Posts about Planning
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Prince George’s County has a new zoning ordinance!
On October 23, the Prince George’s County Council voted to approve a new zoning ordinance—a significant achievement for the county and a big step towards building sustainable and resilient communities. It also approved new subdivision regulations, an updated landscape manual, and a process to re-zone the entire county. Keep reading…
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Video: The only cities worth building are those that include all of us
Cities need to focus on the humanity and the agency of the people living there regardless of socioeconomic status, says writer and activist OluTimehin Adegbeye. She poses some important questions we should ask about cities: “How are they run?”, “How do they grow?” and most importantly, “How do they decide who belongs and who doesn’t?” Keep reading…
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Our 2018 endorsements for write-in ANC candidates
There are 21 Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) seats this year with no one on the ballot: no candidate registered before this summer’s deadline. Write-in candidates for seven of those empty seats filled out our candidate questionnaire, as well as a few in contested races. Here are their responses and our endorsements. Keep reading…
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Can Takoma Park embrace a progressive housing policy?
This fight over the 1.4-acre Takoma Junction site took on an outsized relevance in this famously progressive, educated, and argumentative city. What started as a mundane debate about a relatively modest commercial development evolved into a gentrification “proxy war” and an intense struggle over the city’s values. Keep reading…
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Housing and transportation are the same, these graphs show
Housing and transportation are two different issues, right? Some places have dense urban forms, while others are suburban or rural. Meanwhile, in some places there's a lot of walking or biking or transit use, and in others, people drive everywhere. Right? Not really, this graph demonstrates. Instead, the two are one. Keep reading…
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What HQ2 could mean for the Washington region’s housing market, in seven charts
The Washington, DC, metropolitan area economy has expanded steadily over the past two decades, and the region’s prosperity has attracted more residents, expanding the population from 4.8 million in 2000 to an estimated 6.2 million in 2017. But in recent years, housing production has not kept pace with population growth, and home prices and rents are climbing in most communities. Keep reading…
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Our 2018 endorsements for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in Ward 3
Separated from most of the city by Rock Creek Park, Ward 3 is the western corner of the District. Known for both its beautiful neighborhoods and wealthy enclaves, the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions here have seen lots of bitter arguments over new development and change. Keep reading…
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Newly proposed DC Comprehensive Plan language prioritizes affordable housing and preventing displacement
It’s been almost seven months since the epic spring hearing on the DC Comprehensive Plan, a planning and land use document that guides how the city will grow for years to come. Yesterday, the DC Office of Planning (OP) released an “additional assessment” of the bill under consideration and offers new suggested language to the DC Council. Keep reading…
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Our 2018 endorsements for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in Ward 5
Bloomingdale, Trinidad, Brookland, Fort Totten — these are a few of the neighborhoods included in Ward 5, which covers much of Northeast DC. There are 16 contested races for the ward's Advisory Neighborhood Commissions this year, some with four different candidates running! Out of these, we found seven who deserve your vote. Keep reading…
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Our 2018 endorsements for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in Ward 8
East of the Anacostia River, the southern half of the area is Ward 8, which contains neighborhoods such as Historic Anacostia, Barry Farm, Congress Heights, and Shipley Terrace. Neighborhood leaders here have an eye on what the future holds for the ward, as the cranes that have long been visible across the banks in Southwest DC are starting to make their way into Ward 8. Keep reading…