Gehry’s Stata Center at MIT. Photo by Phil Romans.

The bag man vs. the bag bill

Careful coalition-building seems to have defeated the plastic industry’s attempts to portray Tommy Wells’ five-cent bag fee as harmful to minority communities. Bread for the City, for example, briefly worried about the bill until they found out about its strong protections for needy residents and the cynical way opponents are making it sound like poor people don’t care about their own communities. (Post, Jaime)  (Tip: jaime)  

Eisenhower memorial or Gehry memorial?

Starchitect Frank Gehry will design the Eisenhower memorial, which will also function as a public plaza. Beatus Est thinks Gehry will eclipse Eisenhower, building something that’s more a memorial to his ersatz style than reflective of Ike. Or perhaps it’s a perfect match: Ike’s greatest legacy

greatest domestic legacy is perhaps the Interstate system, which fractured American cities; Gehry’s disjointed, unsettling style may be ironically appropriate. (Post, Boots)  

Anacostia trolley delayed until 2012?

Engineering complications and WASA conflicts will delay the Anacostia streetcar until 2012, reports the Post. Today at the DDOT budget hearing, Jim Graham disputed the article’s assertion that adjusting the route to go where actual people live caused most of the delay.  

Sidewalk safety and suburban styling in Silver Spring

Montgomery County is improving pedestrian conditions on Second Avenue in Silver Spring. And, as widely expected, the County Council landmarked two-thirds of Falkland Chase, leaving the other third developable but possibly badly. (Gazette)  

HPRB rejects sidewalk cafe, house move

Last week, HPRB rejected an application by Sette Osteria, at Connecticut and R, to fully enclose their sidewalk cafe, a proposal I and the Dupont ANC criticized. They also rejected moving a historic house on Wisconsin Avenue to another location in Cleveland Park, which would have allowed infill development on Wisconsin while also saving the house. Preservationists and developers had made a deal to keep the house but find a different place, but neighbors to the proposed site objected.  

How smart is it?

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has a “Smart Growth Initiative” to consolidate county operations in the GE Tech Park in Gaithersburg. Some County Councilmembers worry the spending will interfere with other priorities. And while combining operations is a good idea, is this site, currently unserved by rail transit, really “Smart Growth”? (Gazette)  

Ward 7 development latest to ask for parking exception

Redevelopment is moving forward at Benning Road SE and East Capitol Street, across from the Benning Road Metro station. The developers are pushing for less parking than zoning requires, because they’re right across the street from the Metro entrance. (Ward 7 Connections, Geoff Hatchard)  (Tip: Geoff Hatchard)