Land Use
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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New Partners: Earl Blumenauer and Mary Landrieu
Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, whose district includes Portland, joined in a roundtable discussion. Blumenauer had strong words for the Bush Administration on its transportation policy, especially the recent commission report, where language in favor of increasing the gas tax was cut out. Blumenauer: the commission was set… Keep reading…
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New Partners: The Yards and public-private partnerships
I’m at the New Partners for Smart Growth conference, a major annual conference on Smart Growth. I’ll be liveblogging the conference today. The first panel I’m attending is about the development called The Yards in Near Southeast and how partnerships between GSA and Forest City are revitalizing this area. Katherine Aguilar Perez, VP of Forest City: “Smart… Keep reading…
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Why buildings aren’t better
Boston’s architecture critic gives his reasons: care, cash, and consensus. I agree with some of the points and disagree with others—I don’t think architectural disagreement is a new thing, and there were plenty of bad cookie-cutter buildings in the past that are gone now. Keep reading…
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Alexandria wants new Metro stations
Members of the Alexandria City Council want developers to contribute to new Metro stations as part of potential new developments in Potomac Yards (between National Airport and Old Town Alexandria) and Eisenhower Valley (where the Blue Line goes west from Old Town to Van Dorn Street). Via Ryan Avent. Keep reading…
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“Structure of voids” and chain restaurants in Ballston
Last weekend, we visited a friend who recently bought a condo in Ballston. Zachary Schrag highlights the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor as the region’s biggest success from Metro’s original construction, creating a new transit-oriented Smart Growth development around the subway, and it’s true: there were people and shops and other signs of life everywhere,… Keep reading…
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Three projects to watch
All over the region, consulting organizations are going through the legal requirements for Environmental Impact Statements, necessary for any major project: convening public scoping meetings, collecting input, evaluating alternatives, and so on. They’re doing this in downtown Columbia, along Rockville Pike, and on both sides of the 14th Street Bridges, used by I-395,… Keep reading…
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Walkability’s comeback
Planetizen links to an article in Governing Magazine that says what anyone in Adams Morgan or Park Slope or San Francisco knows: walkable neighborhoods are on the rise. But it’s not just old cities: Plano, Texas has a booming Smart Growth development. And “it’s not just the New Urbanists who are talking the language of walkability now,” writes the author,… Keep reading…
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Cannon almost stopped the Lincoln Memorial
A fascinating story in the Washington Post Magazine explains how Illinois Congressman and Speaker of the House Joe Cannon (who has a House office building named in his honor) fought the establishment of the Lincoln Memorial on what was then a swamp along the banks of the Potomac, preferring a smaller memorial near Union Station; years later, he admitted he was glad he had lost that fight. Keep reading…
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The Yards waterfront park squeezes bikes to the edge
NCPC has preliminary plans online for a new watefront park at The Yards, a new development next to the Navy Yard in Southeast. The park has many very nice features including a large terraced lawn, a landscaped garden, and a cool-looking pedestrian bridge (though one NCPC staff recommends be made to look more open, light and inviting). But the designers seem to have forgotten about bikers,… Keep reading…
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DC Council hearing on “Performance Parking” plan
JDLand has a summary of the hearing around Tommy Wells’ plan to use market-pricing techniques to discourage parking around the new baseball stadium. From JD’s summary, the hearing didn’t turn out to be that interesting, with most speakers in favor of the plan and little new ground covered. Keep reading…