Opinion Posts
-
A library replacement offers a unique opportunity to build housing in Maryland’s Chevy Chase. Cue the usual opposition
Chevy Chase, Md. is wealthy, lacks affordable housing options, and has a history of exclusion. Now some residents are opposing building housing alongside a library reconstruction project. Keep reading…
-
Arlington continues to study missing middle housing, and a familiar debate emerges
Arlington is studying its stock of “missing middle” housing, in between the density of detached single-family homes and large apartment buildings. The pushback has taken on a familiar tone. Keep reading…
-
The contentious eleventh hour redistricting changes that could shape Prince George’s County
While the redistricting process of redrawing legislative district lines, following the national census, can be a routine affair, a County Council meeting in Prince George’s last month was anything but ordinary. Here’s what happened and why it matters to residents. Keep reading…
-
How we can advance climate resilience and justice in Richmond, Virginia
In Richmond, you can see how climate change inequity plays out most dramatically in the urban heat island map that was generated with community science observations of air temperature during a heat wave in July 2017. Keep reading…
-
Is anyone safe in DC crosswalks when one dangerous driver per minute passes by?
Nathan Ballard-Means asks his father almost every day to “promise“ that he won’t get hit by a car again after a driver in an SUV hit the 4-year-old last month. Since that time, his father has tried to better understand how the District can create safer streets across all wards. Keep reading…
-
Converting office space into housing can be one solution for the region’s housing crisis — but not the only solution
Office to residential conversions are sometimes treated as a panacea, and a reason not to try any of the other many tools we need to use to solve our region’s housing shortage. Keep reading…
-
Could nixing parking requirements help transform Virginia’s cities?
Richmond’s City Council is working on an amendment to its zoning code that would eliminate parking requirements. Keep reading…
-
Why not upzoning gentrifying neighborhoods like Langley Park doesn’t prevent displacement
The basic dilemma for affordable but increasingly desirable neighborhoods like Langley Park is that both building housing and preventing housing construction result in prices going up, and existing residents being displaced. Keep reading…
-
Why upzoning in gentrifying neighborhoods like Langley Park isn’t always a good idea
Op-ed: If increasing density limits in neighborhoods like Langley Park, in Prince George’s County, are likely to increase rents, cause displacement, or disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, municipal governments should avoid it, until protections are in place to not put vulnerable residents at further risk. Keep reading…
-
Pit bull bans are a housing issue
Op-ed: One barrier to finding pit bulls loving homes are breed-specific laws and housing restrictions, which were intended to protect people from unsafe dogs, but have long failed to do so. Keep reading…