Posts about Links
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Breakfast links: Cuts and losses
Chopping the point: Clark Realty is not going to develop Poplar Point. Clark could no longer afford to do the whole project amid the bad economic climate, and DC decided to end the partnership rather than pay a portion of the cost. The city will move forward with the land transfer and EIS for now, prepare the land itself, and then re-bid the development. DC United and the District have stopped… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: take the train, save a life
New commute stats: A recent MWCOG survey discovered that one-third of residents of DC, Arlington and Alexandria take transit to work, and ten percent walk. Region-wide, five percent take transit and seven percent walk. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: The morning after (the stimulus vote)
Counting our chickens: State and local officials have started discussing how to spend the stimulus money. Maryland’s John Porcari says they’ll prioritize repairs over new projects, which is the right choice; VDOT head Pierce Homer wants to pay for repairs and some of the delayed projects, meaning potentially more freeway widenings or new freeways. Most likely, according… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: many ways to be greater
Better architecture through zoning: New York’s Zoning Act of 1919 directly begat the “iconic ziggurat” style prewar skyscrapers. That law required a specific envelope to preserve light and air, and those shapes, it turns out, maximize the buildable square footage. Too bad they later replaced that zoning rule with a basic Floor Area Ratio one that encouraged… Keep reading…
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Morning coffee stimulus: and now there was one (amendment)
DeFazio amendment out: T4A reports that the DeFazio amendment was “required to be withdrawn” for parliamentary reasons. No real word on what those reasons were, but apparently the Rules Committee heard your voices loud and clear. Keep reading…
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Dinner links: cheap, plentiful parking spaces are like clean coal
I got a new way to park: WebUrbanist finds “15 Creative, Innovative & Hilarious Parking Solutions”, from the giant VW factory cavern to falling into quicksand. Via Planetizen. Keep reading…
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Weekend reading II: The federal environment
Paper or plastic? How about neither? Marc Fisher delves into the familiar question. He determines that the only eco-friendly option for your shopping bags is to “do what our counterparts do in many other countries of the world—bring [your] own dang bag to the store.” Keep reading…
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Weekend reading I: Maryland transportation watch
Parking min blocking new restaurant: Former Colorado Kitchen chef Gillian Clark is ready to open a restaurant, The General Store, in Silver Spring (at Forest Glen and Seminary Roads). The only problem is, county parking rules require 30 spaces, and they only have 7. Instead, they can only serve carryout customers. Dual tip from David and Becca. In other parking minimum news, Ithaca,… Keep reading…
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Dinner links: Stimulating our irritation
Reinvigorate H Street with a parking lot? Owners of four old row buildings next to the Atlas Theater want to tear them down to build a surface parking lot. ANC 6a is not pleased. There’s a landmark nomination pending, and if the buildings are landmarked, HPRB will almost surely put the kibosh on the raze. But must we landmark buildings to keep them from turning into parking lots? Keep reading…
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Dinner links: Up is down and it’s all in your head
Neighbors appeal for LESS parking? Can you believe it could ever happen? It’s not in DC, but San Francisco, where the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association appealed a recent Planning Board decision allowing a project with 27 spaces for 36 units. Zoning only allows 18 units (one per two units), but the Planning Board can grant an exception. When they did, the neighborhood association… Keep reading…