Land Use
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Photo by jennifer yin licensed under Creative Commons
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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PG building edge cities, neglecting Metro stations
Prince George’s County leaders are very proud that Konterra Town Center is moving forward. It’s a huge development at I-95 and the future Intercounty Connector in Laurel. It’s even bigger and just as auto-dependent as their other totally transit-inaccessible edge city, National Harbor, which, after building itself far from transit, started complaining… Keep reading…
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Brookland energized over power lines
Neighbors in Brookland, divided over development around their Metro station, are united on the latest issue in the neighborhood: underground power lines. Keep reading…
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Swinging bus stops
Why can’t bus stops be fun as well as functional? (Treehugger; tip: Neha) Keep reading…
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Transportation across the nation: Hot chicks edition
“Hot chicks” the canaries in the BRT coal mine: We’ll know if Minneapolis’ BRT is a success if it draws “attractive young females,” claims one project consultant. I’d guess it’s really about the young and the female, and talking about looks generates articles and mentions on blogs but really has less to do with it. (Minneapolis… Keep reading…
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Speaking of circles: 15th and New Hampshire
Monumentality suggests a circle (technically a modern roundabout) for the intersection of 15th, New Hampshire, and Florida Avenues NW, at the bottom of Meridian Hill Park. The far-too-wide 15th meets these avenues in a giant intersection with too many lanes, long crossing distances for pedestrians, and hazardous bicycling. How about a circle? Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Envision the future edition
EveryBlock launches in DC: You can now get a feed of publicly-accessible information (like crime reports, requests for service from DDOT, DPW, etc., new real estate listings, and more) around any address. Keep reading…
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Florida Ave reconstruction mustn’t block Duke plan
DDOT is reconstructing the segment of Florida Avenue between U Street and Sherman Avenue (around 9th and 10th Streets, NW). It’s only changing a few things: there are a couple of new bulb-outs (good) but a ridiculously narrow sidewalk is staying as is (bad). Keep reading…
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How does the drinking age affect community?
UMD College Park President C.D. Mote Jr. has joined the growing chorus of college presidents who support returning the drinking age to 18, DCist reports. I agree with this, both because it’s rational public policy (it will probably reduce binge drinking) and because having an arbitrary line you cross in the middle of college (rather than before or after) is silly and unfair. Keep reading…
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Teachers’ union playing NIMBY role
The fight over Michelle Rhee’s merit pay proposal has much in common with recent fights over parking reform or development on Wisconsin Avenue. We have a creative, 21st century vision for making things better, and most newer stakeholders support it. On the other hand, many people feel the old system is working well for them and resist any change. Institutions which claim to… Keep reading…
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The San Francisco way: curb cuts
San Francisco’s streets are filled with curb cuts for individual houses, sometimes to an absurd level. Each curb cut takes away a parking space (or, in the best case, about two-thirds of one) to create one off-street space, and along the way makes the street and the houses less inviting, less walkable, and less attractive. Here are some more examples:… Keep reading…