wanted them to just be built elsewhere. That still describes many opponents of local projects, like the “save the environment somewhere else”… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Safety and civic betterment edition
Safety up as gas prices up: Traffic deaths were already down 4.2% year over year around the beginning of the year, and dropped about 20% more for March and April, reports the Post, though the drop hasn’t yet reached Maryland’s stats. Keep reading…
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Lunch links: Sprawl advocacy pro and con edition
Safety for their schools, not others: The Town of Chevy Chase is slowing traffic around one of its schools while, as ACT points out, advocating for a Purple Line bus alignment that would send rapid buses right past another school outside their limits. Keep reading…
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Transportation across the nation: Mistakes of the ‘70s edition
Bulb-outs in Boston? Boston’s record on livable streets and Smart Growth is decidedly mixed, with good projects surrounded by bad transportation practices. There may be hope if the ideas in this Globe article come to Boston. Via Streetsblog. Keep reading…